EWKiter
n3wb
Hi All -
I posted this similar request about a year back, but my existing camera has limped along, so I continued to stick with it. I would like to replace at this point with a more modern camera.
For the past decade, I have had a Canon VB-C50i power-over-ethernet camera mounted outdoors in a dome. It has been a fantastic camera for my particular application because of its 26x optical zoom, even though the resolution is highly antiquated at this point. It is pole-mounted on my roof and points out to a surf spot that allows me to zoom in and out to get different views. I specifically did not get a pan and tilt camera out of privacy concerns for my neighbors. Even though the flash interface for the web has long since not worked (I used to be able to embed the camera on a web page, pw-protected), my friends and I can still access it via an IP cam app and it is password-protected. It has worked great. One major downside is that it was a nightmare to initially set up, and I have not been able to get it to work with a newer router either, so I have to use it with an older router to keep it working. Anyway, it is old….
Accordingly, does anyone have some solid recommendations specifically for a good POE ip camera, that has great distance zoom capabilities? It would be great to have a high amount of optical zoom like my old Canon, but perhaps with the resolution of today’s cameras, I can get away with far less optical zoom and rely on digital? I don’t need pan and tilt, but if the better choices have it, so be it. I want to just be able to plug it in to my existing POE cable up on the existing pole without much fuss.
What I have to have:
What I don't need (but can live with if need be).
I have to believe there are some good outdoor choices out there that would work well for my application? There are certainly public web cams that are out there that seem to work really well. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.
I posted this similar request about a year back, but my existing camera has limped along, so I continued to stick with it. I would like to replace at this point with a more modern camera.
For the past decade, I have had a Canon VB-C50i power-over-ethernet camera mounted outdoors in a dome. It has been a fantastic camera for my particular application because of its 26x optical zoom, even though the resolution is highly antiquated at this point. It is pole-mounted on my roof and points out to a surf spot that allows me to zoom in and out to get different views. I specifically did not get a pan and tilt camera out of privacy concerns for my neighbors. Even though the flash interface for the web has long since not worked (I used to be able to embed the camera on a web page, pw-protected), my friends and I can still access it via an IP cam app and it is password-protected. It has worked great. One major downside is that it was a nightmare to initially set up, and I have not been able to get it to work with a newer router either, so I have to use it with an older router to keep it working. Anyway, it is old….
Accordingly, does anyone have some solid recommendations specifically for a good POE ip camera, that has great distance zoom capabilities? It would be great to have a high amount of optical zoom like my old Canon, but perhaps with the resolution of today’s cameras, I can get away with far less optical zoom and rely on digital? I don’t need pan and tilt, but if the better choices have it, so be it. I want to just be able to plug it in to my existing POE cable up on the existing pole without much fuss.
What I have to have:
- POE, and able to be fully-exposed to all weather, either by itself or in a weatherproof enclosure
- great long distance resolution and zoom capabilities, controllable by whoever is operating and viewing via the camera.
- need to be able to view on an IP Cam Viewer app, on a password-protected basis, anywhere via an Apple iOS device. Would be nice to embed the cam and be able to view on a website, but that is not of critical importance.
- needs to be easily configured on an Apple Mac, I don't have access to a Windows machine. Ease of setup and programming is really hoped for - at least more intuitive than my old one, which required a Windows machine for initial setup.
What I don't need (but can live with if need be).
- pan/tilt. Although it would be cool if I can limit the camera to just zoom capabilities for outside users, while I have full P/T/Z capabilities as the owner. Is that possible? Alternatively, if I can just pre-program different views which my users can pick from, that would be great as well? As long as outside users can't pan and tilt out of respect for my neighbors, than would be great.
- night vision not needed
I have to believe there are some good outdoor choices out there that would work well for my application? There are certainly public web cams that are out there that seem to work really well. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.
Some of the newer models incorporate a stationary camera and PTZ. I honestly believe that is the future for such hardware. One pointed at a primary active zone while the PTZ can be used to auto track a target of interest.