Wanted: Cheap, outdoor, poe, fixed camera

[fizgig10]

Is there such a beast?

I often stay at a mom&pop hotel that has owls nesting in a tree outside. They've kind of become the mascots of the place and I mentioned they ought to get a webcam up in the tree so everyone could see the owl babies as they grow. They loved the idea and asked me how to do it. The picture quality can be average quality ~1 megapixel I imagine. Nothing fancy.

I figured an IP camera with power-over-ethernet and rated for outdoor use ought to do it but it seems that IP-based and outdoor are mutually exclusive unless you want to really fork out the dough (>$1500)

Anyone know of a reasonably-priced camera that does all that? I'm thinking around $300 or so. Appreciate any guidance.

[ipvideotechnician]

Hi Fizgig,

Its a good idea. We've done it ourselves previously with a group of swallows who nested in our fire escape.

You never mentioned whether you wanted any lighting or IR sensetivity on the camera. I'm no ornithologist, but I know owls tend to be night creatures and without lighting of some sort it may be difficult to see anything. Plus, of course, you don't want to blind the little guys.

You might wanna take a look at the Panasonic BB-HCM531. It's PoE and rated as "splash proof" (IP65). It means so long as its not stuck unprotected in the middle of a monsoon it should be fine (i've never had any back through water damage). The maximum resolution on the camera however is 640x480, although you do get an excellent image from the camera and there is a colour night view mode which will amplify the images so you can get a useable picute in light levels as low as 0.2Lux. It is a bit over your price range however. For more info on it try here http://www.networkwebcams.com/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=566.

Alternatively, you might like to try something along the lines of a Y-Cam Black with outdoor housing ( the Y-Cam "Shell"). This has built in infrared LEDs which will illuminate the area. There are a few issues however in that the colour representation during the day is effected and there is no PoE.

Let me know if I can help any further.

James
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[fizgig10]

Thanks for the feedback. That's a bit pricey for them I would think. I don't need the sd card ability, no need for the pan/tilt/zoom ability either.

Regarding the nightvision, the owls are not in their nest at night so it wouldn't be necessary. The 640x480 resolution would be fine.

Looks like getting a cheap outdoor camera with poe and IP network connectivity is still a niche that hasn't been filled yet.

Gonna see about making my own outdoor enclosure to fit around a cheap IP cam. If it works out, I'll post about it.

[kimbokasteniv]

Try a Vivotek IP7131 and a housing from apexcctv.com
The camera is $172 and the housing is only $30

It's not a particularly amazing camera, but as far as I can tell it should satisfy all of your needs.

If you want to bump the image quality up into the megapixel range, add $100 to the price and buy the Vivotek IP7138

[Ivan Lu]

Hello Fizgig,

MP 264 full D1 200 IP box camera meets your demand . It will cost you 330 dollars with free surveillance software. For more details, please visit (www. multipixcctv.net). [/list]

[azjerry]

Panasonic has just announced yesterday the BL-C140A outdoor IP camera. No pan or tilt, digital zoom, wired, 640x480 max, PoE and includes the PoE power transfer unit. Prices I've seen online are under $200. I haven't bought one yet but this is just what I was looking for.

They also announced a BL-C160A which is basically the same camera with built in lighting.

The only online documentation I found was on Panasonic's Japanese web site, English version. Link is at home but I found it through Google.

[acje99]

[Dr.Gee]

[Ivan Lu]

for futher Info of MP264 FULL D1 -200 IP BOX Camera:
http://www.multipixcctv.net/pdf/MP264D1-200.pdf


Ivan Lu

[azjerry]

I just installed the Panasonic BL-C140A I mentioned earlier, using it as a weather camera at home. It was $175 online. It's a640x480 outdoor rated camera with no pan, tilt, zoom or infrared lighting. It's strictly a POE camera but comes with the power injector.

So far it's working well.
Camera

They also have a similar C160 that has infrared and audio.