voip-ninja

Sorry but that looks totally creepy.... like it's going to come alive and attack the dog. Here's a thought, if you aren't home enough to give your dog treats maybe you shouldn't have a dog.

Thanks Buellwinkle, very interesting stuff. I would still like to see motion video at night because that is almost always where cameras fall down, especially if lighting is poor. Considering the high cost of Mobotix I might still be better off waiting for the next round of AXIS P33 series fixed domes that will have high quality adjustable spread illuminators, I expect that we will see the 720P one going for $800 by the end of the year. You did write one thing that I thought was confusing, that you used Mobotix with dual B/W sensor to cover the pool area, but in your blog review the daytime image is definitely in color.

Buellwinkle, do you have any example videos of Mobotix D14 night time performance? Is there an off-the-shelf model that has 3.3 or wider lenses for both day and night mode?

Put the wireless access point in bridging mode. Plenty of tutorials on how to do this with DD-WRT.

The documentation is not clear on this point, I was looking for info before I order one. It would be mounted to siding under a roof eave on the corner of my garage.

Yeah, I'm also eagerly awaiting the new models with built in IR lamps. Any word on availability? Mark sent me a PM that they don't have actual part numbers for them yet, so it will be a while, perhaps this fall. I'm willing to wait, they look like very interesting cameras.

Thanks for the information Mark. I take it that the new 720P P33 series cameras with integrated IR won't be out for a while? That looks like it could be just the thing I need, assuming Axis does a good job with the IR. I understand that the IR will be variable angle and intensity which should make it pretty impressive if they do it right.

Thanks Mike. Right before pulling the trigger I saw info on the new Axis P33 series cameras coming out next month that will have integrated IR, and they will also have the newer more sensitive sensors and lightfinder tech. So I'm going to wait and see how the review from BuellWinkle looks on those and even though they are quite a bit pricier than what I can get a P3344-VE for it might be the ticket at least for the locations I have that need high quality night time coverage.

That's true. I do like Synology's front end though and iOS app. It is disappointing to hear that you aren't too impressed with the PQ of the 83xx Axis, I was under the impression it had very high quality imaging.

Thanks for the tip. However my NAS does not support that manufacturer and I would prefer a dome to a bullet camera if possible. If I get the 3344 I was planning on using an external IR illuminator with it, which I would also power from PoE.

Thanks. You weren't able to simply screw the camera base into the ceiling/soffit? I guess that my source of confusion is that in the installation manual I didn't see instructions for mounting on a ceiling, only wall mounting. I'm nervous now about assuming things will work, as I've been burned a couple of times.

I am in Colorado, it does not get quite as cold but I also need winter operation for below freezing weather. Another thing you may or may not have thought of is night time illumination, assuming you don't want to leave lights on all night. I bought a Vivotek IP8361 for around $500 to try out. It is actually pretty good and works well with my Synology surveillance station. It has a pretty wide lens, built in IR illuminators and has a built in fan and heater that give a very wide operating temp range off of standard POE. Another camera to consider that looks good, but is on the higher end is Axis 8344-VE. It also has a really good temp range, has a better lens (one button zoom and focus vs the manual adjustments on most cheaper domes). The downside is no built in IR. Mobotix are supposed to be outstanding but I have not found any used ones I can pick up at a reasonable price to play with.

Guys, In my continued camera experimentation I am thinking about giving Axis a go. I have found a very cheap Axis P3344-VE but the catch is it has the 12mm lens and I really need a 6mm lens. Is there a good source for lenses (I am assuming the P3344 uses board lenses)? How much would such a lens typically cost?

OK,. thanks. Looks like perhaps the camera I am looking at takes a lens type other than a bog standard board lens.

How big of a field of view do you need? What are the temperature ranges where you are? If you want to do facial recognition, etc, even at night then you might still need good IR illumination and you also might need to record at higher resolutions like 1280X1024 minimum. Most of the fixed dome cameras have pretty terrible integrated IR that is more like a spot light than a wide beam illuminator... lower end IR will also wash out faces, etc, at night. The better IR solutions have proximity sensors and will dial down the IR brightness when something is closer to the camera. Under $500 is tough. Most of what is in the market is priced in the $600-$800 range.

buellwinkle, Are you still planning on reviewing some of the Axis fixed dome products this year?

Well if he is dumping to a Synology 1512+ it can handle a 200MB/s read/write speed assuming he installed 7200 RPM disks in it. He would also have 10TB of formatted storage assuming he built it for loss of up to one drive for redundancy. In other words, he's probably covered.

Synology supports a max resolution of 1600x1200 so Synology is probably turning down the resolution on the cameras and/or doing other things that are playing havoc with the camera settings insofar as camera companion is concerned. Have you inquired with Axis if what you are trying to do is supported? You can see if the camera logs give you more info about what is occurring.

I agree - what's the point of even coming onto the forum, let alone posting in a thread, if all you're going to say is, "Hi, I could help you, but I won't unless you pay me"? If you don't have anything useful to add, just... don't bother. Err, ok. I wasn't asking him to pay me or anyone else. My comment was that he is bidding an extremely complex job that involves many megapixel cameras in a huge marine area and he shows up at an enthusiast site asking for help so he can bid his job. It's kind of like if I showed up a a diesel engine enthusiast forum and said "hey, I know nothing about diesel engines but this guy will pay me $1000 to fix his, so tell me everything I need to know to do this job".

This thread is for images and demos, you should probably start a new thread up if you are asking for advice.

That was my point. Thank you I suppose I should expect it. I've had people try to "friend" me on LinkedIn, just so they could try to pick my brain (for free of course) about telecom. Sorry, but my 16 years of experience in the industry carries a pretty hefty price tag.

It seems rather amazing to me that you would be trying to bid a job on a technology that even home enthusiasts apparently know more about than you do.

I ordered a Brickcom VD-130NP about a week ago (via NeoBits) and today it showed up. I have been really anticipating this camera after seeing the stellar night time performance that seems possible with the Brickcom bullet cameras as I am trying to find a suitable replacement for the Vivotek FD8361 that has pretty marginal night time performance. The VD-130NP ships in retail style packaging, which was a bit of a surprise. In the box is just a software/manuals CD, minimal installation hardware (bare terminal block connectors and a security wrench along with a few anchors and screws)... and of course the camera itself. The camera seems to be of decent quality and looks to be done in the style of Axis cameras, with a solid metal enclosure (no weather gasket though) as well as a rubberized gasket of sorts on the base that has a hole for cable entry. This is not the completely waterproof style housing that I am used to seeing on some other cameras, it is up to you on whether that's a good or bad thing. It does include a packet of desiccant that are supposed to be zip tied inside of the camera enclosure to keep moisture from accumulating. The camera does have a small block heater and a fan, that are basically added to the basic camera body. The manual recommends opening up the side access port on the camera base for ventilation, which I find odd, as it is possible that if this is opened up, water or debris could enter the camera with the very open design that it has. I had trouble powering this camera from my DSine power injectors, the camera would not turn on at all. I happened to have a power injector for an Avaya IP Phone and that powered the camera up. The camera specs claim that it will work with 802.3af power for basic operation and that if you want the heater and fan to operate that you need 802.3at high poe power... I have ordered one of these 802.3at injectors but it has not as of yet arrived. The most alarming/surprising thing I discovered is that although all of the product info pages on the Brickcom website refer to this camera having an IR LED board, it does not (they even include very high quality product photos that clearly show that the camera has LEDs). I actually had more updated documentation from a Brickcom sales rep that actually accurately represents this omission but this is quite a shock, especially for a camera that is touted as a "night pro" model. I had trouble using the Brickcom set up tool to access the camera, but I was able to use an IE browser to access it directly. I have not done much to change the video/camera options, but I did turn the IR cut on. You can see photographs of the camera along with a single screenshot of the video performance below... the photo is in a dim basement, obviously the window is throwing the exposure off (I set to auto iris and turned on WDR)... but I am not expecting low light miracles out of it with no illumination source. At this point I'm not sure if it's worth the effort to install the camera into the permanent location I had in mind as I don't anticipate getting the performance I need out of it. I have contacted Brickcom to see what they have to say about it.... and, I hope that Neobits has a good return policy!

Well, some bad news unfortunately on the Brickcom front. It turns out that due to how Brickcom has implemented dual streaming from these cameras, I will not be able to specify more than one resolution for live-view/recording from my Synology NVR... so, sadly I will have to send it back. The hunt continues for a megapixel camera that's better than the Vivotek FD8361 that won't break the bank. I have found what looks to be a pretty good POE IR illuminator for about $400 so that might also be an option I will investigate (for use with a camera other than the Brickcom.

Just a few more observations; 1. Physical hardware installation on this camera should be extremely simple due to the design although you will have to be careful (I have not installed it as they want to swap it out for me for a different revision).. basically four screws go into the base, with camera guts attached and then the dome goes over the top. 2. The electronic focus and zoom is a REALLY nice feature, be aware it is extremely noisy when you engage it. Lens sharpness does not seem to be nearly as good as the Vivotek 8361 though (much softer at 3mm), and the color saturation with auto white balance is not as accurate, it shifts pretty heavily towards red. 3. This camera does have a really ingenious 3-axis mechanism, initially I thought it was only a 2-axis camera until I noted how they put it together. 4. It is physically much more compact than the Vivotek 8361 so it will be less obtrusive, the flip side is that the Vivotek can be recess mounted, the Brickcom cannot. 5. This camera has extremely limited resolution choices. Basically you have about six different resolutions that it supports, and many of the more common/popular ones (800X600) are not supported. It is clearly geared towards 720P use. 6. The camera supports two different streams, but they have to be at the same aspect ratio, which is really annoying. Also, my Synology does not support the 2nd stream, so both recording and live view must be set to the same stream, which kind of sucks. I have contacted Synology about this.