looking for a midrange fixed dome camera

[chastings 0]

I'm looking for a midrange fixed dome camera with the following rough specs:

 

* 1280x720 @ 10fps

* Day/night IR filter

* $400-700

* Varifocal, 80 degrees wide

* IP66 preferred

* Decent low-light performance, hopefully down to 0.2 lux B/W @ 1/15s without IR

 

I've been poking around quite a few vendor and manufacturer websites lately, and here are the frontrunners so far:

 

* ACTi TCM-7411

* IQeye IQM31NE

* Everfocus EHN3200

* Panasonic WV-SF346

* Samsung SNV-5080R

* Sony SNC-DH120T

 

The specs for those all seem pretty similar to me, so it sort of comes down to reputation/experience and video samples, all of which are difficult to find online. Anyone have any favorites? Is there something else that should be on the short list? Are CCTV-focused brands (ACTi, IQeye, Everfocus) generally preferable to large conglomerates (Pana, Samsung, Sony)?

 

Thanks for your help.

[bike_rider 0]

You've got a couple of tiers of products listed. Forget Everfocus. That sony is in indoor camera.

 

Are CCTV-focused brands (ACTi, IQeye, Everfocus) generally preferable to large conglomerates (Pana, Samsung, Sony)?

 

No. Of those companies (not those cameras), I'd put Sony and Panasonic above the others, everfocus at the bottom and the others somewhere in the middle.

 

Of that list, I'd try the ACTi. In fact I might buy one this summer.

[buellwinkle 0]

For a few bucks more, I would get the TCM-7811 over the TCM-7411 for better contrast, lower noise at night. Uses a CCD sensor instead of CMOS on the 7411 and it has IR lighting rated for 40m. The 7411 has WDR that the 7811 does not.

 

I have some reviews on my blog and you can see an IQEye to an ACTi dome. For no IR, IQEye does pretty well but you have to get the model with the Lightgrabber feature, the Alliance Pro. Axis is coming out with a new P33 dome with what they call Lightfinder feature for good low light performance and it's 720P. Should be out in August.

 

Samsung is a mid level player with analog, but not popular in the IP camera space. Everfocus, a DVR and analog camera company company trying to get into IP cameras. Sometimes these sort of companies OEM cameras from Vivotek or Messoa, or unknown companies in mainland China so while it has the consumer brand name on the outside, you never know what you get inside, like Toshiba is one that does this.

 

Keep in mind on a few things, how soon can they turnaround a defective camera, 6 weeks or 6 days, are you going to get good support, will the camera be recognized by most software available. These are the reasons I stick with certain brands.

[hotwire 0]

I bought the Samsung SNV-5080R because on paper the specs look great. Here are my three issues with it.

 

• The camera has a huge pigtail of wire and connectors that come out of the camera body making installation a pain. You have to cut a large hole behind the camera to accommodate the cables or mount the housing on a two gang bell box which makes the camera conspicuous.
   
  You have to install Microsofts Silverlight on your computer in order to access the camera via web browser.
   
  The fan inside the camera is too loud, you can easily hear it from 8 feet away.

 

I'm going to replace my Samsung SNV-5080R with another camera, haven't decided on what yet.

[alanjh1965 0]

Thanks for the great infomation, hotwire, a customer of mine wants 7 SNV-5080R and 2 SNV-7080R.

 

4 of these are going on a wooden soffit so the Pigtail is not a problem but 5 are going onto brick and I have drilled the CAT5 staight out, expecting rear entry (!), the brick wall does have a cavatiy so I guess I'm going to have to hack away at the wall!

 

I didnt know there was a Fan in them... can you here the Fan inside the house? I dont want this guy saying he cant get to sleep at night as one will be just outside his Bedroom Window !

 

Thanks

AL

[buellwinkle 0]

Most domes have a heater and fan, usually for cold weather operation but every manufacturer is different. They typically use very small fans as space is a premium and my experience is, the small the fan, the louder they are.

[hotwire 0]

I can hear the fan from inside the house. I don't even have to be right next to the wall, I can be 8 ft away sitting on a sofa and still hear it. My walls aren't brick though, they are standard 2 x 4 construction.

 

What kind of computer will your client use to acces the cameras, Mac or PC? The only reason I ask is because Microsoft Silverlight for the Mac is kind of buggy. When the plug in crashes the camera web pages will partially load, but they will have a plug in failure message displayed on the page where the video stream and settings tabs would be.

 

You're going to have to make a pretty large hole in that brick to fit the pigtails for the Ethernet, analog video out, and the alarm inputs and outputs. You might want to consider mounting a weather proof junction box to the brick first and then mount the camera over the box. Does your customer have these cameras already? Have you had a chance to get one and test it out yet? If not, you might want to consider a different camera for this install.

 

I have decided to replace my Samsung SNV-5080R with an Axis P3364-VE.

 

Hope this helps,

Kenny

[alanjh1965 0]

Thanks for the Info Kenny, I did get hold of the Samsung Dome from a Rep and you can remove the Pigtail and use a Mini Enternet Plug if all you are using it as just POE.

 

Yes it is a bit long winded on Silverlight and some collegues have had a few issues with them.

 

I think I will go with the P3364's as well.