Need camera advice ...

electron

Administrator
Staff member
Someone has asked me to see what it takes to allow his customers to view their 'project' while it is under construction. They have broadband, and it would be limited to just a few people at a time, so the only thing I have to figure out is what camera to go with, and how to serve the feed to the customer. Should I go with a PC based solution (I do want some security in place), or is there a good hardware solution for this? It has to be very simple to use as well.
 
Dan,
Make it easy and go with network cameras. I would want to be able to pan and tilt. Do they want to be ale to view in the dark?
 
No, it's a workshop, so it should have plenty of light I would think. I was thinking about maybe the Axis series, since I need good resolution, but also need to be able to manage access to the camera.
 
I would look into the AXIS 241Q video server. This way you can have multiple cameras that can all be viewed at once or individually, plus maintain security.

If not multiple, then one of the newer Axis cameras would work well.

What you can also do with Axis products (that is pretty cool) is upload "snapshots" at scheduled intervals (say once a half hour or once an hour depending on how long this project is going to take, or the rate of advancement/progress it has) to a PC via FTP.

Then you can make a movie with Adobe movie maker which gives an "abridged" view of the progress from start to finish (marketing guys love this stuff).

What is the overall budget for this project?
 
Not sure, I mentioned I might need to buy a dedicated PC for this, and he was fine with that, so it looks like I have some room, but the cheaper the better of course.

As for the Axis video server, can you lock down accounts to certain inputs?
 
WayneW said:
Doesn't the Panasonc BL-C10A fix the bill for a lot less money than the Axis?
Panasonc BL-C10A to me is more of a home automation amateur solution. For professional results that are going to be displayed to customers, you really want to look towards a more professional solution.
 
electron said:
As for the Axis video server, can you lock down accounts to certain inputs?
I don't think you can, but I have only played with the older versions of the Axis servers.

I think gregoryx has this newer Axis 241Q and would be more than willing to help (he is a great guy! :) ) if you give him a PM.
 
I like the Panasonic, but the one I have here can be a little flaky sometimes (restart fixes it tho), but it might be a good solution if money does become a problem, will have to keep that in mind.
 
One other thing to be aware of is that most Axis products will only allow 20 users to access the camera or server directly (i.e. at once)!
 
That wouldn't be a problem. I just checked out Axis video servers, still not sure if it's the right way to go, since I still would have to find a good camera, which would add more to the cost.
 
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