ingrid2476

Well, we are just end-users. Not dealers/installers with obligations/affiliations/connections etc. Also, don't forget that I was writing from a European perspective. It sounds as if support and backup over here is entirely different from it is over your way. Compared to the other CCTV stuff we have, by Panasonic, Sony and Axis mostly, the Sanyo experience was a bad one never to be repeated. I am pleased, however, that so many of your customers are delighted with Sanyo. That's good. Indeed, now that Sanyo is owned by Panasonic I bet they are even more delighted. Your comments on software are appreciated. Thanks . I should also add that Blue Iris now supports the MJPEG stream from the Sanyo camera I was talking about.

SNC-EP521 is the PAL version of this model; SNC-EP520 the NTSC version. I am very pleased with this camera. It performs well at night* and during the day. It is also excellent value. I do not believe there’s another camera currently on the market that offers this much for this kind of money. My other camera, a Panasonic WV-NS202A, was much more expensive and is no longer available. SNC-EP521/520 is cheaper, better and has a much longer zoom. I also like the fact that the camera interface allows the shooting of instant movies (in .avi format) as well as stills. Movie shooting is impossible from the Panasonic interface. For movie shooting with this camera you have to use dedicated (and expensive) software purchased separately. Whereas with SNC-EP521/EP-520, in addition to the interface instant movie-shooting facility Sony supplies a copy of Realshot Manager Lite for more serious users meaning that you can start sophisticated motion recording right away. Also, unlike the Panny, SNC-EP521/520 allows you to store movies on its SD card up to 32Gb capacity. Conversely, WV-NS202A does not allow you to do this and takes a mere 2Gb SD card that only captures stills. SNC-EP521/520 was easy to install using the supplied ceiling bracket. I understand the camera can also be used sitting upright on a flat surface (because the image can be inverted). But I haven’t tried this yet and may not since I am happy with the current (orthodox) arrangement. Do be aware however that SNC-EP521/520 is quite a heavy beast. Being very robustly built with a comforting ‘industrial’ feel it weighs about twice as much as WV-NS202A and is much bulkier. Therefore pay particular attention to the ability of any surface to support it and make sure to use M4 bolts (not supplied) rather than screws (not supplied). This, of course, is irrelevant if you plan to use the camera sitting upright on a flat surface, like a desktop. Because SNC-EP521/520 requires more than twice the power of WV-NS202A (25 Watts as opposed to 12 Watts) you will need a HPoE power injector or switch. I am using a PowerDSine 9001G rated at 30 Watts connected to an ordinary non-powered 100TX switch nearby. Works great. Alternatively the camera will accept 24 volts AC. In addition, I have to say that, although the panning, tilting and zooming controls on SNC-EP521/520 are not as smooth as on WV-NS202A, given all the superior features of SNC-EP521/520, this is hardly a deal-breaker. So all in all I can highly recommend the Sony SNC-EP521/520. * WV-NS202A might ‘just’ have the edge at night. But there’s not much in it. To my eyes SNC-EP521/520 is certainly superior during the day. That 36x zoom and the clarity are quite awesome. SNC-EP521/520 is a terrific camera you will not be disappointed with. Five stars plus from me.

This is a solid camera with a metal case that produces reasonably good video and is well-priced for what it is. Just beware that the quotes you see for VCC-HD2100P will most likely not include a lens. Sanyo recommends using the Fujinon varifocal DC iris types and these seem to give good results. For greatest flexibility in our environment we chose a 2.8-12mm F1.4 model and are happy with it. The Fujinon part number for this lens is YV4.3x2.8SA-SA2L. You should also be aware of the following. 1. VCC-HD2100P can only be viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer up to version 8. It will not work in Firefox, Chrome, any other Windows browser, or on the Mac platform. 2. According to the manual the camera is only supposed to work with Windows XP Professional or Vista and Microsoft Internet Explorer up to version 7. We can confirm however that the camera works okay with MSIE8 under Windows 7 Home Premium. 3. On some Windows 7 Home Premium PCs the Sanyo viewer plugin will not install and the camera cannot be viewed. We don’t know why this is and Sanyo technical support in Germany would offer no help whatsoever other than to say that we had a problem with the PCs in question and should contact our IT supplier. Sanyo also took five days to respond to our original query. They appeared quite indifferent to our problem. 4. As for recording software, VCC-HD2100P will work with Sanyo’s own products, which are incarnations of Luxriot, and also of course with Luxriot itself. The camera also works with Milestone. We tested it on Xprotect Go and Xprotect Basis under Windows 7 Home Premium. VCC-HD2100P will not work with some of the cheaper less complicated NVRs we tried - products like Blueiris, Netcamcenter and Active Webcam. It seems that VCC-HD2100P is not by any means as well supported by third-party softwares as most of the more popular brands of IP camera from Axis, Sony and Panasonic. So, despite the many good things that VCC-HD2100P has to offer, due to the issues outlined above and the indifferent technical support we will not be buying another VCC-HD2100P, or indeed any other IP camera made by Sanyo. If like us you take the view that IP cameras should be highly flexible and easy to deploy this Sanyo product leaves a lot to be desired. In our view there are comparable cameras out there that will give far less hassle than VCC-HD2100P has given us lately. Based on recent experience we think that Sanyo has some considerable way to go before being on par with the major players in the IP camera market.