I have yet to find a cost effective camera that I love, but I have 5 cameras that are doing the job for me.
#1 is a Foscam FI8910 which is a Jpeg camera.
#2, #3 & #4 are Foscam FI9821P, an H264 cameras.
#5 is is a VStarcam C7824WIP.
My initial need was to keep tabs on my wife who was totally disabled, they all worked great for that.
After her passing I now use them for home security.
All of them support a microSD card.
All of them are accessible from the Mac, but most of the available software for that sucks.
So for years I have used an App on both my iPhone & iPad called LiveCams Pro. Of all the apps i have tried, this one talks to all my cameras and allows me to control recording, view, pan & tilt. So I have an old iPad mounted on an arm near my desk, and I can view up to six cameras on one screen. (see attached screenshot).
I do not have them setup for remote viewing when I am away from the house, although that is possible. I just access them through the LAN either by WiFi or Ethernet.
