jackleblack

Hello, Are you required to have a dedicated server / gateway for the high end cameras like the Mobotix M25 or the Avigilon 3 MP H.264 HD, or all the configuration can be done via the web interface and they can run independently? I only need to use them as a webcam that uploads a picture every 2-5 minutes to a website (which they both should support) without any video surveillance. This is an example of the final result I am looking for: http://cams.skilouise.com/cam2.jpg Just some background to the problem: I'm a 2nd year IT networking student, and I got hired as an intern for 3 weeks on a ski resort, where they tasked me with the installation of 2 new cameras for our website with a budjet of ~$1000 per camera. We need them to be high quality, outdoor-proof by -30 C, and upload a picture by FTP to our website every 2-5 or so minutes. We are not going to use them as video surveillance, just as a webcam. I never touched anything beyond simple sub $150 home cameras, so I have no prior experience with the high end cameras. After searching and asking around a bit I got recommended the Mobotix cameras, particularly the Mobotix AllAround M25M-Sec model. The problem is that I wasn't able to find a concrete answer if all the configuration can be done via the web interface and can they run independently, or a server is required for their control. The other camera I was looking at is the Avigilon 3 MP H.264 HD which is a bit pricier, but the image quality looks to be a bit better. Feel free to suggest other cameras if you know of anything that would fit better for this project. Thank you

First, let me tell you, the M24 is a good camera, the M25 is a piece of poo. Their new 5MP sensor which by the way is really 3MP (marketing genius, let people believe they are getting a real 5MP camera but give them 3MP images, nobody will ever figure it out) and the image quality is not in the same league as the older M24 or the Axis cameras. It has a harshness to it that's hard to describe and the image looks like you took a 1MP image and blew it up to 3MP because it has jagged edges and pixilation. I would compare it more to a 1MP Foscam that you took and made into a 3MP image. Yes, that's how bad it is. I did not realize that. I guess you could say that I did fell in their marketing pretty well. Thank you for the heads up, I will be looking at the M24 models. We don't really need 5MP picture quality, we just need something that still looks nice when you put it up full screen and doesn't look too pixelated. The original plan was to keep it at 3MP at most, but when I found out that the nearby resort was using the Mobotix M24 model, and the M25 model recently came out with a higher quality sensor (or so they say, which isn't the case apparently) for the same price, I thought it was a good deal. Being able to take pictures at night is not a huge concern, because the ski resort is only open from 08:30 AM - 04:30 PM, which is the main period we need the clients to be able to see what are the conditions. It would be nice bonus if it would work in the morning at 06:30 - 08:00 AM so that people could look up the conditions before driving all the way up to the mountain. I am not throwing the idea out of the window to be able to capture pictures when it's dark, but it would be a nice bonus, not a necessity. As for the Mobotix Q model, you are right about the fisheye capture. Although it is possible to post-process the image to format you want. After looking a bit more into the process of reproducing it from a fisheye image, I think it's best to stick to the regular lens. Here's the example once again from that same ski resort that I posted previously with the Q24 lens: http://cams.skilouise.com/archives/cam8/2013/12/20/ Thank you very much for this information, I will try to find the M24 model if we end up going with Mobotix. It thought about real time streaming, but I was specifically told that they want only a picture every X minutes. I was not given a specific reason as to why to, so I will mention it today at the meeting and see what the manager says. Thanks again for the detailed replies and the help. I had some time to go over some of the suggestions, and the AXIS P3364-VE does look like a viable alternative. The 6mm version allows it to go down to 2.5 mm focal length with a 105 horizontal FOV which would be really useful for capturing wide shots which is what we might need at the 2nd location. Although I still think that the 1MP sensor is a downside to the quality. It will look fine minimized, but if you would open it full screen the quality is not great for a 720p image. The point of comparison for the quality that I use for any camera is: http://www.skilouise.com/conditions/mountain-cam.php We're hoping to achieve a somewhat similar picture quality with the cameras we will be ordering. Ideally I am looking in the 2MP range (3MP at most), which I personally think is the quality bar that we need to achieve. So, after some digging around here is what I found would fit just within the AXIS brand cameras. For a wide angle shot at the very top I could use the AXIS M3025-VE / AXIS M3026-VE. The price is close ~$551.01 vs ~$649.95 respectively. The downside of the M3025-VE is that is performs way worse in low light compared to the AXIS M3026-VE (about 3 times worse looking at raw data), so I think the M3026-VE would be a better choice overall. As for the base station camera with a regular FOV (<50), there isn't really any comparable dome camera from Axis with the 2-3MP lens. The only choice is the AXIS P3367-VE but that one is a 5MP and costs over $1100. Therefore the AXIS P3364-VE 6mm would the one used here priced at $798.89. The Mobotix counterpart I am comparing as of now is the M24M-Security Day model ~$998.00 with different lenses. Probably the the L22 lens (~85 horizontal FOV) for the top, and the L43 for the base station (~45 horizontal FOV). This is what I used just as a price / lens reference: http://store.videosurveillance.com/mobotix-m24-ip-camera All in all, Axis are better on paper with the better low light capture and their cheaper price, but I feel like the end product picture quality might be lacking. I should probably just listen to your advice and go for the Axis model, since they are easier to install and manage... Well, I'll take another look at the Avigilon camera offers as they are pretty close to Axis according to several reviews and forums, and see if I can find anything comparable to the AXIS P3364-VE model, and if not I will just propose both camera choices and see they would prefer to spend more money and get the more expensive Mobotix solution, or go for a tad lower quality but cheaper Axis ones. Thanks again for all the input buellwinkle

Hello, Thanks for the reply. I took a look at the camera on your website, but it's pretty hard to judge how does it compare without any image / video samples. Hello, Thanks for the detailed response. One of the main reasons I thought of using the Mobotix was because the sample picture I provided above from a nearby ski resort was actually the M24 model, and the quality was really good. Looking at the specs it supports image format of 2048 x 1536 with a 5MP sensor, which is bigger than we actually need for the website, but we can always downsample the image which will result in greater quality anyways. Ideally, the plan I was looking at was to install a panoramic view camera (so maybe the M25 with a wide lens, or the Q25 model) at the top of the mountain on the chair lift, and one lower with a view on the main lodge. I am currently looking at the Axis P33 models, as well as the one you mentionned. I quickly glanced over it and it falls in the same price range, althrough the quality seems to be quite a bit worse for only a $100 difference. I found the Axis P3364-VE at $799 on Amazon, whereas the Mobotix M25M is $899.00. I have some things to take care of, but I will go over it in more detail later today. Cheers