Here are my qualifications: 1. Must be able to record AND stream. I want to be able to record my entire light cycles. I plan on putting up tape measures in my tents to record growth by day/week/month for data points. Also, I would like to be able to time lapse, to see the plants physical reactions to certain input changes, so a micro sd card or equivalent will be necessary for storage. Lastly, I would like the convenience of checking in on my grows without opening all of the tents. Nearby monitoring is good, but I’m not always home and would like to be able to see it on my phone or a laptop. 2. No internet connection. I’m not particularly tech savvy, and don’t quite understand the full capabilities and vulnerabilities of individual products and features. I don’t want some neighborhood gangbanger that knows his way around a computer to find my indoor garden. Bluetooth? Every time I think about it and search around, I end up with basically a baby monitor. Is that the dearth of my options? Am I being paranoid in regard to IP or internet connected cameras? Guide me.
Bluetooth doesn't have the range to display it very far. It's likely that once you're past the driveway the signal would fade out. Many modern home routers can allow a separate IP range to allow VPN access. You could use this private path to check things out. Cameras and recording equipment, I can't give much help, haven't looked in a long time.
I like Blue Iris. it's security cam software that is meant for multi security camera setups, but you can tailor it to your specific needs. It will stream to an HTML address (locally..no inet needed) you can access to view any/all cams you have activated.
Canon rebel models T5I live streams and is programmable. You can buy them used . And be able to switch to any lens you want. But most cameras and lenses dont do good in a hi humidity area . Humidity screws up all lenses and camera bodies. Photographing from outside the grow room through glass has its challenges. The only way to deal with the grow light color spectrum is to turn your lights off or over power your grow light color spectrum with a flash unit How far away will the camera be ? Are you video or photographing the whole plant or just one bud or part of the plant ? My professional camera gear has lost about 10% of its value per year
Depending on what you want to spend and what options you're looking for, you could go with a fairly straightforward 4 channel DVR recorder... you can find half decent ones on ebay for $50. Most of the cheaper ones use coaxial connections but you can still get high def video, as long as you keep your cable length relatively short. Then you could do any variety of CCTV camera... big names like Bosch and Axis sell rock solid products, but there's literally thousands of companies making and selling CCTV cameras, both analog and IP based. Get something IP65 weather rated, which is good for wet environments. Depending whether you want PoE or analog, you'll need to power the camera, either with it's power supply, or with a PoE injector if it's an IP camera. I'm not an expert but if you keep finding baby monitors at the end of your Google searches, i'd start looking at DVR's that fit your price range, then pair that with an appropriate camera.
I’ve read the replies and thank you all, but if this changes any of them, my tent is 24”x48”x60” tall and the other is 20”x36”x72” tall. They will be housed within the tent, but I do have a shelf/rack system next to it holding drivers and tools. I can mount any hardware needed. I’m thinking no more than $50, but I don’t know the costs associated with this equipment. If costs are too high, I figure a baby monitor or 4K dashcam style will have to do. Off to do a bit more research. Not quite sure how the cctv and dvr work in sync. I have almost zero a/v experience. Having a cctv camera within the tent to record sounds great, but I don’t know if I will be able to see my garden if not at home. How insecure are internet connected cameras, really?
I suppose quality, reliability, security and accessibility are all things that vary depending on cost. Internet-based cameras are no different than any other piece of web-based tech... Some are extremely secure, others are not. A bluetooth baby monitor is not going to have the same level of protection as a CCTV system utilizing separate VLAN's. If you're only looking to spend $100, you're likely going to have to make compromises. Best of luck, hope you find what you're looking for.