Looking to pick up an IP DOME camera this month

[Jeroen1000 0]

Hi everyone

 

Following Buellwinkle's excellent review on the ACTi TCM-7811, I'm thinking about picking one up for my brother whose home/car regularly suffers some damage on a regular basis. His porch is narrow (2 meters wide or so) and runs straight to the street (lenght 10 meter). His car is parked across the street so in total it's about 15 meters. There is some streetlight, certainly more than enough for the ACTi.

 

The goal is to have a wide view to capture people walking up to the house, and a having the PTZ zoom in (it does this automatically, no?) when activity is spotted around the car.

 

I also like this Aceront AV1255AM (I do not see any IR-leds though).

 

Quick list with wishes:

 

- Must be a dome.

- Wide angle (+- 3mm) to narrow angle varifocal lens 9mm preferred.

- Must be heated and with IR-leds. Network cable and power is already in place.

- Face recognition when walking up to the door, and when standing around the car (so 15 meters distance)

- Ability to write to a NAS via FTP/Samba is a plus

- A good low light image as with the Acti 7811

 

I do think the Acti 7811 will fit the bill but if there are nice alternatives, I would like to check them out.

 

Thanks for all the assistance. I was very happy with the previous recommendation for my own house:-)

[Jeroen1000 0]

This one does not have a automatic zoom, right? I just noticed. Otherwise this was the perfect model.

 

edit: come to think of it, can it even pan or tilt? The spec sheet says: Pan: 0° - 360°; Tilt: 10° - 90°; Rotate: 0° - 360°. But is this is a manual or automatic (a.k.a. motorized/via software) adjustment?

[buellwinkle 0]

ACTi is coming out with a new low light dome in January if you can wait, 1080P, great low light performance.

[Jeroen1000 0]

The answer is probably no but can it pan and tilt via software commands? Motorized optical zoom is not really needed so a PT without Z will do:). And judging from your review this on is definitely adequate for my needs. If I could just get the same one with pan and tilt. But I think that is not going to happen below $1000?

[buellwinkle 0]

It pan/tilts using your fingers. My pushing the lens to the right, the camera pans in that direction. Actually faster than panning and tilting via motors, but less convenient as you have to remove the lens cover to do this. Same with the Arecont.

 

ACTi demo'ed a megapixel PTZ camera ealier this year at ISC West, but has not come out with it yet.

 

In your price range, the only megapixel pan/tilt dome I know off is the Dahua, about a grand for their 1080P model SD6582A-HN. If it's like all other Dahua cameras, you can easily FTP motion detect video or write to an internal SD card.

 

http://www.dahuasecurity.com/products/sd658282a-hn-32.html

[Jeroen1000 0]

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm going to do the math because for the FOV because I feel he does not really need PTZ. I assume you can always zoom in electronically if needed.

 

Thanks again for your help, your review made it easy to pick something suitable:-)

[Jeroen1000 0]

I have a small question out of interest. Can the Acti 7811 be fitted with a motorized zoom lens and then control this lens via whatever protocol is used for this (RS-485 possibly)? With control I mean, operate the zoom and maintain focus across the entire zoom range.

[dexterash 0]

Since no RS485 interface on ACTI, you need additional wires.

Also, you need fixed focused lens (for autofocus, you need an aditional board that will do that)

[Jeroen1000 0]

That sounds way too hard giving the zoom / focus controls to an additional board.

Also, the camera would not be able to zoom in automatically when motion is detected as it has no means to control the zoom/focus itself.

 

a KCM 5611 camera with a Pan - tilt motor is looking more attractive and such motor does seem to blend in with the camera firmware (I.E. the camera can control it automatically when required). I have only just discovered this neat option and I like it:-)

[buellwinkle 0]

The KCM-5611 is probably the best camera that ACTi makes and would love to see someone attach a pan/tilt mechanism to it. Keep us posted.

[Jeroen1000 0]

It is going to be the 7811 probably. It's not my choice but I still think it is not a bad one. Going to look for a shop here in Europe as we want it installed before the Holiday frenzy starts off.