Outdoor Pan/Tilt camera with with alarm inputs?

[victorb 0]

I need an outdoor Pan/Tilt wifi IP camera with with alarm inputs, so I can wire a door sensor to it. I am looking at spending around $200 give or take a little. VGA quality video is okay if that is the best I can get for this amount. Can anyone recommend any cameras that fit my needs?

[Boogieman 1]

why do you need pan tilt? what is the application? Generally pan tilt is a waste...you are much better off with a wide angle HD camera....

[victorb 0]

This camera is to monitor a dementia patient. I need to be notified when the walk through the door to go outside and be able to watch their movements to make sute the go back inside. This why I need a pan and tilt camera.

[Boogieman 1]

This camera is to monitor a dementia patient. I need to be notified when the walk through the door to go outside and be able to watch their movements to make sute the go back inside. This why I need a pan and tilt camera.

Heres the deal, wifi in general is not reliable, although it can be ok....but it will never be 100%...considering that you need to power the camera somehow, you may as well use power over Ethernet and run a single line.

Motion detection, particularly on cheap cameras will produce TONS of false alarms from changes in lighting conditions....

You may want to get two cameras so you can see what is going on at all times.

some cameras have built in pir motion detectors that will limit false alarms hikvision axis, av-tech make these type of cube cameras...

[victorb 0]

Motion detection, particularly on cheap cameras will produce TONS of false alarms from changes in lighting conditions....

 

I have talked with a lot of people about motion detection and they have all told me that even $2000 cameras still have problem with false positives when it comes to motion detection. So any form of reliance of motion detection is off the table as far as I am concerned. A camera that can be triggered via a door sensor will be 100%, so why would I even consider anything that would be less then that.

 

Heres the deal, wifi in general is not reliable, although it can be ok....but it will never be 100%...considering that you need to power the camera somehow, you may as well use power over Ethernet and run a single line.

 

I agree that wifi can be untrustworthy in some case, but In my case it has never failed me. If it becomes a problem the solution would be to use the existing power source as the Ethernet through the use of a powerline product, instead of running a whole new Ethernet line.

 

You may want to get two cameras so you can see what is going on at all times.

 

I currently have two wide angle camera installed in a crisscross pattern and they do not give me complete coverage of the area I need to see.

 

Some cameras have built in pir motion detectors that will limit false alarms hikvision axis, av-tech make these type of cube cameras...

 

Just for conversation sake. What exactly is PIR?

[cctvmann 0]

Motion detection, particularly on cheap cameras will produce TONS of false alarms from changes in lighting conditions....

 

I have talked with a lot of people about motion detection and they have all told me that even $2000 cameras still have problem with false positives when it comes to motion detection. So any form of reliance of motion detection is off the table as far as I am concerned. A camera that can be triggered via a door sensor will be 100%, so why would I even consider anything that would be less then that.

 

Heres the deal, wifi in general is not reliable, although it can be ok....but it will never be 100%...considering that you need to power the camera somehow, you may as well use power over Ethernet and run a single line.

 

I agree that wifi can be untrustworthy in some case, but In my case it has never failed me. If it becomes a problem the solution would be to use the existing power source as the Ethernet through the use of a powerline product, instead of running a whole new Ethernet line.

 

You may want to get two cameras so you can see what is going on at all times.

 

I currently have two wide angle camera installed in a crisscross pattern and they do not give me complete coverage of the area I need to see.

 

Some cameras have built in pir motion detectors that will limit false alarms hikvision axis, av-tech make these type of cube cameras...

 

Just for conversation sake. What exactly is PIR?

ive just seen your message i have these cameras and they are absolutely superb even with no external lighting they see for 50+ metres. register and order one and youll be chuffed to bits

 

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/H-264-Outdoor-waterproof-700TVL-10x-Optical-Zoom-mini-IR-speed-dome-PTZ-camera-Security-ir/1131342782.html

[Boogieman 1]

Motion detection, particularly on cheap cameras will produce TONS of false alarms from changes in lighting conditions....

 

I have talked with a lot of people about motion detection and they have all told me that even $2000 cameras still have problem with false positives when it comes to motion detection. So any form of reliance of motion detection is off the table as far as I am concerned. A camera that can be triggered via a door sensor will be 100%, so why would I even consider anything that would be less then that.

 

Heres the deal, wifi in general is not reliable, although it can be ok....but it will never be 100%...considering that you need to power the camera somehow, you may as well use power over Ethernet and run a single line.

 

I agree that wifi can be untrustworthy in some case, but In my case it has never failed me. If it becomes a problem the solution would be to use the existing power source as the Ethernet through the use of a powerline product, instead of running a whole new Ethernet line.

 

You may want to get two cameras so you can see what is going on at all times.

 

I currently have two wide angle camera installed in a crisscross pattern and they do not give me complete coverage of the area I need to see.

 

Some cameras have built in pir motion detectors that will limit false alarms hikvision axis, av-tech make these type of cube cameras...

 

Just for conversation sake. What exactly is PIR?

PIR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor

you will not get any false alarms...unless you have pets..

the camera posted by cctvman requires a dvr or dvr card...

good luck finding a standalone wifi camera at 200 with ptz and alarm in. (for your door sensor)..that is also stable and reliable.... you might want to try a cheap foscam ptz, (lots of folks mount the indoor ones outside just under and eve...its junk and will probably die quickly but at your price range....)K. Or go with their outdoor model..keep in mind that you don't need the alarm in on the ptz, you can attach the sensor to a cheaper indoor camera so you get the alert....

What cameras are you currently using?

[victorb 0]

Right now I am using two Foscam FI8903W units. They work just fine for taking pictures, remote monitoring, notification and video quality. obviously they stink at motion detection, but they work well in every respect. I have not had a problem with over wifi or sending me notifications . If I knew more electronics I would try to solder into tje circuit board to attach a door sensor and use one camera as a door monitor and then buy another pt camera for tracking.

[shockwave199 0]

A quick search on ebay brought up this camera.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-WiFi-720P-HD-Outdoor-Dome-IP-Network-Camera-PTZ-P2P-IRCut-Pan-Tilt-Zoom-/191070684613?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2c7cb345c5

 

For 147 bucks I'd take a shot, what the heck. Could be a winner. My Hong Kong ptz camera is in it's third year kicking ass. It's a gamble, but I'd roll the dice if I needed something like this camera. Good luck.

[Boogieman 1]

A quick search on ebay brought up this camera.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-WiFi-720P-HD-Outdoor-Dome-IP-Network-Camera-PTZ-P2P-IRCut-Pan-Tilt-Zoom-/191070684613?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2c7cb345c5

 

For 147 bucks I'd take a shot, what the heck. Could be a winner. My Hong Kong ptz camera is in it's third year kicking ass. It's a gamble, but I'd roll the dice if I needed something like this camera. Good luck.

nice find, plus it has the alarm input and sd card storage...

[victorb 0]

A quick search on ebay brought up this camera.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-WiFi-720P-HD-Outdoor-Dome-IP-Network-Camera-PTZ-P2P-IRCut-Pan-Tilt-Zoom-/191070684613?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2c7cb345c5

 

For 147 bucks I'd take a shot, what the heck. Could be a winner. My Hong Kong ptz camera is in it's third year kicking ass. It's a gamble, but I'd roll the dice if I needed something like this camera. Good luck.

 

thanks. that is a great find. I think it might be worth the gamble. I spent hours searching ebay and did not find it.

[shockwave199 0]

I do believe that has a microphone on that pigtail as well. That's actually a pretty sweet looking camera. But as I said, anything like that is a gamble. The shipping is free but plan on waiting up to three to four weeks for it. Unless the seller says otherwise, it's coming to you the slow route. You'll have to hope it works fully and as you need it to for your situation or else you be stuck with it. Shipping back for a return/replacement is much too costly. The software and the quality of it is an unknown. The picture quality both day and night is an unknown. How much technical support you'll get to set up the whole thing as you need it is an unknown. It is a gamble. Bet as much as you can afford to lose. It's a potentially great deal for a decent looking camera. But it's also a potential loser too.

 

Now here's a gadspot I found as well. This camera doesn't have the alarm/relay inputs. What it has going for it is at least they're in the states. It comes with a free 32g card as well. They have online tech support at gadspot.com. But it may or may not be a good camera, who knows. And again, who knows about the control software or how easy it is to network. I've bought from them before without issue, but just analog cameras.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gadspot-Outdoor-HD720P-PnP-Wireless-IP-Camera-WiFi-Security-Night-Vision-SD-Card-/161161832433?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2585fe67f1

 

Here's the camera direct from them with some manuals

 

http://www.gadspot.com/p-478-gs-w3102.aspx

 

Good luck.

[victorb 0]

I do believe that has a microphone on that pigtail as well. That's actually a pretty sweet looking camera. But as I said, anything like that is a gamble. The shipping is free but plan on waiting up to three to four weeks for it. Unless the seller says otherwise, it's coming to you the slow route. You'll have to hope it works fully and as you need it to for your situation or else you be stuck with it. Shipping back for a return/replacement is much too costly. The software and the quality of it is an unknown. The picture quality both day and night is an unknown. How much technical support you'll get to set up the whole thing as you need it is an unknown. It is a gamble. Bet as much as you can afford to lose. It's a potentially great deal for a decent looking camera. But it's also a potential loser too.

 

Now here's a gadspot I found as well. This camera doesn't have the alarm/relay inputs. What it has going for it is at least they're in the states. It comes with a free 32g card as well. They have online tech support at gadspot.com. But it may or may not be a good camera, who knows. And again, who knows about the control software or how easy it is to network. I've bought from them before without issue, but just analog cameras.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gadspot-Outdoor-HD720P-PnP-Wireless-IP-Camera-WiFi-Security-Night-Vision-SD-Card-/161161832433?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2585fe67f1

 

Here's the camera direct from them with some manuals

 

http://www.gadspot.com/p-478-gs-w3102.aspx

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks. I agree with the points you mentioned. It's a gamble. I have ordered stuff from Hong Kong before. It's always been good, but thos could a big hit if it turns out to be bad. The one thing it showes is that a low cost outdoor PT camera with alarm inputs does exist. I will look to see if I can find ine the US a little longer before ordering that one from hong kong.

[victorb 0]

Well, I took the gamble and ordered the one from Hong Kong. I did actually find another outdoor PT camera here in the US that had alarm inputs (Apexis APM-J901-Z-WS ), but it did not have IR for nightvision, it was only a vga (not the reason I did not get it) and it had pretty bad reviews (2 out of five stars), plus it was more expensive. It was only a $5 upgrade fee for expedited shipping, so hopefully it will not take three weeks to get it. I will let you know how it turns out.

[shockwave199 0]

Cool! Good luck and post how you like it.

[victorb 0]

Okay. I got the camera in. I seems to work fine. Larger then I expected. The web interface is much better then Foscams for sure. Set up was a synch. No instruction manual, but I don't need one. I have not tried it with the magnetic door sensor yet; it is is on order. Quality seems decent, but time will tell. I just have it hanging off a shelf in my house right now to get it all set up and working before I make the 150 mile trip to install it.

 

I have some questions.

 

1. What is a good windows software program I can use to remotely access control this camera? Nothing too expense (free if possible). It came with a generic program called, "Device Client" but I cannot get it to run. It installs but will not run. I want a program that I will be able to program the camera to a preset location and have it automatically return to that location if I move it to follow an activity and forget to move it back to the right location.

 

2. What is a good android app?

 

3. The camera did not come with a dedicated DDNS Service like Foscams do (myfoscam.org). What is the best way to set this camera up for a DDNS service?

[shockwave199 0]

Need more info on the device client fail beyond, can't get it to run . No-ip is the best free dns service. Make an account there and plug in information to whatever software you use. In play store search for Ip camera viewer free and try some apps.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Guest

[shockwave199 0]

Also you'll need to install the camera to properly set up presets and a home position.

[victorb 0]

Need more info on the device client fail beyond, can't get it to run .

 

I got the software to run in compatibility mode. It is really bare bones. Offers no setting adjustments or advanced features. You can use to view the camera feed and move it around and that is it. The web interface is much more functional.

[victorb 0]

Also you'll need to install the camera to properly set up presets and a home position.

 

 

What do you mean by install properly? Not sure what you mean.

[shockwave199 0]

Yeah see, that's what I meant earlier when I said an unknown will be the software control.

 

I got the software to run in compatibility mode. It is really bare bones. Offers no setting adjustments or advanced features. You can use to view the camera feed and move it around and that is it. The web interface is much more functional.

You can't call up a preset in the remote software? If you can, you'll have to know the menu preset for that camera to get into it for system tweaks. Maybe your seller can provide you with a list of presets for such things as opening the OSD menu, starting/stopping a tour, scan, or pattern, restarting the camera, creating presets positions, etc. If it's just not possible to do remotely, than you'll have to set it up locally for it to do the specific things you want it to do. And what I meant about properly installing is that you need to install the camera in it's permanent placement first, before you can program in the appropriate positions for the camera to look at as far as presets and a home position. 'Hanging off a shelf' won't be good for programming positions, as they won't be appropriate when you install it in another location for real.

[victorb 0]

deleted

[victorb 0]

Okay. I got the camera up and running. It works very good. The door sensor triggering system works flawlessly. I am so pleased with it. The camera itself it quite impressive. The video quality is better then I expected at this price range. The web UI is so far superior to the web UI of foscams it is not even funny. It is very fast and has not locked up once. The Web UI does offer presets for PTZ, so I don't have to worry about dedicated software. I have the camera setup to send me an email when the alarm is triggered via the door sensor and I have the K9 email app on my smartphone to receive those emails via Push with the IMAP protocol. So far this system has operated flawlessly and the time delay between the trigger and me receiving the email on my smartphone is only about 3 seconds.

 

All in all I am very pleased. There a couple of thing that I don't like, but nothing too serious. The one thing that I don't like is that the camera cannot come up to a horizontal plane. At it's highest position vertically it is pointed at about a 5 degree down slop from the horizontal plane. I have the camera mounted at about 7 feet high in front of the door. From this height I can see only about 200 feet out from the camera. Of course out at 200 feet you can only see peoples feet. So the farther you want to see out with this camera, the higher you have to lift it up. This is not too bad my purposes, but for other people it might be a deal killer. The other thing is that you cannot set the quantity of pictures to take at each alarm trigger or the time delay between triggers. It takes one picture for each trigger on a 30 second time delay. I also could find no way to set it to take video on alarm trigger. But aside from these things, the camera works quite well and I would recommend it to anyone look for a cheap outdoor solution.

[shockwave199 0]

Great to hear! You could try physically tilting the camera up a couple tics on your home position and see if it holds that position when you recall the home position from other presets. I do that with my camera so I get more upward zoom, in fact it stays level zoomed in. It's way better with more tilt flexibility. The thing is though, you'll have to redo your presets to accommodate the initial manual adjustment upwards to your home position. But if it holds it's awesome and the only time you'll have to redo it is if you have a power loss. So when you do it, try to keep track of how much you moved the camera up so you can get the same spot again if you have to redo it. Give it a try.

[victorb 0]

Okay. Just an update here. The camera has been working flawlessly for a couple months now. I could not be happier with it. I get zero false positives. Response time is mere seconds and I can easily access it and control it from my smartphone. Happy camper!