Where to get cameras in 2026? (and the future)

Jim_OS said:
I find it surprising that Annke’s Hikvision OEM models can still be purchased in the US, and that apparently no one has noticed they actually fall under the Hikvision ban as well. :lol:

Just out of curiosity: :) how does it work for you in the US when you order Dahua or Hikvision products via Ali? Do they get confiscated by customs upon import, or perhaps sent straight back? While the selection of Dahua and Hikvision products on Ali has certainly shrunk and prices have risen significantly, but you can still get quite a lot of items there.
Click to expand...
Finding Dahua in USA is an absolute nightmare. eBay banned all Dahua electronics about a year ago and Ali express blocked Dahua from USA about a month ago. You can search “N45 camera” or “5442 camera” on eBay and maybe find something every once in awhile.

If you want the newer stuff, there are quite a few people rebranding 2-series but have to go you know where for the good stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
OD1 said:
Ali express blocked Dahua from USA about a month ago.
Click to expand...
Ah, okay, that’s news to me. It’s a good thing I don’t have those kinds of problems here in Germany (yet) :lol: and can still get and buy Dahua products everywhere - including AliExpress and ebay.de. Only Amazon.de itself - being a US company - dropped Dahua products from its lineup about two years ago or so. However, Dahua products are still available on Amazon.de via Amazon Marketplace.

However, Dahua products have always been sold at quite high prices in Germany, so I’ve always bought them either via AliExpress, a dealer in another European country, or from Andy. :)


Edit and BTW: This kind of reminds me of the way things were about 20 - 30 years ago, when I had relatives in the US who would buy things there that weren't available here in Germany and send them to me. Nowadays, it would probably be handy to have relatives in Germany if you were a US resident. :rofl: No, I don't want to "annoy" you with this right now. :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: StevenFromTexas and JDreaming
OD1 said:
Are you allowed to have mega bullets? This feels like a loophole. Worth a shot.
Click to expand...
As long as I hide it well. I have an idea in mind but I want to be sure it can be used with a Dahua NVR before I make a decision. It has to be able to be private connection and behind the NVR's IP address (not seen by on the general home network).
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming and OD1
JDreaming said:
I want my decent and affordable cameras.
Click to expand...
Reolink :rofl:

Reolink come from China too, but apparently, none of the decision-makers in the US have noticed it yet. :lol: If Chinese IP cameras are to be banned from sale in the US, then that should surely apply equally to all Chinese IP camera manufacturers. Ultimately, all other IP camera manufacturers in China must also do what their government mandates; if, for instance, Reolink were to receive an order from the Chinese government to supply 100,000 cameras to Xinjiang province - cameras used there to monitor the Uyghurs, among others - Reolink certainly wouldn't say no. In that respect, these sales bans strike me as rather arbitrary anyway. :rolleyes:

But here in Germany, too, our government occasionally decides on things that simply leave you shaking your head. :smash:
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigredfish and JDreaming
Jim_OS said:
Reolink :rofl:

Reolink come from China too, but apparently, none of the decision-makers in the US have noticed it yet. :lol: If Chinese IP cameras are to be banned from sale in the US, then that should surely apply equally to all Chinese IP camera manufacturers. Ultimately, all other IP camera manufacturers in China must also do what their government mandates; if, for instance, Reolink were to receive an order from the Chinese government to supply 100,000 cameras to Xinjiang province - cameras used there to monitor the Uyghurs, among others - Reolink certainly wouldn't say no. In that respect, these sales bans strike me as rather arbitrary anyway. :rolleyes:

But here in Germany, too, our government occasionally decides on things that simply leave you shaking your head. :smash:
Click to expand...
They're always doing things that just make you want to bang your head against the wall.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigredfish and JDreaming
JDreaming said:
Free Dahua and Hikvision! I want my decent and affordable cameras. Stupid geopolitics ruin it for us.:confused:
CompareSecurity
CompareSecurity
CompareSecurity
Click to expand...
Not going to happen. They’re too vertically integrated and primed to dominate markets. They also view value as output and market power instead of profit. Can’t compete, must ban.

We do it with everything. We decimated small telcom over it. Interesting to see if we can still get TP-Link network equipment in a few more months.
JPmedia said:
As long as I hide it well. I have an idea in mind but I want to be sure it can be used with a Dahua NVR before I make a decision. It has to be able to be private connection and behind the NVR's IP address (not seen by on the general home network).
Click to expand...
no idea. I just got mine to work on DHCP. I imagine you can manually set it afterwards to something Dahua might use but I really don’t know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
OD1 said:
if we can still get TP-Link network equipment in a few more months.
Click to expand...
As far as I’ve gathered, TP-Link is reportedly on the verge of having their products banned in the US as well. But with your current president and his staff, you never know what they might come up with - or how often they might change their minds in the course of a single day. ;)

Just to clarify: Yes, there certainly ought to be regulations, and yes, naturally, issues such as security and potential backdoors should play a role; however, at the moment, it is unlikely that any of those responsible could provide a coherent explanation of the criteria being used to make these decisions.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: StevenFromTexas, bigredfish and JDreaming
Jim_OS said:
As far as I’ve gathered, TP-Link is reportedly on the verge of having their products banned in the US as well. But with your current president and his staff, you never know what they might come up with - or how often they might change their minds in the course of a single day. ;)

Just to clarify: Yes, there certainly ought to be regulations, and yes, naturally, issues such as security and potential backdoors should play a role; however, at the moment, it is unlikely that any of those responsible could provide a coherent explanation of the criteria being used to make these decisions.
Click to expand...
I'm using Netgear and Asus Router in the past, but was actually thinking about switching to TP-Link to see if their router is any good after using their switch with good experience the last few years. Maybe have to scratch that off in the future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigredfish and OD1
JDreaming said:
Maybe have to scratch that off in the future.
Click to expand...
The truth is, no one can say exactly what the future holds. :) Here in Germany, there were news reports earlier this year stating that TP-Link routers, for example, would no longer be allowed to be sold in the US - or rather, that the rule was supposed to apply to all routers not manufactured in the US. :rofl: But somehow, that decision was apparently revised and watered down. Okay, routers are obviously different from, say, IP cameras, but it does show that, right now, you have to be prepared for anything when it comes to the US.


Your president dreams of being able to dictate to the entire world what they can and cannot do; however, he has already realized on several occasions that China, in particular, won't play along - forcing him to backpedal. ;)

Besides, once you’ve actually bought and started using a TP-Link router, any sales bans wouldn't really affect you anymore anyway. And presumably, TP-Link would continue to provide support - even in the event of a potential sales ban in the US.

But yes, I certainly understand why something like this would make you feel uneasy. I can't really offer any advice on the matter, though, since I’m in Germany and can't truly assess the situation in the US.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigredfish and JDreaming
Jim_OS said:
The truth is, no one can say exactly what the future holds. :) Here in Germany, there were news reports earlier this year stating that TP-Link routers, for example, would no longer be allowed to be sold in the US - or rather, that the rule was supposed to apply to all routers not manufactured in the US. :rofl: But somehow, that decision was apparently revised and watered down. Okay, routers are obviously different from, say, IP cameras, but it does show that, right now, you have to be prepared for anything when it comes to the US.


Your president dreams of being able to dictate to the entire world what they can and cannot do; however, he has already realized on several occasions that China, in particular, won't play along - forcing him to backpedal. ;)

Besides, once you’ve actually bought and started using a TP-Link router, any sales bans wouldn't really affect you anymore anyway. And presumably, TP-Link would continue to provide support - even in the event of a potential sales ban in the US.

But yes, I certainly understand why something like this would make you feel uneasy. I can't really offer any advice on the matter, though, since I’m in Germany and can't truly assess the situation in the US.
Click to expand...
Has nothing to do with “our President.” These are bipartisan decisions that have been escalating since before his first term with peak escalation around 2022-2023 when he was not in office. We’re just fighting to hang on to a system that has been regulatory captured by independent interests to the point it can no longer effectively produce goods and services without war or sanctions. Europe is in the same boat.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: JDreaming
The USA's camera bans make no sense to me. Years ago I thought they were just saying they were ending new FCC authorizations and existing products could continue to be sold. Then NDAA which a lot of people took to be a country-wide ban but actually only affected certain government installations. There's so much misinformation out there I don't really even try to keep up with it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tigerwillow1, StevenFromTexas, cheesehead95 and 2 others
OD1 said:
I would say a year or two ago was the best sensor size to megapixel ratio but that’s mainly because a couple very poor yet large sensors hit the market.

If you don’t mind 4MP, used, and a body the size and weight of a 2-liter of soda, this is the best deal I have ever seen, I got two:


$75 for something possibly better than anything Dahua makes.

Edit: I just poured a soda. Camera is bigger than that.
Click to expand...
Weren't these offered for $70 each earlier today? They're now $200 each OBO
 
As an eBay Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: JDreaming and bigredfish
JPmedia said:
Weren't these offered for $70 each earlier today? They're now $200 each OBO
Click to expand...

Probably added the word "AI" in the marketing description somewhere, that adds an instant 200%-300% to the value price
 
  • Haha
  • Angry
Reactions: JDreaming and JPmedia
This eBay listing is AI generated. I keep getting the same repeated answers from the seller sating they have to verify the price since the price I'm seeing is different from the original listing price. It's a scam and I will be reporting it to eBay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom