danielsan2222

Well I just did my installation this week and I thought it was pretty easy. However, I will agree that the client leaves something to be desired. I was using an old Professional version before and I found it very simple to use. The new version not nearly so much. I found their pricing to be pretty steep as well and if it was not for the Essential product I would have used something else. $999 for an iphone app is a good example of overcharging. Small wonder they felt compelled to come out with the Essential and now this free version.

Dont know as it is not a feature I need but you could try the 30 day free trial. Usually they do, but with my (very limited) experience a lot of dome cameras either don't have a replaceable lens, or, if they do, you are very limited to the lens you can use due to the tight space between the lens and the dome cover. So I'd like to just get something that comes with a decent quality, varifocal lens right out of the box

In your situation, an all Mobotix solution does not make sense. I think the narrow product range is one of the major failings of Mobotix. However, there is another possibility. You could go with Milestone which does support Mobotix cameras so even though you give up the decentralized aspect you do get the excellent IQ. You would have to use at least the Professional version to get the mobile capability that you are looking for. Sounds like you have done a good bit of research already so I assume you have looked at Milestone already but if you haven't check them out. On your server, you may find that 1.5TB is insufficient depending on what kind of cameras you plan on using. Be sure to use the storage calculator on Exacq's website. As to HDD reliability, I ran a Milestone server for a few years on a consumer grade WD hard drives without problem although they dont seem to make them like they used to. Stardot - no they have more than 3 http://www.stardot.com/products/netcam-sc-vandal-resistant-dome Unfortunately, it appears the dome version does not come in a H.264 version yet. The stardot is supposed to have a pretty good low light image. I dont know about WDR. Varifocal should not be an issue as most(with the exception of Mobotix) high end cameras have changeable lenses and support day/night but of course the quality of the night image is usually the big question.

I have another possibility that you may or may not have looked at - Stardot. I have been strongly considering this as a possibility. It is does not have the dual lens/imager setup so I would think Mobotix would still come up on top in IQ in low light. The newest model supports H.264 and available up to 5MP. Milestone does not support the H264 version quite yet which has been a stumbling block for me but I believe that Exacq supports it. It has an excellent operating temp range so it should not require a heater/blower just a housing to keep the rain/snow off. The camera is cheaper than Mobotix but if you dont use the included lens and add a housing there is not much price difference. Yes, I have taken a look at them many times. However, this is not going to be a 1 camera setup. I want to centrally manage about 6-7 cameras, so I would like to set up a server with exacq on it. I am a big fan of their app for the iphone, too, which I will also use. So in this case, mobotix cameras may be more expensive for me.

Give the man a gold star! The camera refuses to update the firmware. After talking with Sanyo a couple of times, I was informed that cameras with serial numbers starting with 45(early production) have issues that require the camera to be returned to Sanyo and they have been trying to get these particular cameras back from dealers. So if anyone has strange issues with their 2100 look at the serial number! On a side note, Sanyo support was very pleasant and helpful. Also, the camera image is very nice but noisy I can see that it will probably not be very good in low light as people have already reported.

Have you looked at Mobotix? A little more expensive but by the time you add in the cost of a new server and exacq it would be cheaper and the image quality should be better.

Thanks for the link. I added a couple of more names to my list. I agree about the lack of information. I came across this article(link below) complaining about the same thing. I see a lot of "megapixel" lenses but what does that really mean? http://spotonsecurity.com/2009/02/27/the-megapixel-lens-problem/

Who manufactures megapixel cctv lenses for 1/3" and 1/2" sensors. So far I have Computar Fujinon Kowa Sanyo Tamron Theia Pentax Rainbow and Avenir - never heard of these 2 before Navitar - Samyang - know they make some decent quality SLR lenses Tokina Tekstar Goyo Optical Immervision Sunex Axis, Arecont, Bosch, Iqinvision and Samsung - rebranded lenses??

Thanks. I am familiar with them as I have order DSLR equipment from them before. Going through that list though did not add to the above.

One thing I don't understand is how come you can't seem to get d/n cameras from Arecont with auto-iris? You can get manual iris w/ or w/o d/n capability or auto iris with no d/n

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Funny I dont see any indication on their website of a connection. Axis is a public company. Is raytech a subsidiary?

How much you pay will depend in good part on what you are looking for. Obviously bigger = more $$$$. Try looking at Bosch, Vitek & Raytec

Do a few searches and you can get quite a bit of info. I do not have experience with either of those cameras but you can see from posted stills that the ACTI cameras tend to come with crappy optics. There is a thread showing the difference a better lens can make(it was an ACTI camera but not the 1231). Axis M1114 gets really good reviews but it not a true day/night camera and no audio(if that matters). In fact the M1114 appears to have better night time performace than the P Series. Arecont seems to stir a lot of debate on the board. Some people like them and some people hate them. Most complaints center around crappy support and difficult setup. Although there are also complaints about night time performance which others counter is the result of poor setup(user error). Arecont does have the dual sensor 3135 with H.264 compression. It may be slightly outside your budget once you factor in lenses. Dual sensors should in theory give better performance. They are worth a look. If you want to know if Exacq or Milestone support a camera go to their webpage and they will list all the cameras they support. If it is not on the list it is not supported except maybe for basic funcationality through a universal driver.

In case anyone is interested, I talked to Stardot and support in Milestone for the new H.264 cameras is being worked on and hopefully will be available in 2 months or so. Also, the generic drivers in the most recent Milestone version supposedly should provide basic functionality(i.e. view and record). Since I obviously do not have a camera in hand I have not tested this myself.

Rather than spam the forum with a bunch of posts I thought it would better to put everything in 1 post. 1. Sanyo - I have been looking at the VCC-HD2500 and the 4600. I saw a post from someone saying that it only does 2.5fps at 4MP. The specs say 30ips at full resolution. Anyone else care to share their experience regarding real world frame rates? Also, how are the Sanyo lenses? If I get the 2500 would I be any better off with say a good Fujinon or Kowa lens over the Sanyo ones? 2. Mobotix - I will be using Milestone Essential. How well do the Mobotix cameras work with Milestone? I hear many good things about the IQ not so much the software which in any event I have no intention using. 3. Stardot- I was looking at the network SC model, I see they have a newer model that uses H.264. Anyone know if this model SDH500BN will work with Milestone? I see they have the non H.264 model listed but not the H.264 one so I assume not but I was wondering if anyone has tried. Also anyone care to share any hands on experience with these? ipvideomarket seemed to have a good opinion of these cameras. 4. Iqinvision - One of my concerns with the IQEyes is that none of them see to use auto iris. How much of an issue is this? From what I have read manual iris seem to work best in constant lighting situations which I assume would hinder D/N operation. 5. Axis - I have some old Axis 210s I will be moving to less critical locations and replacing with Axis M114 cameras. Looking at both specs, it seems like the stand is the same size. Anyone know if the stands are interchangeable? It would make mounting new cameras a snap. 6. Multistreams - Can someone briefly explain or point me to a link explaining what the benefit of a camera producing multiple streams is? If you are still reading at this point thanks!

Well the foyer is cinder block walls for fire purposes so doing any sort of modifications is a real PIA but I will try along the lines of what you were suggesting and see what I come up with. Thanks Probably wouldn't be hard for an electrician to add one of these to the circuit. Pretty much all of them fit in a regular single-gang space. They're designed to replace a standard light switch. I have one in my back-door foyer and one in the guest bathroom. I can't speak for the specific one I linked you (I just did a Google search) but many of them DO have light sensors as well, and will only turn on below a darkness threshold that you can set. They also have user-settable off timers. That one was just for illustration... there are lots of different versions out there. If it's workable, it would probably make more sense to just use the existing lighting (not to mention, it would look a lot cleaner).

Moderator - If this post is in wrong forum please move to correct forum. Thanks. I am thinking of using white light over IR. I was looking at the Raytec lights which look nice. What I would like is a motion activated low voltage LED light. The first area is a foyer(I don't want to get into why they don't just leave the lights on) about 7'x15'. Being the entrance size and style are a factor. Illuminating to 5-6' in front of the camera would be sufficient. The second area is a 15 car garage. I'd have to measure but say roughly 120 degree spread with decent illumination to at least 15'. If you have specific product recommendations or at least companies to check out would be helpful. Thanks.

@Soundy - I assume you mean in the camera. You are probably correct. It could be done but that would add to the cost of the camera. @Wireguys - I am not really looking to access this remotely although it would be nice to have that option if we choose to use that at some point. It is for deterrence, identification after the fact and non-continuous monitoring during the day. I am not trying to necessarily trying to get the highest MP spec. I know that more MP does not always equal better IQ and the more MP you cram in the smaller the pixel pitch creating more noise. 11 TB is a little insane. Luckily, I am not looking at all 5MP cameras. Only 2 need that kind of resolution. I have 2 vga cameras. The other 2 can be 1MP or so and the other one maybe 2 or so.

The garage lights are on a timer. There is no switch for them in the garage. The only manual switch is in the timer box. For the foyer, I would need to find one that would fit in a double gang box. Probably can be done. Also I would have to think about how that would work. The lights are on during business hours. A porch type sensor light makes more sense. The light stays off when it is light outside and only turns on at night when sensor is activated.

Wow, I completely missed that. Thanks. What is the point of limiting H.264 to HD mode? Wouldn't it make sense to have it available for the bandwidth hogging 4MP mode? I was estimating about 2TB using Milestone's calculator but I am sure you would have a better handle on a real-world figure. And that sucks about Stardot. I still may use one for outside for the operating temp spec. Now I will definitely take a second look at Arecont.

Well, it wasn't ALL you I did read that their low light performance was not that great because of long shutter times. I know the setup should only have to be done once but is it too much to ask for a camera that isn't a hassle to setup? I will take a second look at them. Check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=21982&hilit=aztech Probably reading some of my posts In fairness, don't discount Arecont outright, they do work quite well once installed (at least the AV3155DNs I've been using do), and ideally once you pull your hair out getting them installed and set up, you shouldn't have to do it again

I thought that the new Sanyos(2500 & 4600) used H.264 or is their implementation that poor? I have been trying to stick with H.264 cameras for the storage/bandwidth considerations although I read that the savings may depend on what is being recorded and there is some loss of IQ compared to MJPEG. The system will have 7 cameras when done with the possibility of 2 more at some point. We currently record for 30 days but none of the current cameras are MP. The network infrastructure(cat 5e) will only carry traffic from the cameras and the server is dedicated for the cameras. I do not have a specific FPS target in mind but this is not for a retail store so a high FPS should not be necessary. I would think that less than 5FPS would be too little but the higher MP count cameras at full res may not do that. The specs are often vague. As to Arecont, I originally was looking at Arecont but to be honest I have read so many bad things about them(poor support, difficult to set up, etc) that I am not really looking at them now. They do have good pricing,were one of the first to implement H264 and I like their dual lens D/N cameras which to me seems to be the best way to go. Most companies do not do use dual lenses.

What about a wireless "nanny" cams? I have seen ones hidden in "motion sensors", alarm clocks, air purifiers, etc