Camcorder to IP conversion

[dimebucker 0]

Hi all,

Just trying to find out if its possible to use my Cannon HDV20 as an IP camera to be viewed remotely, It has firewire and HDMI outputs.

 

My plan is to connect it directly to a router, i have found out that i could do it with HDMI to IP encoder, but these are VERY expensive.

 

The other possibility is to use some kind of firewire to ethernet adapter, but im unable to find any relevant info on this... i dont even know if they exist!

 

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?

[buellwinkle 0]

Don't think you can make it into an IP cam easily and even if you use an encoder it will likely be VGA resolution. Maybe you can use it as-is with some NVR software like BlueIris that supports analog cams and webcams as well as IP cams.

[dimebucker 0]

thanks for the reply,

 

im actually not too worried about having a very high resolution, VGA would be fine, i was thinking about going HDMI to composite video to IP encoder, because composite IP encoders are quite cheap...

 

 

Also it needs to be stand alone - independent of a computer

[buellwinkle 0]

If you went with some unknown encoder, it may not be supported by NVR software out there. But if you don't need it to, then it should work.

[dimebucker 0]

I was gonna DDNS or DynDNS, do i still need software?

[yakky 0]

Why not just buy something like a Panasonic Petcam? $75, remotely viewable and work great.

[dimebucker 0]

Why not just buy something like a Panasonic Petcam? $75, remotely viewable and work great.

 

The thing is i need some detail in my shot, its actually not for surveillance, its for monitoring sea conditions (for surfing/windsurfing).

 

So i thought this route might be cheaper as my camcorder has a decent lens, i think an equivalent IP camera would be pricey...

 

.....although:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110668216190?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_4097wt_952

[yakky 0]

You'll get plenty of detail, well as much as you can get out of a 640x480 image. The IQ out of the Petcams is very good during the day. Much better than your cheapo D1 cameras. Your next option is a good quality IP camera, which you seem not to want to buy.

[MaxIcon 0]

OK, I'm a hardware hacker from way back, and have spent many, many hours fiddling with analog and IP cams over the past few decades, including more than a few Franken-cams.

 

Unless you have way more time than money, or the satisfaction of hacking this solution is the most important thing, I'd absolutely recommend getting a decent quality outdoor cam for this application.

 

It'll take much less time to implement, will already have software optimized for CCTV functions, and will result in dramatically less hair-pulling.

 

At the risk of sounding like a shill, the Dahua 1.3MP bullet would be a plug'n'play outdoor solution at the same price as the no-name ebay cam you linked to. The only thing missing is the zoom lens. However, there are many, many cams that would work fine.

 

One more suggestion - if you do go IP cam, choose a known name brand. No-names are another recipe for hair-pulling.

[dimebucker 0]

ok.. im starting to come round to your way of thinking, i just didnt think IP encoders would be so expensive, the cheapest is around 100 bucks, its just not worth it is it?

 

Not to mention the hair-pulling! I think the camcorder will go back into the cupboard to gather some more dust.

 

Thanks guys!