Are there any privacy-respecting alternatives to Ring cameras that I can use for backyard surveillance?

[pine]

I assume you’ve already searched the forums, but perhaps you could be more specific in where existing threads aren’t adressing your considerations?

For a thread on security cameras, there’s this one: Self-Hosted CCTV (IP Home Security Camera) System

For another thread on security cameras, there’s this: Security camera setup for beginners?

(And for a comment speaking to the reoccurence of this topic, linking to both the threads above, here’s that as well: It's Time to Take Down your Smart Cameras - Benn Jordan - #3 by beantaco )

A generic PoE camera separated via VLAN and accessed via NVR appears to be the most common recommendation, as per this comment, but does that break with your wish for a “reasonable” alternative?

Security camera setup for beginners?

I’d suggest using generic RTSP PoE IP cameras to avoid vendor lock-in. These work with all NVR and media players. As a first step, you can connect them to a PoE switch, then to your router, and view the video stream from your LAN using VLC. Remotely accessing your LAN is something you need to figure out separately. The second step is to add an NVR, Frigate is what is normally used in the Home Assistant community because it is FOSS.