AXIS 207MW / AXIS 207 for RTSP streaming - help!

[blackmayo]

Hi everyone

I need to buy an IP camera for broadcasting live video streams via the internet. There will be only one receiver using the address of that stream.

For the project, it is required a continuous 2-3hours RTSP live feed, via QuickTime Player Pro.

Since the camera will be used indoors, it needs to produce images/video of good quality.

I did some research and bearing in mind that I have no experience in IP cameras, networking etc., I've decided that the Axis 207MW wireless network camera http://www.trustedreviews.com/networking/review/2007/04/09/Axis-207MW-Wireless-Network-Camera/p3 could be the one for the project.

The only problem is that in some reviews people complained about the difficulty of setting up the camera for broadcasting live video streams via the internet. It is quite expensive, but that shouldn't be a problem if it is confirmed that the 207MW is suitable for the above project and not that difficult to setup for a newb like me.

Since I work with a very tight budget, I don't want to make any mistakes buying the wrong camera. If you think that with less money there are other similar products with all the above specs, please let me know.

Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated!

cheers
George

[klas]

AXIS 207MW has been out for probably 2 or more years and I've been using it since the day it was out. It's ok camera especially considering the premium you pay for it. Daylight quality is good, but forget about night time.

I've played with RTSP in the beginning, but I don't remember if it was difficult to setup.

This may not be a huge concern, but if you are planning to use wireless features keep in mind that might be getting a lot of disconnects. I've used it on 3 different routers with the same result (DIR-655, Apple Airport Extreme and now WNDR3700)

Anyway, I am currently evaluating a replacement for AXIS 207MW. It also 1.3MP, but 3x cheaper and has IRs. The samples that company sent me look good, but I need to make my own decision when I get it. It will do RTSP streams as well:

To view the MPEG4 stream rtsp://ip-address-of-camera/cam1/mpeg4
To view the MJPEG stream rtsp://ip-address-of-camera/cam1/mjpeg

http://www.asante.com/products/SecureNetCam/Voyager1.asp

Will let you know next week

[blackmayo]

Hi Klas

many thanks for the reply. My inexperience on the subject has been already
confirmed by the above first reply.

Since the IP camera will be used for an art installation, any
disconnections would be embarrassing, to say the least.

Therefore I have decided that wireless IP camera will not be
reliable for this project.

Having looked again, for IP cameras with cable connection, the
similar AXIS 207 seems to be fine since it provides access of RTSP
stream via QuickTime.
(in fact it says 'RTP tunneled over RTSP' - not sure what that means)

It is also much cheaper than the 207MW which is good. If you think that
there are better cameras than the 207, that can provide much better video
quality please let me know. If it's a bit more expensive than the 207 that's
fine.

This is why I was worried about buying an IP camera. My inexperience may
cost me a lot of time and money. Thanks again!

cheers
george

ps. there is also the excellent AXIS P1311 but it costs more than twice than the 207.