Moved to new site – NetworkCameraCritic.com

The site has moved to NetworkCameraCritic.com. All articles and your comments have been preserved.

The reasons are
– easier to remember website name
– eliminate the WordPress advertisements
– allows me to better customize the site and add features in the future

If you subscribed to this blog, I was not able to transfer the subscription. Please subscribed to the new site so that you can be kept abreast of the latest camera reviews and news.

ACTi KCM-5611 Review

Moved to www.NetworkCameraCritic.com

Kudos to ACTi for making what is one of the best cameras I’ve ever used. The KCM-5611 has very good crisp image quality during the day and the best low light performance I’ve seen on any camera at night, especially important is that they did so with 2MP 1080P resolution. Many cameras accomplish night vision with IR illuminators and this camera has IR illuminators, but it’s redundant because this camera performs very well with minimal light without the illuminators on and in color. It also has a very accurate auto-focus and 18X zoom. If you ever spend time manually focusing some cameras, you know that auto-focus is a big time saver and being able to remotely set the focal length/zoom is also valuable.

Panasonic BL-C230A Pan/Tilt Camera

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The Panasonic BL-C230A is a wireless network camera that is targeted towards the home market. A step up from low-end products from China that are common on eBay but simplified over commercial solutions. The Pan, Tilt and Digital zoom functions of the Panasonic BL-C230A enable you to monitor a wide area automatically using presets or sweep the area with a single click of the mouse. You can also have it email an alert with pictures if there’s any motion detected using the built-in PIR motion detector or by sound using the built-in microphone. Even has a privacy button on top of the camera, resembling a snooze button on an alarm clock. This prevents viewing the camera video for complete privacy.

IQEye Alliance Pro IQA32N 1080P Dome

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Most of the cameras I’ve reviewed have built-in illuminators. This is something I like because external illuminators are costly and require additional wiring. What if there was a camera that worked well in low light without the need for illuminators? That’s the question that the LightGrabber II Low-light feature of IQEye cameras answers.

BlueIris NVR Software

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BlueIris is one of the bargains in recording software for your surveillance cameras at only $49.95 per server. It has some unique features that makes it idea for home or small business surveillance and it’s easy to use. It also has a huge list of cameras that are supported and new cameras are constantly being added.

Milestone XProtect Go NVR Software

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Milestone is one of the leaders in NVR software. About a year ago, they release a free version call “Go” that’s a limited version of their commercial software. The key advantages to XProtect is the wide variety of device support that is updated regularly with drivers for over 1,000 cameras from almost 100 different manufacturers.

Surveillance Technology Roadshow

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GSS, a distributor is doing a free technology roadshow at various locations including Los Angeles (6/12), Cleveland (8/7) and Richmond, VA (7/10). This is a good way to meet camera manufacturers, see their latest products and ask questons. Mobotix, Messoa, Geovision, QNAP, RayTec and Kintera are presenting. Resellers and consumers are welcome. Breakfast & lunch provided.

Zoneminder Open Source NVR Software

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For the budget minded, Zoneminder is open source NVR software to record from your IP cameras and allow you to view them from any web browser. The price, free, is alluring, but how well does it work and is it worth the money?

It’s been said that open source is free, like a free puppy. Zoneminder works, but it takes a great deal of effort to set it up so it depends on how much your time is worth. But as hobbiest know, the journey is half the fun. So let me take you on that journey.

exacqVision Start NVR Software

Moved to www.NetworkCameraCritic.com

Some of you have asked what software can I use to record from my surveillance cameras. There’s many choices on the market and I chose to start this series with a popular product that came out in a “lite” version called exacqVision Start about a year ago. ExacqVision is easy to use and efficient NVR software. Their Start version makes it affordable for home and small business users at a reasonable price of $50/camera. The server can be installed on Windows or Linux and the client can additionally be installed on a Mac. Also included are free smart phone apps. This not only works with IP cameras, but can also record from analog cameras.

Axis Q6035-E Outdoor PTZ Dome Review

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The Axis Q60 series is the crown jewel of the Axis lineup. An HD 1080P PTZ speed dome with 20X optical zoom and great image quality not only during the day, but also using available light at night. Previously I reviewed their 720P PTZ Dome, the P5534-E so we mounted the two side by side to you show you the difference between the two. The Q6035-E outdoor-ready PTZ dome provides HDTV coverage of large areas, great details when zooming in, and high-speed pan/tilt performance.