Outdoor IP PTZ recomendation

[WilliamA 0]

I'm looking at adding an IP PTZ to my set-up. And looking for help on recomendations.

 

I'm new to all of this and don't really know what's out there.

 

What I'd like is

• 
  As inexpensive as possibly, ideally $500 or less, but less expensive is always better
  Outdoor rated
  Wired is fine (will be a short easy run, don't currently have POE so abiilty to use seperate power wire)
  Minimum of TV/640x480 resolution, would like to go Megapixel if possible or even anything higher than TV/VGA resolution
  NO IR lights
  Low Lux sensor
  Good zoom (would like as much zoom as I can get, prefer more zoom than wide angle, something around a 3-4mm at the wide end would be fine... approx 40degree viewing or possibly a little less)
  iPhone compatible viewer, or compatibility with software that is.
  

 

The camera will be an augment to 8camera CCTV/DVR system and will be mounted high (2nd floor eave, approx 17-20' up) and will be used to augment existing set-up for closer shots, and to fully monitor busy street (fill in holes in CCTV system, ability to zoom in for facial/detail shots, etc) I know mounting high isn't ideal, trying to make sure I'm over all obstructions and have the maximum view possible for the camera... may end up lower if it will work.

 

some cameras I've seen stats on that I liked.

 

http://foscam.us/products/foscam-fi8620w-wired-ip-camera.html

I don't like the 640x480 resoultion, however my dad has 2 wireless Foscam fixed cameras and I have to say, for 640x480 and wireless I'm pretty impressed, they are pretty sharp, clear, etc. But the price point, etc is nice. And I've seen what thier cameras are capable of... It's not without downsides such as the 1/4" sensor, etc. But for the price looks pretty good.

 

http://www.cctvsecuritypros.com/gv-ipcam1-3m-color-vandal-proof-dome-ip-camera.html

This Geovision GV-IP Camera 1.3M looks pretty nice too... a bit high for my budget... but might be something I'd willing to splurge on if it warranted it... the Megapixel image is nice... a little wide on the zoom range since it's a 1/3" sensor... better low-light performance and some other stats, including the audio, etc. But I don't know anything about Geovision, the quality, etc... and it's way on the upper end of what I'd want to spend, even kind of out of budget...

 

 

Again suggestions/recomendations... I'd like to stay around $500 or less if at all possible, looking for a best bang to buck ratio here. I'd consider going up over that some, but there's just no way I can justify going too much higher... $1,000 is way overkill, and even $800 is hard to swallow.

[jxk716 0]

I can't imagine you will get any kind of decent PTZ for under $500. Here is what we have: Veilux VP-FDNC27X. Got it on 2Mcctv for under $800. The upper left day shot is an example of the zoom at less than half of its optical capability. The night time is an example of its widest view (sorry, I know I have zoomed around at night but could not find the footage). The night zoom is impressive since it changes to B/W effortlessly.

[buellwinkle 0]

There's two reviews on my blog for PTZ, the Panny WV-SC385 (indoor cam but you can get the optional outdoor housing for about $250 more) and the Axis P5545-E, both good 720P PTZ cameras. Will be reviewing the king soon, the Axis Q6035-E which is a 1080P PTZ camera which lists for $4,500, add the mount and midspan to power it and sales tax, you are at over $5K, just wanted to let you know so you will think everything else is cheap by comparison, hahaha.

 

I do have a review on my blog for the Foscam too but that's not PTZ, it's just PT and not outdoor ready. You zoom by physicaly carrying the camera closer to your subject, what I call sneaker zoom. You can't really put it in an outdoor housing because the LEDS will reflect back. It's not day/night, it's night only so plants may look purplish brown during the day. Get the clones, some are made better and you can find them on eBay for $50.

 

Haven't reviewed any Geovision yet, but that's not a PTZ camera, so you may be splurging up the wrong tree.

 

If you want to get creative, check out my review of the ACTi KCM-5211E. It's an outdoor 4MP (double 1080P) camera that has an 18X optical zoom. No Pan/Tilt but has support for an external pan till device that's not too expensive. So may be a cool PTZ for about a grand.

 

The least expensive PTZ I would recomend is the Panasonic BB-HCM580a (non PoE) or the BB-HCM581a (PoE). Again, stick in an outdoor housing and you have a nice PTZ, albeit VGA resolution for under a grand.

 

Another interesting alternative may be to get 360 degree camera, like an ACTi KCM-3911 ($600ish) which is 4MP and puts out 6 streams, so like having 6 cameras, each one pointing in a different direction to make 360 degrees. No optical zoom though but what PTZ camera lets you see 360 degrees at once? You would have to setup a patrol to stop at 6 different locations, each location only getting maybe 10% of the camera's time. Geovision and Mobotix also offer similar cameras. The Mobotix is day only, runs about $800ish, the Geovision is comperable to the ACTi in functionality, did not look at the price but demo'ed the camera at ISC and it looked good and my guess is pricing is comperable to the other two.

[tomcctv 187]

The camera will be an augment to 8camera CCTV/DVR system

 

 

hi. no point looking at IP if you dont have a hybrid

 

analog i would look at the CNB range of PTZ .... just on your price range for the 27x.

[WilliamA 0]

Thanks guys.

 

Well I wanted to add the IP camera on as a seperate system, I could get the software to record to my PC, but mainly to have a high resolution camera I could possition to see what the CCTV was missing, etc... as of right now I wasn't too worried about recording, but could easily get the software to do so.

 

That Veilux looks pretty darn good. I didn't realize at first it's not a Megapixel IP... of course the DVR helps too... I know the DVR is the weak link in my system... the cameras look not too bad, but the compression on the H.264 recording limits the quality quite a bit.

 

I've been thinking about adding some CNB domes, and PTZ in the near future... the thing is I sort of want the views I have to remain unchanged too... maybe a couple of them I wouldn't mind having as PTZ and parking them where they are now... but for the most part I want to record how I'm set now, and add something else such as IP to augment in between... most likely manual/motion record only.

 

I also pulled a bone head move in thinking my DVR could only control one PTZ camera because there was only one plug for wires... DUH! It's addressable... boy did I feel dumb... and now just admitted it to the world!

 

Any good sources for the CNB?

 

I think maybe that's where I head for the immediate future, getting a couple CCTV PTZ's to put in a couple key spots, park them where the views are now... Then if I need/want I can zoom in, or pan around to get a better view of things. 10x should be more than enough for most of them. And then maybe down the road a year or two add an IP or two, just to have some really good cameras.