buellwinkle

Mobotix come preconfigured at some odd 10.04... IP and it's software not only finds it, it lets you type in the address you want right there in that tool. Axis uses Bonjour, Apples IP locating software which has always worked great.

You would think that the default is to get an IP from DHCP.

All but Arecont, why, because Arecont's do not have the firmware features that just about all IP cameras have and I have to use software to use it, sort of defeats the purpose of an IP cam, makes it more like a CCTV camera that happens to attach with ethernet cable. But for a 3MP camera (I had the AV3100DN), I much prefer the Mobotix M12D-SEC-DNIGHT. Better image quality and the cameras stands alone, does not be connected to a central PC running VMS software or an NVR. If price was an issue, I would go with Stardot or Axis P1346. As for configuring the Arecont, didn't have any issues configuring it. The Acti 1231 certainly has a lot of features for the money. In that price range, try the Axis M1114. It has a varifocal lens like the Acti, has auto-iris which is a nice plus over the Acti. It has good image quality and decent night vision. If you shop right, you can get it with an inexpensive outdoor enclosure for about $500.

I doubt it, I'm pretty sure only the DN models have the automatic IR CUT filter. It makes a fairly loud click when it switches from day to night to day. Hated the camera, dumped it on ebay after I used it for a few days.

Mobotix sells VGA cameras or 3MP, don't think they have anything in between except their b&w night sensor which is 1MP. The problem with Mobotix is the price difference between VGA and 3MP is not huge, maybe a few hundred dollars on a $1,500 camera. For a hotel lobby, check out the Mobotix Q24, not too expensive, under $1,000. You can put this in the center of the lobby and it takes a 360 degree view of the lobby. Then you can watch seperate images of each side of you lobby as though you had multiple cameras, very cool. Also, they come built in with VMS software and free PC based software, so no need to buy software and dedicate a PC for it. http://www.mobotix.com/eng_AU/content/view/full/25611

You may want to consider a Mobotix dome, like the D12 or D24. Mobotix has the ability to specify exposure zones in an image, meaning that you can have the camera meter just the areas you specify to give you the most accurate metering. With 3MP per lens (D12 has 2, D24 has 1), you can have a very high def vision of the lobby and with the D12, you can have each lens pointed to a different part of the lobby. Frankly, I think this is all overallkill to have that high a resolution in a small lobby area, heck, VGA is all you really need. Also, more cameras at lower resolution/price will allow you get different angles of the same area and give you backup should one camera fail. So check out Axis latest domes, the M30 series. Their HD version (1 MP) is about $420, get 2 or 3 and you're set. Then get some inexpensive software to monitor and record the events. Or if you prefer a box style camera, their new M1114 is awsome, also HD, auto-iris, varifocal lens, under $500.

Only 3 lenses available for the M12, 22/43/135 but if you buy the M12 Dev Kit (an M12 without a case or lenses), you can probably have other options. The way you order them is DxxNxx where xx is 22, 43 or 135. So a 3MP day/night with 43mm lenses is a M12D-SEC-DNIGHT-D43N43. Don't forget to order a pole mount bracket if you need it and either some PoE switch (I use the cheapy Trendnet, works great, costs about $70 or a PoE injector.

The M12 has 3 lenses you can get and they are spec'ed out in 35mm film equivalents. They have a 22mm which is very wide, at 50', you will not be able to id someone. The 43mm is a good all around lens. The 135mm is a long reach, wouldn't recomend it for a driveway. You can specify a different lens for each side but most people probably use the same lens for day and night sensors. If you do use 22mm for day use, get the 43mm for night because you are losing resolution between day/night lenses. Don't be fooled by LUX ratings, it's just a joke. For example, what if I can get .0001 flux, but had to hold the shutter open for seconds per frame, so if a snail was crawling by, it would be so blurry, you would not even know if it's a snail or not. You just have to know from trial and error which cameras are best and with a dedicated b&w night sensor, Mobotix does a good job at night. But realistically, you are always best off using an IR Illuminator.

I know it's a PITA when you have a camera that can't be reset remotely. We go through power outages 2-3 times a month at my summer home and the Axis camera is near flawless, but that one time when you need it most is when it won't reconnect to the network, a true headache, yet you know the network if fine because you can connect to other cameras.

Yes, the best way is to use their free softare as mentioned. What you see on the NAS is a jpg of the intial shot, but the video is in Mobotix's propriatary format, you can't access it directly off the NAS. With MX ControlCenter, you can look at a film strip of all the events in a time period you specify, then when you click on an image, it will play the video. You can also export the video to a common format you can share. You can also look at video stored on the NAS directly from the camera where it provides a list of events by time, you click on a time before the event and it starts showing you the single shots one at a time, when you know which event it is that you want, you can play the video but to the best of my knowledge, there's no way to export the video at that time, you need the software above. The Mobotix solution is complete, but also complex. I would recomend you ready the MX ControlCenter manual before using it so you won't get frustrated. It's not intuitive, but it is very usable once you figure it out.

Which model Axis is better? Their 3MP camera is the Q1755 for their high end and their low end 3MP camera is the P1346. I would say the Q is mediocre, the P is better, but still not as good as the dedicated B&W night sensor on the Mobotix. Price is about the same for the M12 and Q and the P1346 is cheaper. The Arecont's the least expensive, but you get what you pay for, that's why I dumped mine cheap on ebay.

The M12 has very crisp clear b&w night vision sensor (the M12 DNIGHT). When comparing to Axis, it's no context. So you can have 15 fps of noise or 4 fps of good clarity. Even in day time, no camera I've seen has the same sharpness and clarity. I have day and night images from Mobotix M12 and an Axis Q1755 if you want, pm me with your email address. I'm tired of posting them in the sticky because people are being weird. I had an Arecont AV3100DN (3 MP), they have lousy night vision unless you put the camera in midnight mode, but that slows the shutter down to like 1 second, so I don't know how you get 15+ advertised fps when the shutter is that slow. This makes anything moving, even snails just a blur. Also, Areconts are dumb cameras, must be used with a VMS software, where Axis can be used partially without and Mobotix has VMS software built in, takes a lot of the pain of maintaining a PC dedicated to this away.

Just debating a decentralized approach vs centralized.

Which cameras, Axis M1114?

Where you going to run on Ubuntu/Debian? Looking at the spec sheet, it's a pretty old version of Ubuntu.

While you can use the SD card slot, you can always use an inexpensive NAS. I use WD MyBook World Edition, $169 for 1TB, recomended by Mobotix support. You can have between 1 and about 4 cameras per NAS. There are other cameras that can write to local or NAS storage, but only Mobotix provides a complete solution inside the camera where you can review historical events. Other cameras like Vivotek that allow you to write to NAS, only write out files, it does not allow to go back in and review what was writen. Also, the software from Mobotix, should you chose to use it is totally free and supports other cameras. The problem I have with IQinVision is they only support writing to NAS on their most expensive cameras, so you don't have the luxury of mix & match on their cameras. With 48 cameras, you can record onto a single PC, but the network has to broken into multiple subnets, hence the VLAN requirement or just buy 4 12-16 port switches and keep them seperate. The server likely has to have multiple sockets of quad core chips and a good amount of memory. Then you probably need external storage to allow for multiple terabytes of data, say 100GB per camera, that's 5TB of usuable storage, or really a 8TB NAS with Raid 5. Did you think you can have 48 multiple megapixels cameras on one network? I would guess that such a system, with software included would run $20-30K, just guessing. I would have the software vendor size the system, if a centralized approach is desired. Now this is a pretty complex system and while something like a HP Proliant will stay up for years, most people cheap out. A lot can go wrong, having a centralized solutions just makes it a single point of failure. Thewiredguys, I would agree that their software is not the easiest to use, but MX ControlCenter is very functional. Never had trouble finding what I needed to find, but I'm a tech geek, so it doesn't bother me.

Here's the Axis M1114 at 1:30 AM with an outdoor flood light on - Here's a Panasonic BB-HCM735a, same shot, same time of DAY -

They Nanostations do not output power to the camera, but they sell an adapter that sits inside the Nanostation M from what I can tell from the pictures and it's $19 - http://www.ubnt.com/8023af Go on their forums and ask, they have an active forum.

Trouble with mixing camera brands is you bypass the decentralized approach of Mobotix which is the reason for chosing them. Also, finding the best camera for specific situations may cost you more wasted time learning different cameras, dealing with different support people. Imagine if you will, that with Mobotix, you only need the network to view a camera live or to view historical events. You only need a PC capable of viewing, nothing else. The PC can be a cheap PC, tiny hard drive and a nice monitor. If it breaks, who cares, the camera can be viewed from any computer on the network. With a centralized approach, you need a computer capable of analyzing all those streams, writing multiple streams to disk, and sizing such a system won't be easy, not to mention the proper switches with vlan support and multiple network adapters on the PC, not only does it get expensive, it gets complicated. Then consider your failover, that PC becomes your single source of failure, so having a failover server can get expensive. Also, you seriously can't compare an Acti to a Mobotix for image quality, not even in the same league.

I don't think the Panasonic can stream at all in its MP resolution. I know it won't FTP or write to its SD card in MP mode, the best it can do is VGA and the same streaming to this software. I do have some images straight from the camera taken at 1:30AM, and I'll post them when I get home but the only way to do it is via screen capture. What bugs me about Axis, at least the models I've had access to is they don't record video events and send them via FTP or other methods. It only sends jpegs one image at a time. I also wish they made an MP bullet type cam with built in IR illumination and motion detection like the Acti 1231 and keep the price point in the $600-800 range like the Acti. No housings to worry about, heaters, seperate illuminators.

Yup. The nigthvision right now is also very good, clean, no noise, very good for color and not going to IR B&W mode. The Panny is fair, but has a moderate amount of noise.

It's not my cameras, just showing you from another forum. The housing is a cheap $35 housing for the Axis, the Panny is already an outdoor camera. Axis did a good job with this new camera and priced it right at under $500 street price, shop it right and you can get both the camera and housing for under $500. Downsides are no audio and no external sensor conections. Ironically, the also new and less expensive M1054 has external sensor connection, has a built in light and a PIR motion detection. The problem with the M1054 is no good way to get an an outdoor housing for it's odd shape. I'll try to capture some night shots from the cameras, but I'm not home, so I can't post them yet, maybe tomorrow.

Here's a comparison of a Panasonic HCM735a (left) and an Axis M1114. Both about the same price when you add in the housing costs on the Axis, both 1MP camera, both have h.264. I used to think the Panny was OK, but now I think it's not so OK.

Sorry, it's the Ubiquiti Nanostation M that has PoE (802.3af,) output to power the camera. They have different models and the Nanostation 2 or 5 do not have PoE output for the camera. Here's an image from their website

In the same price range & functionality, you have the Axis M30 series, like the M3014. Haven't used them directly, but the box camera equivalent, the M11 series is a bargain with decent image quality, much better than what I've seen from Acti, not that Acti is bad, just not as good. Also you may benefit from the H.264 compression.