Earlier quoted context omitted.
> With the price of SBCs nowadays, you'll probably save some money just buying an ip camera. The post you replied to very specifically mentioned using an IP camera. Unless you are paying “proper” money per camera, these days most of them are limited out-of-the-box in ways that are intended to drive you to paying a subscription service to have the recordings stored and processed (and presumably used for AI training wh…
> these days most of them are limited out-of-the-box in ways that are intended to drive you to paying a subscription service This is why open protocols like RTSP are needed. A camera should never be allowed to communicate directly over the Internet.
There are usually ways to get access to the standard protocols, unofficial firmwares for cameras by Yi¹ for instance, but many won't faf around like that even if they might try setup local recording (trying local software isn't going to break anything, an issue flashing a device could brick it so feels like a bigger step).
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[1] I used to have a couple of there cameras that did local recording to SD-card, to keep an eye on the cats remotely, though access to thar mysteriously stopped working and support just suggested using subscribing to cloud recording instead… Those cameras were dirt cheap though and after a little research I decided working out the right alt firmware for the units I had and using it, would be more faf than just buying new cameras that were less inconvenient and giving those away with appropriate "the only reliable way to use this device is to send you data overseas" warnings.