buellwinkle

The ACTi 1231 has twice the resolution, built in illuminator and about twice the focal length range (manual zoom) over the p1343. Never seen that specific camera but the p13's are average, not great so I would say it's close. If you get Axis, make sure it's the E, like in P1343-E for outdoor use.

For my home, I use BlueIris, supports a wide array of cameras, easy to use and setup and designed more for home use and it's under $50. even a provides a website that allows you to see all your cameras together, one at a time and recorded events from just about any device, even cell phones. The alert functionality is pretty good where you can make the computer beep, it can call your phone, SMS or email. Those cameras are good, but maybe overkill. I have images from them if you want to see day/night performance, but a P1346-E is a $1,400 camera not counting the PC and software to do this. You pretty much have to dedicate a PC and it has to run 24/7. Consider ACTI ACM-1231 with the built in illuminators it makes a good camera for home use for about $550.

M12 - What is the difference between SEC and SEC-Dnight model? With the former, below lux threshold, they are useless. The camera can be setup with a day and a night sensor/lens, 2 day sensor lenses, 2 night sensor lenses. The reason for 2 day or 2 night sensor/lenses is to have them at different focal lengths, for example, you may want a 22mm to cover a large area and the 135mm for more detail in the middle of the wide image. Day/night depends on you, but there's no IR cut filter, so if you chose day, you can use it at night, but not with IR ligthing, you need white light, but it's color and it's 3MP. The night sensor is 1MP and B&W and can be used all day. Most people get 1 day and 1 night lens and they come in any variation of 22mm, 43mm and 135mm. Because the night sensor is only 1MP, if you get the day sensor at 22mm, consider 43mm for the night sensor to make up for the less resolution. The night sensor is very good, very clean b&w images in available light. D12 - On same level, why D22 and N22 lens? D12 has all the same features of the M12 an can be ordered without lenses (you pick) or with a kit simlar to the M12. The advantage of the D12 is that you can change lenses and its' a little cheaper. Some people get two day or night lenses because unlike the M12, each lens can be pointed seperately, so you can create in effect a 6MP image by putting 2 3MP images side by side. What is LPF? Example? Don't have a clue, must just be the b&w sensor is sensitive to IR illuminators. You need illuminators to get the best effect at night. R16 models - no SD but 16GB internal? dunno What type of SD cards work best - Class 2, class 4, class 6? Will any NAS do? or there is tested and preferred brand? I don't think it's sensitive to different speed SD cards, heck, I use a 12MP DSLR with cheap SD card and never had a problem. For Mobotix I've used a NAS device, a WD MyBook World Edition that was recomended by Mobotix and has worked very well.

Mobotix cameras can record in one resolution directly from the camera to network storage and stream a different resolution to the MX ControlCenter software.

+1 on the M12, that's the correct camera for day/night use or if you like domes, a D12 with 1 day and 1 night sensor/lens. I think the Q24 is a cool camera, but I have no idea where I would personally use it, it's a niche camera, not the right camera for you. I would not expect a Q24 to do well at all at night. What you can do with Mobotix is open a support ticket on their website complaining that quality is not what you expect and give them a temporary user id/password to your camera and they will connect in and try their best. I don't think there's a more complicated camera to setup that a Mobotix and that doesn't mean I don't love them, just expect to spend 2-3 times more time setting one up than an Axis for example.

I'm assuming you mean PoE cameras. These are powered by a PoE switch or seperate injectors, but you'll need a switch anyhow, so just get a PoE switch. I'll use Mobotix as an example, since they are the type of brand that specializes in a decentralized approach. So say you have four Mobotix cameras, at two locations, so 2 and 2. You would need to get a PoE switch for each location and one NAS per location. You setup the cameras and NAS with fixed IP addresses and attach them all to the PoE switch. Each location is self contained, it records straight from the camera to the NAS. Then you create user accounts on the NAS for the cameras to write to and setup the cameras to write events to the NAS. Then if you want to manage and view the cameras from a central location or the internet, you run ethernet cables or a bridge between the switches and your main router. You can then setup their free MX Control Center software to view a group of cameras. The software does not record anything, it just provides a cleaner way to view & manage the 4 cameras.

Since wordpress provides the site for free, i have no reason to solicit sponsors or charge for anyone for anything, but keep in mind that free means that wordpress puts ads in now and then, so don't think it's me making a quick buck. As for testing methods, I just use what I've learned over the years from camera review sites like dpreview or steves. I basically quote features and specs from the manufacturers website, I provide my comment on how well these features work and I provide sample images and screenshots of the camera's interface. I don't have anything that's supper consistent yet because it's all new. I also plan on posting how-to articles that many newbies get confused about like setting up a router for external use.

I'm in the process of putting in ACTi 1231 around the perimeter of my house, have one in so far, a few more shipped today and it is working well for me (see review on my blog below). Besides the cost of the cameras, you'll need a 4 PoE port switch for which I use a cheapy Trendnet that runs about $60 and then of course you have to run the ethernet wire to each camera back to the switch. If you already have illuminators in some spots, you can put in an ACTi dome, but their outdoor dome is about the same price as the 1231. You can always use the extra illumination to cover areas outside the reach of the 1231. When I show people the difference between VGA/D1 resolution and 1.3MP, it's a wow. When I show them compared to a 3MP camera, it's a bigger wow, but for a good bang for the buck for an individual home, the 1231 is a pretty good deal for all the features you get and if you go all ACTi, they give you the NVR software for free.

I volunteer my time on projects for non-profit organization and our local government where I provide my skills, expertise, time & effort with no personal gain or benefit other than the satisfaction that I've done something good for the community. So if I can get project pricing as an oem partner or through a distributer to help, then I do what I can. Heck, I don't buy for my personal use from the same distributors to avoid any conflict of interest. Nice of you to ask. What's your relationship to the CCTV business? Do you have time to volunteer your time, can certainly use your help. As for the blog, purely a way to share my experience with cameras I've owned or have been lent for eval purposes. The reason is there's no central place to get IP camera reviews in the same fashion you can get digital camera reviews from places like dpreview or Steve's digital cameras. I felt these sites have given me invaluable information about digital cameras, so I want to provide a place that does the same for the IP camera community. If anyone here can help add to the list of ip camera reviews by providing me access to cameras remotely where I can run tests, get sample images, and post the resultts, it would be appreciated by myself and the many that visit the blog.

The camera is set for 1/30 of a second minimum exposure, what I consider bare minimum for capturing a moving person well enough to ID.

Yeah thats a little pricey though if it can see in pitch dark up to 100' and ID licence plates then it could be worth it .. . No camera can see in pitch dark without some sort of illumination aid. What many cameras do to see in very low light is they increase the amount of time the shutter is open, like Arecont Moonlight mode that slows the shutter down to 1/2 second. It's facinating to see that clear image at night and kudos to Arecont for the noise reduction until you realize that a turtle walking across the screen is just too blurry to ID . I set my cameras up to 1/30th of second minimum because above that, a person walking will be too blurred to ID, but you can put a sign, "please standstill and smile for the camera". As for MJPEG vs. H.264, my testing with Axis shows that MJPEG, unless set to the lowest compression setting (100% on Axis), it's going to have compression artifacts, many of which makes a face harder to ID. H.264 from what I've seen actually had less compression artifacts than MJPEG at 100% when I blew up the stills. What I found is that H.264 varies from model to model, even under the same manufacurer. H.264 was significantly better on an Axis M1114, it was actually worse on a M1031. To me the case for MJPEG is that it works on my iPad, H.264 does not.

No, ACTi claims 15m with IR and it does that. Also, where am I going to find a field where my cable can reach I live in So Cal suburbia, where there's a reason they call your them back YARDS, because they are about a YARD deep

The image quality from it on my old AV3100DN was quite good. I dumped the camera on eBay but forgot to sell the lens. I was hoping to be able to use it, maybe get a cheap ACTi cube like Hardwired did and put this lens on for a better image and varifocal capability.

They very local to me, 5 miles away, but haven't really looked at them. I was told they are made in China. I wrote an email to them asking if it's true and they never responded. My impression from them was that their "pro" series is a little pricey and they seem to offer the same sort of NVR software built into the camera thing that Mobotix does. Also, no 775 model on their website, but their pro-line goes to 5MP and their Sentinal is their outdoor camera. I know Rory can appreciate a $1,700 IP camera the most here So my ACTi at $500-600 doesn't sound so expensive now Also, their 5MP cameras on their website are JPEG or H.264, so don't know why the OP is comparing MJPEG compression when H.264 is available and would likely have better compression than what he's comparing it to.

I finally remembered tonight. From the lens to end of the second patio cover is about 55'. The two flower pots have malibu light, and I have one malibu shining up at a tree, that's the only lighting there. Not trying to sell anyone on this camera, just showing it's capabilities.

Nope, but I have accounts at various suppliers.

That's the most I can get at my home. They tried to sell me an upgrade to the max for DSL, 768K, but they checked my circuit and said no. With cable modem, I can get higher, like 2M, but at a very high cost, 10 times what I'm paying for 512K, so I live with it.

Here's the picture of the lens, so Anixter sells fakes, didn't know that.

If this is for outdoor use, and I'm assuming it is, make sure the camera spec say day/night or IR CUT filter. The reason is that if you buy a day only camera, it will not work with IR illuminators and do poorly at night. If you buy a night only camera like you just described, it will do poorly during the day as colors will shift, tress will look pinkish brown to purple which is curse of most cheap outdoor cameras with built in illuminators. Also, there appears to conflicting info on the spec, it has 420 lines of resolution which a pretty low end CCTV spec, yet it says 1280x720 MP resolution. How would that work without just digitally zooming and creating a pixelated image? Also, I would be extremely sketipcal about 100m IR lighting built into the camera. I think the best I've seen on a commercial grade camera with built in illuminators is the Messoa NCR-875, sort of similar camera to the ACTi 1231 I recently reviewed but with a 25m IR range. And to me, the Messoa is probably the closest to the spec you want. It's sort of the opposite of the camera specs you mention in that it uses a 5 megapixel sensor to give you 1 MP, weird but that's their story and how they get a good image. Runs about $125 more than the ACTi though, which in it of itself is a good outdoor camera, just ask thewiredguys, he has some for sale at good price. Just make sure the NVR or software you will be using supports this camera as it's not as widely known about as ACTi or Foscam and the software I use does not support, otherwise I would have gotten one to try.

Mine is different, it's F1.6, 4.5-10mm. I think when I tried to order the F1.8 4-10mm, it was discontinued or the distributor made a mistake. I am fairly certain it's an Arecont lens, came in an Arecont box for my Arecont camera.

Absolutely, it's just when people start looking for what they need, they sometimes find it's not as cheap as they thought and for some reason, having day/night or IR Cut filter capabilites really raises the price on a camera. So for me, $500ish seems to be the bottom for any day/night, outdoor camera, megapixel camera. I've yet to see eBay cheapies with IR cut filters, but I have seen a lot of images with pink trees As for it not being recomended, they show you how to fit in an outdoor housing in one of the FAQ's on ACTI's website.

What sort of internet upload speeds to have in Shenzhen?

If I remember tonight, I'll point the camera that way and capture an image. Hardwire, that's a good difference. The question then becomes, do you spend the money to buy the better lens, or buy the better camera with a better lens already on it. I like those Acti cubes, good price point and interchangable lenses and fits in some outdoor housings.

Quite possibly, but a lens maker can make a lens to a different spec for an oem manufacturer. The lens in that link does not look anything like the Arecont branded lens I have.

Actually, that IR emmitter can project out about 50' with pretty good results, not to be compared with inexpensive eBay specials that do a about 20'. it's just that I pointed it to that chair and it adjusted exposure accordingly, when I shined it to the opposite end of our yard, 50' away, it lights that area up equally. There are sharpening settings to make the image sharper, of course at the expense of sharpening artifacts that I feel make for a nicer picture, but compromises facial recognition. So this is a customer choice. For example, I feel that out of the box, Mobotix has a ton of sharpening artifacts and had to soften the image to get better facial recognition. That being said, the lens is not great, certainly not what I get from cameras with a good CS mount lens or even the glued in lens a Mobotix M12 has. I believe it was hardwire that posted images from an Acti with a better lens installed made a significant difference in image quality, not to say the original image did not provide an adequate image. Also, I had it set to the widest angle image and that cause some lens distortions. When I permanently mount this camera, it will be about 10' further and I'll adjust the varifocal lens closer to the middle of it's range that should improve the image quality closer to it's sweet spot. The day/night filter's job is purely to provide an IR cut filter during daytime to provide for color accuracy. Without an IR filter, the green foliage in the sun may look pinkish brown to purple. What you probably mean about the sun shining in the camera is probably more of auto-iris feature that this camera does not have. This is not usually a huge issue outdoors as people mount cameras high pointed down to avoid sun.