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

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: SV3C 960P Wifi Outdoor Camera

SV3C 960P HD Wifi Wireless Outdoor Home Surveillance IP Security Camera,Bullet Camera,20M Night Vision,Support Remote View by Phone,Pad,Windows PC, Support Max 64G TF Card for Record

With 2 Foscams stolen and a third dying as I tried to put into service I started looking around for another cheap cam for locations outside the fence. What I found was the SV3C 960P Wifi Outdoor Camera, for just $40. Though as I'm writing this I see it is $43 today.

Between the 1280 x 960 resolution and the price you are not going to expect much. I'd say the daytime view is about as good as the 720p Escams and Foscams. Though one oddity was the picture seems distorted almost like they took something a bit taller than 1280x720 and stretched it to be 1280x960. For instance here is my video target.

You can see it seems just a bit taller than it is wide. Enough I noticed it though again probably not enough to matter but it is just odd.

Since I still have a dog food box of parts still sitting on my coffee table here is the compare shot between the HikVision DS-2CD2035-I (left) and the QD900 (right) in evening light

to compare to the SV3C

You might notice the distorted aspect ratio again along with the lack of detail.

Next I stuck it next to a HikVision DS-2CD2035-I with 4mm Lens that comes in at $80 ($81 at the moment).

Here are evening shots of the (collapsed) pool area and deer feeder.
The Hikvision looks like this

and the SV3C like this


Looks zoomed in a bit but not bad till you zoom in. Zoomed in on the feeder the Hikvision looks like

While the SV3C looks like


Things get worse at night. Note both cams are on here so the illumination from both are in use. The Hikvision

vs the SV3C


So the IR distance / sensitivity is not great.

On the plus side it does work with Blue Iris though it is not obvious how to get it working. You want a config similar to this

Some gotchas:

If you do get one of these you might be thrown by the interface coming up in Chinese. Look for this screen to change it.


Unfortunately it does not seem to save this and you need to select English here or the login screen each time.

The password field does not seem to support symbols so if you type a password like Ab3d! it stores it as Ab3d.

Can not turn off UPnP and it says succeeded though UPnP is disabled at my site and I have the cam blocked form accessing the internet.

Lastly it comes with the IP set to a static 192.168.1.136 which might cause problems getting it setup.

Review: Amcrest IP3M-943W

Amcrest ProHD Outdoor 3-Megapixel (2304 x 1296P) WiFi Wireless IP Security Bullet Camera - IP67 Weatherproof, 3MP (1080P/1296P), IP3M-943W 

I mounted the 2K Amcrest IP3M-943W cam mounted next to the Escam QD900 driveway cam.
The Escam with the stock lens (titled down to avoid the sun) looks like this.

The Amcrest looks like

The main advantage is you get a wider angle at the same base resolution as the Escam. This is a lot easier to see in these bird feeder shots.

This shot is with the standard lens Escam QD900 (1080p)

Notice the bird feeder itself uses about the same number of pixels in this larger picture but the field of view is much wider. Which might one use for these cams, a wide angle view that is still some what useful. However you will also notice if you zoom in on the 2K cam picture so that the bird feeder is the same size in both (basically cropping to a 1080p image), the bird feeder will be clearer in QD900 picture. So do not expect to be able to zoom in much for details.

Here is the view from the Amcrest 2K cam in night mode.

And the one form the QD900 for comparison.

So a good wide angle cam and decent night vision but for the $130 price tag you might be better off with 2 QD900s side by side.

Review: QD900 with a 16 mm lens

Swapping the stock lens in a Escam QD900 with a 16 mm lens can add an almost 4 X optical zoom to your camera. A view from a stock Escam QD900 looks like this

You can zoom in about 4x before things start to get too blurry

with 16 mm lens the unzoomed view becomes

Again you can zoom in about 4x before things start to get too blurry but now that means you can read a license plate up to about 200 feet away.

If you have a bit of dexterity you can probably swap out the lenses easily. I did it and my fingers are on the stiff side. It does mean disassembling the camera though and focusing the lens while the camera is still apart and turned on so you will have to decide if you are comfortable with that. I suggest sliding business cards between the case and the boards to minimize the risk of shorting out the boards on the case. Also be careful to not disconnect any of the wires while you are in there.