Well in my case, Cloud storage is not an option, since it's still only possible in a few countries (i think like 5 or 6) and Portugal is not one of them.
Thank you for your and everyone's answer!

Hello everyone,

I would like to share my take on Argus Eco camera, and also to make a request to the dev team that might be reading this forum...


I myself am a software developer so i understand a bit thing at a technical level...


I own a Argus Eco + Solar panel camera and I think this wire-free camera is a great camera for many purposes, and the price is also great. BUT my purpose was to use it as a surveillance camera in my parents house, and after extensive tests, this is why i don't think it can do that job (and how it could be fixed):


Problem 1) Limited options for Remote storage of video:


It does allow Cloud storage in selected countries (not Portugal so far, so i can't have this option), but technically is capable (battery-wise, etc...) of handling this functionality. I'm limited to store it in the local SD card, which means for surveillance, either i would hide the camera, and lose the deterrent effect that a visible camera brings, or can't use it, because first thing a criminal does to a visible camera is break it. So chances are even if i did capture pics/videos, most likely the SD card would be broken along the way.


Solution:


PLEASE, allow for FTP upload of the videos. The problem is not battery drainage, because you are already having to option to upload to Cloud server, and i don't think it's a significant difference in terms of power consumption to upload to cloud with uploading to FTP. I think it's a commercial option you have in hand, and you are trying to monetize the remote storing of the video with the Cloud solution, which is understandable, but making this camera not possible to use in a own-server setup, is a BIG red flag for many people.


Problem 2) Sending photos by email / push notifications:


Right now the camera only sends 1 photo per triggered "alert", and usually it lags a little bit, so many times if i pass quick enough in front of it, it's sending me an email with a picture where i'm not there anymore. The way it is right now, without being able to store video remotely, and sending one picture per movement triggered, makes it unusable in a real surveillance scenario.


Solution:


Allow for sending a stream of photos, instead of just 1 per movement trigger. Yes, it consumes more battery, so allow it to be customisable how many photos to take with what interval in between and during for how long. So the user has the option to spend more battery but increase the chances of getting a good picture of the situation. This doesn't seem like anything complex to implement, but increase greatly its usability.


Thank you for reading this, i think this could be a great camera for surveillance purposes, all the hardware is great, but what a pity that is so limited in terms of software, making it, in my opinion, unusable in a realistic surveillance scenario.