Panasonic Wireless Network Camera and Pet Cam (BL-C20A) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Compact, very easy to set up and the image is sharp and clear. Free DDNS service makes this the best buy. I have another camera, Linksys, and I had to pay for this service. I defitely will drop it when it comes up for renewal. No more Linksys camera for me!
After a few days of use..I still love it! I just found out that I can access the camera with my Mac via Firefox browser. This alone beats all other cameras in the market! Set up the motion detector to email pictures is a breeze. You can also set the camera to periodically send a picture, motion or not. The only thing that you could say it is less than the Linksys is it could not send a video. Linksys video only lasts 30 seconds anyway. Highly recommended.
8/21/08: I have 2 of these cameras and the first one (3 yrs old) just failed. It is just not powered up doesn't matter how many times I tried. I guess it is expected. It has been reliably in service for 3 yrs. I will buy it again, when Amazon has a good deal.
The camera's software works flawlessly in Mac OS. I regularly access my camera via Safari web browser. This alone beats most other camera out there. You can get to it from either Windows or Mac. I set it up to email the jpeg to my Blackberry and view the picture there. Could not figure out how to do this on an iPod though.
3/20/09: When the 2nd camera failed, I thought the power supply was the culprit. I bought a $15 power supply from W**T and guess what? It works again. So I now both of my cameras work again! If your camera failed, likely it is the power supply!
Also, I can access my cameras from my iPod touch (live) using the supplied Safari browser when I have a wifi connection. COOL!!

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Wireless Network Camera Automatic Network Configuration, Universal Plug and Play, Set-up Wizard, Remote Pan/Tilt Control, Built in PIR motion detector

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Panasonic Network Camera and Pet Cam (BLC1A) Review

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(More customer reviews)The BL-C1A is listed as "requiring" both Windows and Internet Explorer. After a bit of experimenting, it seems it doesn't, and is perfectly usable with Ubuntu (or indeed any OS) and Firefox. No need for Windows at all.
So, for anybody else who wants to use the BL-C1A camera with something other than Windows here's how.
First, ignore the shiny Windows CDROM in the box. Plug the camera into your router with your own network cable (they don't supply one!) and plug in the power supply. Wait a minute. If your router is 192.168.0.1, the camera should default to 192.168.0.253 (or 192.168.1.253 for a 192.168.1.1 router, etc).
From Firefox on the local network just go to the IP addess of the camera (as above) followed by ?mode=local and you should get the camera's built in web server. (The mode=local is essential, to activate it). Create an admin userid/password, hit enter. That's it.
Configuring the cameras for static addresses, different ports etc is all done via the web interface after that point, so still doesn't need Windows or IE in any way.
With a few lines written in the manual they could drop the Windows/IE requirement.
Camera works very nicely, and so does emailing, and the viewnetcam dynamic dns service (after a bit of a battle with router settings). One warning: you can't test the viewnetcam service from the same network that the camera is on, so before you think it's not working try it from elsewhere!
Camera does the job fine for the price, one point deducted for not having any non-Windows installation instructions.

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Package Contents: Panasonic BL-C1A Wired Network Camera, bracket, power supply, mounting hardware, CD-ROM, software and instructions.
The Panasonic BL-C1A Wired Network Camera handles your digital photography needs at a price that won't hurt your wallet! This color surveillance camera allows remote video monitoring of a home or business. Remote home and business surveillance just got a lot more affordable. Receive an e-mail image when the home security camera detects motion--you'll always know what's going on at home or at your business. The 10X digital zoom and color night viewing makes sure you don't miss a detail. It's easy to install, easy to operate and requires no additional software for viewing on your PC. Indoor use only.
Server Features: Image Buffer--About 250 frames (320 x 240, standard image quality). Image transfer via e-mail (SMTP) or FTP. View snapshots and control them from a compatible cellular phoneSupports up to 12 camerasIPv4 Multi-Language Interface -English, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Japanese
Camera Features -1/4 320,000 pixel CMOS image sensor 10 digital zoomViewing Angle -53° horizontal, 41° verticalAuto exposureAperture -F2.8Illumination -10 - 10,000 lux (normal), 4-10,000 lux (night view) Motion Sensor with Email AlertAuto & manual White Balance Network Connection -RJ45 Ethernet (10Base-T/100Base-X) System Requirements -Windows 98SE, 2000, ME and XP; Internet Explorer 6.0 or later Camera Dimensions(WxHxD) -3-3/8 x 3-3/8 x 1Weight -0.22 lbsNetworking Protocols -HTTP, FTP, SMTP, TCP, UDP, IP, DHCP, DNS, ARP, ICMP, and POP3 before SMTP

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Sharx Security VIPcella SCNC2606 Wifi Wireless 802.11g Security Network Camera Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this camera mainly to use with my Smart Phone. It was easy to setup and can now view live video on my phone or any of my PC's.
I use this camera mainly to view wildlife behind my house. I have motion detector flood lights that light up the area at night, so I normally don't need the Moonlight Mode, although it does work great in low light.
The attached video was taken at night without using the Moonlight Mode. I'll attach another video showing what a video looks like with Moonlight Mode turned on.
This is an amazing camera and has a very sharp picture. I do wish it had an external mic jack like my SCNC2601. The audio is much louder and more sensitive when using an external mic. An external mic jack is on my wish list for the next smart phone supported model. :-)
Comparing this camera to my SCNC2601, I would say the SCNC2606 has a sharper picture but I do like the SCNC2601 for it's Pan and Tilt capabilities and its external mic and speaker jacks. Both are great cameras and work great locally or over the internet.

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This Wifi b/g wireless IP camera has its own built in web server. You can view the video from your own home network or you can configure your router to view and control the camera from computers or cellphones on the internet, without dependence on any third party web sites or subscriptions. With the built-in microphone you can listen in. Excellent MPEG4 or MJPEG video quality at a full 640 x 480 resolution with up to 30 frames per second for fluid, natural motion color. For viewing or recording a single camera no software is required besides just your browser. For viewing or recording multiple Sharx IP cameras the included MultiView software for PCs supports up to 4 Sharx IP cameras simultaneously. Truly amazing to see the streaming video on your web enabled cell phone. For frequent use we recommend to upgrade your cellphone service to unlimited data, which costs just $15/mo extra on the ATT network. You can see motion even on non-3G phones like SonyEricsson w580i. If your phone does not support video you can see automatically refreshing JPEG images. At home, you can use this camera with your laptop or iPhone as a baby or pet monitor, and the very high light sensitivity in "moonlight mode" allows you to view out from a window to see what's happening in the street as long as there is some background light available. For night vision in absolute, total darkness with no visible light, upgrade to SCNC2607 which adds infrared night vision and a higher quality, wide angle lens. Wireless operation supports WEP, WPA, WPA2 encryption. On routers with UPnP feature the camera can set itself up automatically, and on routers without UPnP (such as Apple's Airport series) the camera can be set up with our step by step instructions.

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Cisco WVC210 Wireless-G PTZ Internet Security Video Camera -w/2-Way Audio Review

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(More customer reviews)Highlights: reasonable value for the money - good hardware, better than WVC200, lousy software - having used it for a few months, I would buy another, but there's still lots of room for improvement. PTZ: only digital Zoom (not optical - so really, there's no Zoom, just Pan, Tilt).
Details: I purchased the camera in December, 2008. Prior to using the WVC210, I've used two WVC200s. The 210 is an improvement over the 200 - better color, better image in low light, two-way audio, and I haven't had to reboot the 210 (the 200s are prone to lockups, occasionally). I use the "Kiwi Syslog Daemon" with all the cameras. And, the 210 audit trail is much improved over the 200. One key logging feature that the 210 has, is the ability to audit who logged in/out (and when) - the 200 does not do this. If you think about infrastructure security, this is a plus for the 210 and a HUGE mark against the 200. Like the 200, the 210 does not do motion detection - they both look at overall light level changes in a defined region. Labeling the function as "motion detection" is false advertising. Two outdoor examples: (1) if you setup a screen region and turn up the sensitivity, changes in sunlight (caused by clouds coming and going) will trigger a false motion-detection event (2) after turning down the gain to eliminate false sunlight triggers, objects (person, dog, car) that appears small at a distance can pass through the region without detection. Both cameras use an ActiveX control to view/listen to video/audio. The problem is, most public internet computers block the install of ActiveX controls, so if you want to check on your camera(s) while on vacation (off site), you better have your laptop along. Additionally, neither the 200 nor 210 accommodate this known shortcoming - for example, both could easily have a firmware upgrade to allow the user to see a snapshot JPG of the current image (when the ActiveX interface is not available) - neither camera has this feature. As for the monitoring software bundled with the 210 and 200 products, here Cisco has done an awful job as it takes over the ownership of these products from Linksys. The "Video Monitoring System v1.0.0.0" bundled with the 210 is not at all backward compatible with the 200. Adding insult, the interface is user-hostile, not allowing you to size it or move it - it has to be in the upper left corner of the screen and it wastes a lot of screen real-estate. The "Monitor v1.0.0.18" bundled with the 200 has a smaller footprint and it allows you to size and move the interface. It is forward compatible to the 210, but video only (not audio). It also gives you much more configuration control at your fingertips including volume control and on-the-fly record / stop / playback. In a nutshell, the interface of the old software is much better than the new stuff. If you will have a mix of WVC200 and WVC210 cameras, and if you want to use the monitoring software to record surveillance video, you will have to use the software that comes with the WVC200. You can search for e-pinions by me for reviews of the WVC200 for more details about pros/cons of this family of ip cameras.

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Cisco WVC210 Wireless-G PTZ Internet Security Video Camera -w/2-Way Audio

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