Amovision Compatibility with other Cameras / Software

[Bestrafung 0]

I'm new to IP cameras and after some trial and error found some Amovision AM-C7325 cameras that fit our budget and seem to do really well, especially in low-light conditions. I'm on a very tight budget and am trying to make everything work with free or included software. The problem I now face is I need an outdoor (IP66) PTZ camera that will work in low-light and will either work with the Amovision software or includes software that both brands will work under. My budget only allows for at most $600 for the PTZ camera which makes this difficult. I don't need a fancy 18x or higher optical zoom, just a ~2MP camera that works in low-light. I tried the iSpy Connect opensource software only to find it's not very friendly and the video stream is not as clear as using the built-in web viewer or Amovision software. I've heard there are some good software choices available but again my budget is pretty tight. I'd appreciate any recommendations regarding camera and software to help get this setup. Thanks in advance.

[buellwinkle 0]

The best buy in a decent PTZ is the Dahua 2MP with 3X optical zoom, costs about $599. It does not have IR LEDs. If you are looking for that, it ups the price ante.

 

Amovision claims compatibility with various products including BlueIris, Milestone, Dahua, Hikvision and other software. When you deal with open source like Zoneminder or iSpyConnect, you almost have to be a software engineer to figure them out. On top of that, the lower the cost of the software, the higher the CPU uses, sort of a formula there somewhere. So what you save on software you make up by having to buy a more powerful processor. If you are looking for free software, here's what's out there that I know of;

 

Zoneminder - runs on Linux, free open source, requires an RTSP URL string to work.

iSpyConnect - you already tried that, open source

Milestone XProtect Go - very low CPU use, BUT, limited to 8 cameras and 5 days of recording but has very good web interface and smartphone apps, free. Lists your amp cameras a supportted

Axxonsoft - powerful software with analytics, free for 16 cameras, very few were able to get it to work to their satisfaction. Lists your amo cameras as supported.

 

For low cost, the best bang for the buck that will work for you cameras is BlueIris, $37 if you buy on eBay. Moderate to high CPU use but 3 cameras is not an issue. Use direct to disc recording to lower CPU cost. Has 15 day trial

 

For higher cost, Exacq Start, Milestone XProtect Essential, Avigilon Core will use very little CPU, but may or may not work with your camera (Milestone is listed as supporting your cameras).

 

If you want to go a NAS route, both Synology and Qnap are on Amo's list of supported products. Typically you buy the NAS, then the licenses for each camera.

[Bestrafung 0]

The best buy in a decent PTZ is the Dahua 2MP with 3X optical zoom, costs about $599. It does not have IR LEDs. If you are looking for that, it ups the price ante.

I've been looking at the Dahua you mentioned and I see that the minimum illumination is 0.0005 lux@F1.2 (B/W). I saw the demo video for night mode and it seems pretty decent for the price range. My only concern is there was a fair bit of light pollution in the video and I'm curious how this performs in a residential area where there isn't quite so much light pollution from offices and street lamps and so on. According to Wikipedia 0.002 lux is a moonless night with airglow but a full moon is .27lux on the low end. Does anyone have experience with this to know how it will perform? If needed I may have to suggest the installation of a flood light to make up for the lack of IR. I understand IR would up the cost of cameras but the extra cost seems high to me and makes them outside the budget window.

 

By the way, I really liked the iSpyConnect. The program is well put together and is easy enough to use if your camera is already supported. I had a Vivotek PTZ camera that wasn't supported but it only took me about 15 minutes to make a new XML file to support it. My only issue was that the video feed was choppy and even though it was running at 25 fps it looked more like 10 fps. The CPU usage was high but not too terrible so I think the software was to blame, not the hardware.

 

Edit: Nevermind, unless it's a typo I see that they list the min. illumination at 0.0005 not 0.005 so it's a big difference, I must have read it too fast. I'll have to hope it works.