StanLee2066

I had an Axis m1114 and Logitech webcam running side-by-side in my living room for a few months (waiting for the spring to install the Axis outdoors). The Axis was about 4-5x more expensive (Logitech was $100 and Axis $450).

Right off the bat the Axis was far superior in daytime picture quality. In low light? THAT is what separates the boys from the men. The Logitech is a piece of garbage. Useless. Even in my large open-concept family room/kitchen, a 40w light bulb provided a very nice natural looking low noise picture. The Logitech picture was in complete darkness. Even is respectable low light it had horrible motion blur.

Then there is the point others have made of an IP camera being a powerful self contained PC. I can run multiple cameras without even requiring a PC. If I was to run multiple Logitech webcams I'd need a very $powerful$ PC - and even then ... so where are the savings? My Axis also has many powerful features not available on my webcam.

My $0.2

Thanks for your response.

A friend of mine said that some NAS units use a priority OS and when the HD crashes, it's almost impossible to recover the data due to this limitation. Is this true?

No. There are many free Windows tools available to do this. A friend of mine successfully did this a year ago without a problem.

Hi Guys,

 

I am new to CCTV and IP cameras and would like to setup a NAS storage as well.

 

Please tell me if this sounds possible...I am trying to avoid buying a dedicated DVR or even a PC and just have all my content recorded on a NAS (including other personal data,etc..), so I will effectively have one device that does it all for me.

I'm doing exactly this. All my cameras record directly to NAS on a particular folder, and all my other personal files are on separate folders (using NAS to backup PC files). Has been working perfectly with no glitches for over two years now! I'm using Axis cameras and a Dlink NAS.

Hi,

 

I know this is a very noobish q, but I can't get a clear answer.

 

Can anyone tell me what kind of wire runs to a standard PIR motion sensor?

 

Thanks,

 

Hal

You can use any type of wire between a camera and PIR. There are no special requirements.

In any case you'll want a static IP, either manually set or coming from DHCP according to MAC address

Yes, also called "DHCP device reservation". I use this for some of my equipment - mostly PCs. The idea is to maintain the same address for the device at all times. If there is a major advantage to using DHCP device reservation to accomplish this for very large networks is beyond the scope of my knowledge. However I recently installed a few hundred network capable SSR radios in the network of a mayor city. The IT system specialist simply provided me with an IP address to set for each radio. That being said, I was just the installer with no familiarity of their network setup so can't comment on why this was the best way to go for this particular setup.

Dear experts,

 

I am relatively new in the field of CCTV. Kindly let me know, what is the preferred method to assign IP addresses to the IP cameras, i.e., static or dynamic. Please let me know the answer with possible reasons.

 

Thanks

static. you need to be able to assign a permanent, known address to the camera. otherwise how will you be able to guarantee contact? e.g. would you rather your girlfriend always keep the same phone number or that she change it whenever she likes without telling you what it is?

Thanks for the post and answers...I was about 5 mins from taking the camera down to bench test it!!! I was having the exact same problem and what Moe3615 suggested worked for me with Internet Explorer version 11.0.9.

 

The solution for me was to click on the gear icon in the upper right-hand of IE and select "Compatibility View settings". A popup will be displayed that allows you to add the IP address. Click the Add button and the full working page should be displayed.

 

This has never happened to me with the KCM-5611 so I'm guessing IE was updated. ACTi needs to release a fix for this in the next firmware.

 

FWIW this does not happen with any of the E* series cameras. They can be configured in Chrome and IE (I haven't tried Firefox).

It's the same problem with Axis cameras. Even with EI in compatibility mode it only works 98%. Microsoft is trying to get rid of ActiveX and it's creating multiple problems for hardware that depends on it. I can just assume Axis is currently re-writing their firmware/software to work without ActiveX - what else can they do? At least I understand what's going on. Can you imagine all the poor fools out there who are pulling their hair out and ready to return the equipment? Overall I really love Microsoft products, but c'mon already. Fire the idiots doing this!

Yes taking a 3 MP camera and setting it to 1920 x 1080 will crop the image but either way you will still get more in the shot when set at 3MP (2048 x 1536)

How is that even possible? The frame of view will be exactly the same as if the picture was at 640x480. It's just captured with more detail.

Well. I've had the camera for about 3 days. Got to play around with it a bit. Problem: the camera doesn't seem to trigger from motion through glass..

 

I have the camera setted up by strapping it to the passenger headrest. I have the motion sensitivity on high. Leaving the camera on for 8 hours, away at work, the only footage I get is: be adjusting the camera and turning it on in the beginning and driving in my car. It has never triggered or anything outside the car (glass).

PIR does not work properly through glass. Does this camera have a trigger i/o input? You might have luck sticking a separate sensor outside the vehicle. Otherwise, your best bet is to use a regular IP camera that uses changes in video frames to detect motion. I believe many cheap dashcams have this ability too.

Able to see my Cameras from Wifi but not 3G/LTE

So you're at McDonalds using their free Wifi and you can see the camera, but turn off the Wifi and use your data plan and it suddenly stops working? It's your phone that's got the problems....

You can use any IP camera you wish, and even may types of dashcams. The only trick is power. However if you use your vehicle every day you can probably hook-up directly to battery with no drain issues. If you have any concerns, just purchase a separate car/motorcycle battery. Good luck!

I've been using it for over a year now and really like it. Interestingly, after a couple of months use my SD card seemed to fail. I had no idea the ACC may have been at fault until I saw some of the replies in this thread. Nevertheless, the SD recording was just an experiment and have been recording to NAS ever since with no issues.

I agree. The Axis Camera Companion software is really great.

If you don't mind letting your PC run 24/7, uploading images/video to the SkyDrive is a no brainer - as easy as recording to a folder on your PC.

EDIT: I also can easily record video to local NAS, and make these files available for anyone outside my network to FTP, but I'm not sure if this is the solution you're looking for.

So, in short, it apparently CAN be set in the web configurator but it isn't terribly obvious on where or how to do it. I asked for it to be adjustable to faster in the regular section under Video&Audio/CameraSettings in the next firmware update so we'll see how that goes.

Fantastic post. Thank you very much for sharing this information!

All in all, Axis are better on paper with the better low light capture and their cheaper price, but I feel like the end product picture quality might be lacking. I should probably just listen to your advice and go for the Axis model, since they are easier to install and manage...

The Axis are not just better on paper, their low-light performance really is outstanding. Why do you feel the picture quality might be lacking? I have one and can vouch for their excellent picture quality and performance. They are also extremely flexible in how you can use them - haven't come across any limitations for my needs. They are well built and rugged. It's been -25C for a few day here and still working fine

EDIT: I have the p3364-VE

I have 2 cameras with bad pictures, they are both ran underground thru conduit using rg59 (not burial). Im going to run 2 new wires and go with a direct burial rated cable this time in the conduit. First do you recommend rg59 or cat5, its about 150 foot run. I have seen some burial coax that says its gel filled and I have seen some that doesn't say its gel filled, do I need the gel filled ?

 

Thanks

Have you considered other reasons why you might be getting a bad picture from your cameras? A 150f cable run of rg59 is not bad, and since you're already running the cable via conduit, it should protect it from UV and moisture/freeze-thaw long term damage. It's not a bad idea to use burial grade cable anyways, but I do not believe using them will suddenly give you a better picture - have any outdoor connections been compromised?

Hi

 

Anyone come across this before?

 

Picture attached shows a vehicle leaving slowly. Axis p3367 @1600x1200 9.6Mbps via a 3COM Baseline Switch 2426 poe, Computer has a RTL8169 realtek gigabit pci card, intel xeon x5550 2.67GHz. 4gig RAM

 

Only one other camera is also being recorded which is a HIKVISION 2CD2032

All so happens on the other camera when motion is recorded.

 

Thoughts?

 

Cheers

Looks like a possible MP4 codec decompression issue. Have you tried viewing the files on a different computer?

so which brand u recommend? Lorex?

I love my Axis cameras. Excellent quality, service and support....but you pay good $ for them. Range from ~$300 to $1000 each. I save by recording straight to my NAS (on-board SSD also possibly) and so do not even have an NVR. However there are MANY other great cameras available at lower cost. Everyone here would give you different opinions!

Have you checked buellwinkle's site at http://www.NetworkCameraCritic.com? It's a great place to start reading.

Thanks a lot. So i decided to go with latest NVR instead of DVR and some HD camera.

Which brand do u recommend? Most people here seem to like Dahua? Is that same as Q-See here in Canada?

Also do u know what is legal implications of audio recording here in Canada?

Here is what i have understood for mic setup:

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2020/kc3a.jpg

The only concern is most NVR comes with one audio input so if i do the setup like i mentioned in that drawing so which camera would i be listen or recording audio with as i would have 4 different cameras

From what I can see, there is a reason Dahua is often a topic of conversation ... LOTS of issues/problems. Do you want to spend your time minding the store or babysitting your cameras?

Bottom line.... 5Mbps is more than enough to stream high quality HD video to your home. Feel you need more for some reason? Just to let you know Rogers ISP offers up to 250Mbps upload speeds. Problem solved.

But you have to ask yourself: "Am I going to sit at home 9:00am to 9:00pm continuously watching my staff on all cameras?" Of course not! What you want to do is continuously record your video on all your multiple cameras to a locked-up NVR on your local network in the store. This can be done on all cameras at max HD resolution/fps and low compression ... and at no ISP cost. You can always look back through your recording to check things out - especially if there was an event. Just setup a stream of your most important camera with audio (cash register) to watch at home whenever you like. You can always select between camera views.

so how many cameras do you have? so at that resolution u use 300-400 kbps ? is that upload or download? and this is for ip cameras right?

 

Also u said u got 320x240 so if i have HD camera can i make it stream for lower resolution like would it have this option ?

The 300-400 kbps is upload from single camera. If I'm viewing 3 cameras on my monitor with same settings, the total download will be 3x 300-400 kbps ... and yes, a well designed IP camera would allow you to stream/record at mutiple different resolutions and other settings you choose.

I'll be using Rogers cable internet. Currently i am in Alberta but soon ill move to Toronto and my new shop will be in Toronto.

 

I am just confused if this internet will be fast enough for 1080p if not i might go with lower end cctv system

Just because you have 1080p camera doesn't mean you're stuck with this resolution for all your needs. For example with my cameras (Axis), I record all my video in 720p @ 30fps, but have multiple viewing streams I use at various (lower) resolutions/fps and compresion values depending on my location and situation. Bottom line is, a good quality and well designed camera can provide you with plenty of flexibility to meet you needs.

Hey everyone i am planning to buy this: http://www.lorextechnology.com/HD-security-camera-system/IP-security-camera-system-with-1080p-cameras/prod420042.p for my frozen yogurt store here in canada. I was wondering how fast of an internet connection i need for that kind of HD IP camera? I heard it takes a lot of bandwidth so i dont wanna have any lag when i watching my store at home.

thx

I stream my cameras from outside my home at 800x600@15fps and use ~300-400kbps (h264 compression). Looks great. I can also go 720p at just over 1Mbps. I've even got some 320x240 streams that go as low as 20-40kbps at 5fps! I use this for my phone/laptop when at WiFi hotspots.

Also keep in mind that the slowest connection speed will be the UPLOAD from the store. For most people this can range from 256k to 4M.

The problem is, there is no such a option to set lux.

 

So im wondering, is it software related or hardware? if software, then i should figure out how to get in the programming mode.

Your issue is 'firmware' related. I assume like most (if not all) IP cameras, it has a web-based user interface? This is where the programmable options for the camera are configured. If you cannot see the option to change LUX level at which the mechanical filter will turn on/off, I'm afraid you have no choice but to accept the camera pre-programmed setting.