Nursery Camera Recomendations

[broconne]

I need to install a camera in our nursery and I am trying to figure out what model to get. I have done some research, but I am still not sure what might be best camera for my requirements.


(1) Power over Ethernet - There is only a single cat5 run to that location and no way to run additional cables.
(2) Non-IR -- Jury seems to be out on if blasting IR into your kids open eyes is a bad thing, but not gonna risk it.
(3) Wall Mount/Single Gang Box - That is where the cable is run to.
(4) Low light level - Want to be able to see at night.
(5) MPEG Stream -- With some work, I can then hook it into sage
(6) Can access with an iPhone app -- This is how we will access it when not near a TV
(7) Doesn't look super industrial -- Its a nursery, so would like to avoid a dome camera.


The closest thing I could find to meet my requirements was Axis M1054 . However, the camera is pretty expensive and won't cleanly mount into a single gang box. I will have to do a little surgery to the cover to mount it and drill out a spot for the cat5, etc.


Anyone have a suggestion for other cameras that meet the above requirements.

 

[jharrell]

Y-cam knight or bullet. They can see in the dark and have a mic built in. Stable firmware and a third party iPhone/iPad app specifically for baby monitoring.

More expensive than some, but difficult to find night vision and mic in one package.

Y-cam

 

[tmbrown97]

broconne - that one you linked probably wouldn't be good for that purpose... the fact that it has an illuminating light built in means it probably won't work well in really dark situations without that light - and you probably don't want that light flashing on while your kid is sleeping.

I never found the perfect camera setup - we finally gave up and got a new digital wireless one from babysrus and the handheld receiver has AV-out which plugs into a 22" tv in the bedroom dedicated to that; I've been kicking around feeding that into something IP based for further sharing - we'll see how much I care.

 

[nov0798]

I simply used a GE camera from Lowes for 45 bucks. It is color in the daytime, and can see in the dark. I run the line from there to an RF modulator that I got from the Home Depot for 16 bucks. I then run the coax out to the wall plate and into my homes cable system. I then use one of the empty coax ports and run it to my TV as an auxilary, and then just switch to CH3 to see her. Can see her on all tvs in the house, and also the computer with a video capture card. overal investment, less than 100 bucks!

 

[broconne]

Y-cam knight or bullet. They can see in the dark and have a mic built in. Stable firmware and a third party iPhone/iPad app specifically for baby monitoring.

More expensive than some, but difficult to find night vision and mic in one package.

Y-cam

Both of those seem to be IR based for night vision. There are some questions on weather large doses of IR are safe for eyes at night.

 

[broconne]

I simply used a GE camera from Lowes for 45 bucks. It is color in the daytime, and can see in the dark. I run the line from there to an RF modulator that I got from the Home Depot for 16 bucks. I then run the coax out to the wall plate and into my homes cable system. I then use one of the empty coax ports and run it to my TV as an auxilary, and then just switch to CH3 to see her. Can see her on all tvs in the house, and also the computer with a video capture card. overal investment, less than 100 bucks!

Great solution. Problem is I need PoE there is only a single ethernet cable run to the location and I can't get other cables over there at this point.

 

[electron]

Logitech Alert series, indoor model (750i), is probably as close as you will get. MSRP is $250, Add-on is even less. I was ready to post the review this weekend, but they just released a major software update, which will address some of the negative comments I had, so I need to give that a try first.

 

[elcano]

While I would never point an IR blaster at my kid's eyes, I wouldn't mind pointing it at the ceiling, and take advantage of the indirect lightning. You can't beat physics. If there's no light, no sensor will be able to get anything.

 

[Helheim]

I know it doesn't meet you requirements but I used a Panasonic WV-CP484. Can't see in total darkness but does really well in low light. Also put in a Louroe mic.

http://my.webpix.ca/d/199-2/temp+005.jpg
http://my.webpix.ca/d/202-2/temp+006.jpg

 

[jharrell]

Both of those seem to be IR based for night vision. There are some questions on weather large doses of IR are safe for eyes at night.

Good luck finding a camera that can see in the dark without IR light of some kind. You would have to go with thermal which would cost thousands.

Little tiny LEDS I would not consider "large doeses", it's milliwatt power.

I looked into the IR issue, I there is no evidence it causes any problems, infact there are many prebuilt baby monitor with video camera that have IR emitters, they would have been recalled/sued out of existence if there was even a hint of an issue.

If you find a camera that can see in the dark without IR emitters and not thermal, all that means is its getting IR from other sources, which is all around us anyway, which should cause the same issues you are worried about anyway.

I would say a non night vision camera is basically useless for a baby monitor, might as well just get a audio monitor.

The iPhone/iPad is the perfect baby monitor BTW, my wife just keeps the app running on the night stand in the charging dock. both me and her can se eit at the same time, and it works anywhere in the world if you publish through your router, otherwise even just WiFi around the house is useful.

 

[Slates]

Here is what I use, however low light is an issue..

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BB-HCM511A-Network-Camera-Two-Way/dp/B000NVPTZC/ref=pd_sim_p_1

 

[mikejrc]

hello broconne
as stated by another poster you will not get a camera to see in the dark without any artificial lighting means (IR for example)
but what you could to is find an inexpensive PoE camera, Panasonic, Y-Cam, or Vivotek, that has a very low lux setting, and you leave a night light or table lamp that's not bright enough to let your baby sleep but bright enough to help the camera see in the dark.
The lower the lux number the better chances you will see the baby when the night light is on.

 

[project_x]

Not a camera suggestion, but I use several TP-link POE splitters (TL-POE10R) to provide power to networked things that aren't POE out of the box, the splitter provides selectable 5V or 12V DC. I paid about $12 shipped for them. This may open up additional possibilities by limiting yourself to purely POE enabled.

 

[num_lock99]

Interesting about the IR. Never thought about any potential harm that could cause, but I always play the side of caution with kids too. I'm going to do something like this too although will use a wall wart for power feed on one end and feed over cat5 with a video/power balun. Any chance you could just turn the camera power(IR) on/off when viewing with X-10/Insteon/Z-wave etc...? Probably inconvenient unless you have some type of automation panel/system but would allow night vision when required and minimize the IR...

 

[apostolakisl]

You can make your own power over ethernet if you have an rj45 crimper. Only 2 of the 4 pair are used for data on a cat 5 (the other 2 pair do nothing). Put a transformer at the one end, connect two of the unused wires to a transformer, then crimp the other wires into the rj45 as per usual leaving the slots empty where the two power wires would have been. At the other end of the wire crimp your rj45 end on with the two power wires left out just the same. Then those two wires get connected to a plug of the appropriate style for your device. The simple thing to do is to take the power cord that the device came with and cut it in half using the plug half in the nursery and the transformer half at the other end.

Of course this is only for low voltage (like 5 volts).

In the standard wiring scheme, only the green and orange are used. So you can use the blue or brown to carry your low voltage power to the nursery and do what nov0798 did. In fact, you could power both the rf modulator and the camera using the blue pair to carry power to the one and the brown to carry power to the other. Of course I am assuming that you have a power plug near the other end of your cat 5.