Kind of gross but also makes the point of 24/7 recording, coverage and adequate resolution.

This AM I found someone had gotten sick in the hallway. (Thankfully I have vinyl flooring or tile everywhere but the bedrooms.) From the sheer volume and some of the bits that looked like dog food I assumed it was one of the dogs. I went to the video to see which but of course the only camera  pointed that way (an Amcrest IP3M-956W in the kennel) was too far away to make out the mess on the floor. So I scanned back to my last trip down the hall but still could not see anyone going through during that time. There was a small spot visible on another cam (an Amcrest IP3M-941W in dining room) but scanning that video showed it was made by one of the cats. Back tracking the cat I saw he came from the hallway even though I had not seen him on the kennel cam. Armed with an exact time I went back and ran the hallway video slowly and could see a shadow from the small blind spot between cams that had to be the cat getting sick into the hallway. So it appears the cat ate some of the dry dog food and it made him sick. At least that is my assumption right now as he seems fine but I know to keep an eye on him for a while.

Which leads me back to the points I keep trying to make to people.

• A lot of what of what you want to see after the fact would be missed if all you have is triggered recordings. The only bit above that triggered a motion event was the cat getting in the dining room which was small and short.
• You need enough coverage to be able to track a subject. It is amazing how often seems to happen in blind spots. This is why I have 38 cams and want more.
• And you need to be able to make out detail in the video. Sometimes only being able to see a body is there is good enough if you are just back tracking but if you need to see a face or when something was disturbed / left you need detail. 

Granted you never will have all the coverage you wish you had after an event but often a few extra dollars and a bit of extra planning will yield a much better end result so you do not end up feeling like you wasted your time and money.

Reolink RLC-411WS

Reolink 5MP HD 2.4/5Ghz Dual Band Wi-Fi Wireless Security IP Camera, Autofocus Bullet with 16GB Micro SD Card (RLC-411WS)

High points

• Resolution is 2560*1440 (Full 2K from a 5 MP sensor)
• 4X Optical Zoom, 2.8-12mm that yields a viewing angle: 100° in wide angle mode to 36° zoomed in. Note it does not reset to widest angle when rebooted like many do.
• Night Vision rated up to 100ft with 36pcs LED
• WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n with both 2.4 and 5 Ghz radios
• Built-in 16GB Micro SD Card for storage
• Auto focus not fixed focus
• Does not require a plug in to view from a browser
• Android app finds camera

Mixed

• Audio seems a bit tough to get at.
• Auto focus can be a bit slow.

Downside 

The mount and the antennae interfere with each other if angled to the side.


Almost twice the length of the  Amcrest IP3M-943W and a bit wider and a bit more expensive but you get a 4 X motorized zoom, a 5 Ghz WiFi radio, auto focus and audio for the bit extra.

Reliability

From what others have posted this is generally a solid camera but as I posted 2 months in mine started completely losing its config every time it rebooted. This meant I had to use it as wide angle camera with no password. Not good but not a total deal breaker on a secured network. I just put a fixed telephoto with it for the combined very wide angle and gate views. I was even thinking I'd get another to replace the 2 cams near the creek but 6 months in and the zoom and focus motors are stopping working on a regular basis. This might not be a major issue except when they go out the camera also goes out of focus leaving me with rather worthless view.

This has gotten be at least a daily occurrence now. I went in and told it to reboot daily. (Oddly it seems to remember this is enabled and frequency but time seems to change to a diff one after reboot.) That seemed to help for a day or 2. Currently to fix I have to reboot the camera, log back in and kick the zoom a couple times to get the autofocus working again. This is of course making the camera almost worthless. So I'm divided on getting another one. This might be heat related as well given it is in full sun and it hit 100 degrees outside a while ago. I noticed the dome version of this is $20 cheaper plus there are some refurbs available for $25 below that so I ordered one to try.

Blue Iris Setup

Is pretty much straight forward but I have not found a way to get the audio stream yet.

The compare tests

All 3 camera were mounted next to each other on the same post with the IR flood so IR coverage is not a factor in image quality. Top to bottom Escam QD900 (Gate39) with a 16 mm lens installed, the Reolink RLC-411WS (IPcam61) and a Foscam FI9804 (IPcam44)

First off contrast with the sun out and the Reolink

 and Escam the look about the same when viewed at same size.

Similar with the night shots
The Reolink in wide angle mode

Though it has a wider view and more contrast than the Foscam

 The Reolink fully zoomed is still wider

 the Escam with the a 16 mm lens. The Escam looks a bit better for objects at the gate but closer in the Reolink is much better.

 If you zoom in it really comes home that the Escam wins on distance

The Reolink in zoomed actually does not look quite as well as the one from

The wide angle view depending on what you are looking for. This might be partly an auto focus issue. Given the foreground in the full shots is so clear it maybe focused wrong.

Funny the swing set is more visible in the wide angle shot but the wood grain is better in the zoomed shot. Note that corner of the building is 372 feet from the cameras and has its own security light on it.

Here are the shots for testing recognition at just over 100 feet. At first glance it might look like the Escam wins given its tighter angle making the subject larger in the pics

but if you zoom in to make them the same size the Reolink is much clearer on the face though about a draw on the plate. The last one is pulled from the wide angle shot from the Reolink which is almost as useless as a shot from the 720p Foscam.

Here are the shots for testing recognition at close to 200 feet with similar relative results.

Zoomed in they look like this for the Reolink zoomed, the Escam and the Reolink zoomed out.

Unfortunately reading plates at the gate is iffy at best with either cam BUT I'm thinking it will replace both the Escam and the Foscam in this instance.  To read plates at the gate looks like it will take either a higher resolution and or a higher magnification lens. Thinking maybe next trying USG Business Grade 4MP H.265 IP Bullet Security Camera : Telephoto MOTORIZED 5-50mm Auto-Focus Lens, Power Over Ethernet, 72x IR LEDs, 32GB microSD Card, Weatherproof, ONVIF 2.4

Amcrest ProHD Outdoor 3-Megapixel Wi-Fi Vandal Dome IP Security Camera - IP3M-956W

Amcrest ProHD Fixed Outdoor 3-Megapixel (2304 x 1296P) Wi-Fi Vandal Dome IP Security Camera - IP67 Weatherproof, IK10 Vandal-Proof, 3MP (1080P/1296P), IP3M-956W (White)

At $99 dollars it is $20 cheaper than its bullet counterpart. Electronically they are about the same so you can pretty much just look at my Review: Amcrest IP3M-943W for details.

Under the come it looks like this

Under the LED array the camera looks like this

 

If you look close you can see the lens is glued in so there is not swapping of lenses possible.

Here is a sample shot from the bird feeder to compare view angles.

And a matching shot from a QD900 1080p cam

Review: Amcrest UltraHD 2K IP3M-941W

I bought a Amcrest UltraHD 2K (3MP/2304TVL) WiFi Video Security IP Camera with Pan/Tilt, Dual Band 5ghz/2.4ghz, Two-Way Audio, 3-Megapixel @ 20FPS, Wide 90° Viewing Angle and Night Vision IP3M-941W (White) from Amazon. I should note the first one I received did not work. The second one did but took some messing with to get working with Blue Iris

The video quality of the Amcrest IP3M-941W is the same as the 2K Amcrest IP3M-943W cam. In other words about what you would expect from a 1080p cam just more of it. The normal Amazon price is $150 but it drops to $130 on occasion. The main extras you get for an extra $20 over the IP3M-943W are:

• Pan/Tilt
• Audio input
• 5 GHz WiFi

The down sides:

• Indoor only

Depends on the need:

• The view is a little less wide with a 4 mm lens instead of the 2.8 mm the IP3M-943W has. Only 90 degrees instead of 100. But that is still wider than the 70 degrees of many cameras.
• The 4 mm lens is a F 2.2 and the 2.8 is a F 2.0 so there will be a slight difference in depth of field but not enough I noticed it.

Bottom line:

If you need wide angle and pan/tilt or local recording it might be worth the extra money. If you do not need pan/tilt (with 90 deg view you probably do not), before you buy though check Hikvision. One of their models will probably do what you need for a lot less. And if you are really worried about security their dome versions can be bolted to the ceiling to really make it tough for thieves.

Example night shot from the Foscam FI9821W I replaced

Yeah the place is usually a mess with multiple projects going and keeping eval boxes to hand for return shipping. Anyway here is the same view with the Amcrest IP3M-941W

So what you get is pretty much wall to wall coverage if you put it in a corner. Plus a clearer picture. Though at up to 3 times the cost. Note you will get better coverage if you mount the cam about half way up the wall so it can look straight out. Though if your main goal is security instead of something like keeping an eye on the pets then you probably want to mount it as high as you can. Note both these cams use 5 volt power supplies so need to be close to an outlet versus 12 volt cams that can usually be on a 200 foot power cord with no problems.

One last point that might make this camera worth the extra money to you. As you can see above, the picture is clearer but you probably do not really get how much till you zoom in. If I zoom in, with the Foscam FI9821W you can barely make out the floor tiles.

But with the Amcrest IP3M-941W you can easily.

Note all the above pics are direct (raw) frame grabs. A quick contrast adjust in something like Photoshop / Premiere will bring up a bit more detail

Inside it looks like this

Again if you look closely you can see the lens is glued in place so no swapping.

Review: Hikvision DS-2CD2035-I

Those QD900s are getting hard to come by. Often $60 or more now IF you can get them. Plus I've learned of a security flaw in them recently and they do not offer firmware fixes. On a suggestion in an IT forum I looked at the Hikvision cams. The Hikvision DS-2CD2035-I  is a damn nice 2K 70 deg view cam I got for $80 but you do not get WiFi in this model and it is not upgradable. There is sticker on the box warning you not to try in fact which is bit of a red flag for people that are aware of IoT security issues that have been making regular news of late. Fortunately look for the US or upgradable version in the descriptions on Amazon.com for one you can get firmware update to. They seem to be running about $20 more for the same features though. If not worried about your network security, it still compared well with a Escam Qd900 that is running only about $20 less. For that $20 you get a lot more detail and probably are still more secure but you do loose wi-fi. You also get config and monitoring features you do not normally find in low cost cameras like SNMP v3.

I also like the mount better on the Hikvision. Another nice thing about the Hikvision cams is most of them are available with 2.8, 4 or 6 mm lenses so you can probably get one that matches the viewing angle you need without needing to swap out the lens.

All the pics here were grabbed from the video recorded on Blue Iris using this config

In a posted pic you will not see a lot of diff in a day time shot between the 2K Hikvision w/ 4 mm lens

and the 1080p QD900

If you zoom in though you see a huge difference between the Hikvision

and the QD900

Night vision is not bad. Note the plane in the upper right corner.

though the you are not going to get much detail at 50 feet without extra illumination on a moonless night.

Here is a quick IR sensitivity compare contrast left to right the Hikvision, the $40 (referb) Foscam FI9804 and  the $40 SV3C I had next to each other for evaluation. Note the Foscam is picking up some IR bounce back from the fence in front and below it even though the fence is not in the picture.

Inside it looks like this

It is hard to make out but this lens is glued in place making it impossible to swap out.

Started a Spec Compare sheet

I'll keep adding stuff as I test cameras and find new info but it already has pretty complete on the cams listing the "IP Cams I've tried" section. I've added the link (Camera spec compare) in the links section in the header.

Review: Univivi U06R WideAngle Long Range 130 Feet 6pcs LED Array Lights IR Illuminator

Update 1/22/2017: below is my original posting on Facebook. Since then I've had 2 of the four appear to have gone out. It looks like the power supplies I had them on just could not give them enough power. The specs say a 2 amp supply but the 5 amp supplies I bought seems iffy to power a cam and the light though the 2 together ought to only draw about 3.5 amps max.

I bought a Univivi U06R WideAngle Long Range 130 Feet 6pcs LED Array Lights IR
for eval. Here is the Amcrest 2k deck cam
with some other cams in the distance helping light the yard.

Now with one of the old analog LBC6050  cams on the deck as an IR illuminator.

Now I replace that with the Univivi U06R. Not as wide angle as I'd like here but awesome for longer shots.

Here I have same analog cam stuck in the rocks.

I pointed the Univivi U06R still from the deck toward the driveway and the analog back toward the lower deck. It might more sense to line it up with the camera. I'll have do more tests but I like the way it lights up the south west gate.

Now this is what the Univivi U06R is made for. This is an Escam QD900 looking through the fence so there is a bit of glare back.

Now the same shot with a Univivi U06R setting below it. The old pool pump is about 40 feet away. The deer feeder and water trough about 70.

Update: Jan 6th 2019

Thought it might be time for an update with some more examples

These cameras are about 110 feet from the creek. 

I had a Univivi U06R about 25 feet down the path as added light You can see how it makes the trees glow but the water is almost lost in the black about 110 feet from the cams. If you look close you can see far bank sometime as in this shot from the Amcrest IP4M-1026.

In this shot from the max zoomed (22mm) Microseven, next to the Amcrest, is worse because of the glow from the trees from the all the IR.

Adding second Univivi U06R (see daylight pic above) aimed at the far bank improves things a lot.

For the Amcrest IP4M-1026

And the Microseven as well.

Even up the path you can see the diff in this Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I (12MM)  mounted 72 feet behind the above cams. With one Univivi U06R

And with the second installed.

Decided to adjust the second illuminator to shine more on the water and it made a big improvement.

It might seem all that diff in the stills so I posted a video to show how you can easily make out the waves in the water now.