Fairly new to Vera, have about 9 Vizia switches, and went through all the bumps of getting that up and going.
I would like to add a camera or two to the mix. What is your experience with this? Does it work well or is it buggy as heck? I would like to add two cameras that record and store any motion throughout the day and then turn off at night when I am back at the house. I would like recommendations for inside and outside.
The inside cameras will be mounted about 12 feet off the floor and the outside cameras will be tucked up under an eve. Price is not an issue, but bugginess is (I don’t want to have to tinker all the time).
I have 3 panasonic BB-HCM531A cameras and they work great. They are exterior “weather resistant” color cameras with very good low light capability. Pan & tilt, and sound. Panasonic supplies you with a free IP address and software to monitor and control the cameras remotely. ;D
The only problem is that I have not yet been able to get the Panasonic plugin to work with the cameras. I will let you know after I hear from Vera and get it working. ???
The camera records on motion and has an sd memory card slot. I put in 2gb memory cards and it stores more than a year of recording. Of course it depends on how much motion recording it does. You can download or view the video remotely. Check it out.
I have 9 cams attached to Vera, 8 wireless (G and N) and 1 wired. They work great. As long as the camera has a JPG snapshot mode or a way to fetch an image it works fine. I use Linksys WVC54GCA, WVC210, WVC80N as well as a Stardot Netcam and 2 older hawking cams. They all work great with Vera and setup is a snap
I also have the Linksys cams recording on motion and the new WVC80N and WVC210 Linksys cams allow 24/7 recording to my HP Home Server/NAS share and they have been rock solid.
I like the new layout (UI3) for use with cameras since I can instantly see the cam and location of the cam. I also have certain cams take snapshots when door/window sensors are opened and then the Schage door is unlocked or locked.
I noticed Bob was using the HCM531A, I know these are good camera but at over $500 a camera it is over my price range
myhomeserver I believe those cameras you said you were using are all inside camera, right? If so, which one have you found to work okay outside as well?
Yes, the HCM531A is pretty expensive. I managed to get the indoor versions (511A and 515A) used on ebay for less than $250. They are great cameras and since they are PoE (power over ethernet), I just need to run one cat6 cable to them to supply both power and network connectivity.
If you need an outdoor camera and can sacrifice PTZ capability, the Panasonic C140A might be worth looking into as it goes for under $200. You might even be able to score a good deal on a used one on ebay.
My cams are mostly inside, but I have used all models outside but protected from the elements (rain/snow)
My house has overhangs on the roof and I tuck the cams under that to protect them from water
otherwise they work great outside. I’ve built tupperware camera containers before and with a little silicone you can make your own DIY weatherproof housing. All cams had zero problem with the cold of a new england winter
If you get a camera with POE (power over ethernet) it is a snap. Just run a single Cat 5 to the camera. If you get a wireless camera, I’m not sure how you would power the camera. That is why I went with POE, finding an outlet outside is always a problem, but a single Cat 5 is no problem.
I’m having a hard time justifying the cost of IP cameras. The affordable choices don’t seem to work with Vera and the expensive ones seem like they are too much when you can buy a similar resolution webcam for under $20. I understand some of the benefits of an IP camera and/or wireless, and I really want pan/tilt in some areas but Costco has this for $700 for 8 cameras and a DVR.
I typically try to use them all wireless if I can, but when I have to wire one up, I use a homegrown POE, by taking the unused pair in a cat5 cable and injecting power in one end and splicing the other end to draw the power back out. This way you only have one cat 5 cable and the power is running on the unused pair
I am very satisfied with the 531 cam myself, adding a dome cam (527a) next week.
I want to use the Panasonic BL-C140A but dont think it will work with my POE switch. All the literature I read is not clear but the Panasonic website says its Not 802.2af compliant (in fine print of course).I believe 802.2af is the standard 48volts so it must come with its own injector, similar to your homegrown injector except in a retail package. I hate to start mis-matching at this point but want to stick with the Panasonic due to the quick and easy setup. All the 802.2af Panasonic cams are expensive.
[quote=“shady, post:11, topic:165669”]I’m having a hard time justifying the cost of IP cameras. The affordable choices don’t seem to work with Vera and the expensive ones seem like they are too much when you can buy a similar resolution webcam for under $20. I understand some of the benefits of an IP camera and/or wireless, and I really want pan/tilt in some areas but Costco has this for $700 for 8 cameras and a DVR.
Maybe it makes more sense to keep the cameras separate from Vera and go with a Swann or Lorex type solution.
Any thoughts?
edit: this coming from a guy who just spent $200 to control sprinklers with an Etherrain, so I’m not very consistent in my frugality[/quote]
I too have pricing issues with Panasonic, so I went with iCamView. It’s cheap, feature rich, and works well with Vera. Not the same image quality, but it does the job
[quote=“325xi, post:14, topic:165669”][quote=“shady, post:11, topic:165669”]I’m having a hard time justifying the cost of IP cameras. The affordable choices don’t seem to work with Vera and the expensive ones seem like they are too much when you can buy a similar resolution webcam for under $20. I understand some of the benefits of an IP camera and/or wireless, and I really want pan/tilt in some areas but Costco has this for $700 for 8 cameras and a DVR.
Maybe it makes more sense to keep the cameras separate from Vera and go with a Swann or Lorex type solution.
Any thoughts?
edit: this coming from a guy who just spent $200 to control sprinklers with an Etherrain, so I’m not very consistent in my frugality[/quote]
I too have pricing issues with Panasonic, so I went with iCamView. It’s cheap, feature rich, and works well with Vera. Not the same image quality, but it does the job[/quote]
So I went and looked at iCamView, and it looks pretty cool. I have 110VAC in the ceiling of the front porch, where I’d like to have an entry cam. iCamView makes a outdoor USB cam, but doesn’t seem to have an outdoor iCamView Pro that I could run wirelessly. Their site shows the outdoor USB cam with iCamView Pro built-in, but it says “OEM” and it doesn’t show up on any of their ordering lists, nor have I had any luck finding it as an OEM item elsewhere. Any leads on who sells this thing?
Make sure to check icamview.co.uk, not .com - same company, better store, more updated stock, and much better shipping rates.
The only wire that goes from server to the camera is USB, so I don’t see much problem to locate the tiny server box indoors and run a single USB cable to the outdoor camera. They have few models with built-in server, but to me it’s a disadvantage as it less flexible from connecting perspective - you will have to connect power directly to the camera, and if you want to use another no-server camera it’ll have to connect to the first camera, as an opposite to a tiny server box that can be conveniently located.
What’s cool about this products is that you can plug USB hub into the server, and connect storage etc for cameras. Even wifi usb adapter (the one they sell for $9), which turns iCanView into wireless cameras. It only supports WEP encryption, which was a no-no for me. Said that, if Wi-Fi is critical, one can always setup another $30 router as separate isolated WiFi network just for cameras, if done right WEP isn’t going to be a problem.
Even a “perfectly” setup WEP system can be cracked in less than two minutes. If it is only going to be used for outdoor cameras, I guess it could be OK, since an attacker can already see the outside, but I wouldn’t want to be broadcasting images of the inside of my home over an insecure channel.
Well, yes, but realistically I hardly believe someone will stay under my window for hours to see my images and not being able to access anything else… As long as I can isolate this from the rest of my network (and I can) so intruder won’t be able to do something more interesting, he’ll likely to go find easier target.
robertd202,
Are you using vera to control your cameras?
When use on vera as my router it blocks my use of the viewnetcam.com
Haven’t been able to figure out how to portforward the camera.
Any advice?
