When you take a look at the surveillance cameras you can buy for your San Francisco, CA home or business, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of options available. Dozens of brands offer hundreds of camera models, and each one offers its own list of options, quality levels, software, and special features. A basic set of cameras doesn’t cost much, but you can get cameras with all kinds of interesting features that could boost their effectiveness. Depending on what you need, the boost could be worth much more than the price.

Night Vision

Some cameras can see in the infrared spectrum, so they can make out people and objects even when it looks completely dark to normal eyes. These cameras also come with dozens of infrared LEDs that light up the area and help the camera pick out important details like facial features, vehicle shapes, and so on. These cameras can be more expensive than the normal kind, but if you can’t keep an area well-lit for some reason then an IR-capable camera can still give you a clear picture of what’s going on. 

Pan-Tilt-Zoom

A pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera comes with a mount you can move around by remote control. A single camera can look left and right, up and down, and zoom in or out to give you a different perspective. A single PTZ camera can do the job of two or three cameras pointed in different directions, plus you can program an automatic pattern for the camera to follow so you don’t need to keep moving it yourself. PTZ cameras are great for when you need to pay attention to a large area or focus in on several specific spots.

Wireless Cameras

Old cameras needed two cables: one to provide power and one to transmit the signal. Most modern cameras now use Wi-Fi networks to send the signal to the recording device, but many of them still need a wire to give them the power they need to operate. You may still want that stable connection, but some models are now completely wireless and run on batteries instead. The downside is that you’ll have to replace the batteries regularly, but the big advantage is that you can move wireless cameras throughout your San Francisco, CA home or store if you need to.

Motion Detection

Standard surveillance cameras transmit a steady signal 24 hours per day, and that can make it hard to review the footage later to spot something you might not have seen the first time. That’s why many new cameras come with motion detection, which means they only start recording once they notice something move in their field of vision. This means you’ll only have to review footage where something happens. However, this feature is less useful if you point the camera at a road or other high-traffic area. 

Modern cameras have a lot of interesting features. However, some of them can be more useful than others depending on what your security needs are. The best way to find out is to contact a San Francisco, CA security company and discuss your needs and your budget.