It comes as no surprise that the more money you spend on a camera, the more features it’s likely to have. Of the higher-end features, night vision comes at a high priority as crimes have a tendency to occur after dark.

Motion detection is also desirable, but be sure that the sensitivity and range can be adjusted. This helps to stop windblown debris from being picked up by the alarm system unnecessarily. By properly tuning the system, you can also have a text message sent to your phone when motion is detected.

The ability to save video and pictures externally is a useful feature to have, which comes in very helpful for law enforcement purposes. If a crime is caught on camera, the ability to play back video at high speed will help you find the event, and slow motion will help you determine exactly what happened.