Finding the best outdoor surveillance camera system can be a daunting task if you don’t know at least a little about them. We will go ahead and cover many of the available features so you can be better prepared when you shop for your system.

IR or Infrared
IR allows the camera to “see” at night so the cameras don’t become useless when the sun goes down. It does this by utilizing multiple (the number depends on the model) IR bulbs to help the camera see. by lighting the area.

The human eye cannot see the IR light being emitted by the bulbs because it is outside of our viewing color spectrum but the camera can see the light and use it quite well.

It takes perfect darkness and makes it look like it is light out and is very much a feature you want in any security camera you may choose.

Weatherproof Cameras

If you plan on putting any security cameras outside they must be weatherproof if you plan on the lasting any amount of time. The best outdoor video surveillance camera systems out there will be weatherproof for sure.

If you live in an area with extreme temperatures you may also want to consider a camera system that has a heater for extreme cold areas and a fan for extreme heat.

PTZ or Pan, Tilt and Zoom

Depending on the area you are trying to cover the ability to pan, which means move side to side can help you cover a larger area with one camera although it does also allow for “holes” in your security setup as it pans if your system is not planned out carefully.

Tilt allows you to tilt the camera up and down although this is generally a manual feature unlike pan. Being able to move the camera around allows for monitored security cameras to hone in should someone try and slip under the cameras viewing area.

Lastly, Zoom allows you to zoom in for a close up of a face or even a vehicle’s license plate number. This is also a great feature for any monitored or unmonitored security cameras because it allows you to adjust the camera’s viewing area by zooming out to cover a larger area with less detail and zooming in to cover a smaller area with greater detail.

Wireless Security Cameras

In my humble opinion the best outdoor wireless surveillance cameras are the models that have built-in DVR’s. This makes the unit self contained allowing you to avoid the pitfalls of trying to get your wireless signal to penetrate your walls and get to the receiver. Now of course this issue can be managed if you are able to situate your wireless receiver near a window facing the camera to limit the interference of any metal in your structure’s walls.

The reason people choose wireless over wired is for easy of installation since there are no wires to run but you also have to consider power has to be supplied to wireless cameras since they will not get it supplied to them through the wire like wired models.

Built-in DVR’s

Like mentioned briefly earlier, the models that have the built-in DVR’s are the best outdoor surveillance camera system for those that don’t want to deal with a bug system and only wants a camera or two. Since they are self contained they just get installed in an area so they can view what you need them to record.

When you want to see what is on the recording you simply remove the SD-CARD and plug in into your PC, laptop or even camera to view the data. The beauty of this is that you can set it to only record when motion is detected so you won’t have to waste time going through hour after hour of nothing.

Just think things out and be sure you have some kind of a game plan before you buy so you don’t waste your hard earned money on something you don’t really need.