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Is one of the most common reactions when you start talking about surveillance cameras... especially the higher-end IP/megapixel types.  People seem to have a $500-1000 max price-point in mind when they start thinking about surveillance systems... further reinforced by that $299 system-in-a-box deal that they saw in Sam's Club/Costco a few months ago.  They want to pay that amount FOR THE ENTIRE SYSTEM, not realizing that some of the higher-end IP cameras run more than that for a single camera.

Fortunately, there are lower-cost alternatives, where you can get into IP cameras, and not break the bank.  

Here are two:  The Axis M1031-W, and the Acti TCM-4201 cube







We previously reviewed the Axis M1031-W in this thread, so we won't rehash all of that.  What I would like to do is to briefly give a run-down of the Acti camera, and put images from the two cameras side-by-side.

The Acti cube is a 1.3MP small-form-factor camera, designed for indoor surveillance.  This thing will NOT work outdoors without a housing, so don't even think about it.  Like the Axis, it's a daylight-only camera, and it includes a PIR (passive infrared) motion detector...  though unlike the Axis, it does NOT have a built-in light.  Both of these cameras will requires light to generate a picture; neither are IR-sensitive.

Briefly, the features:

Feature:........................Axis:.....................Acti:
Power over ethernet....... No.......................Yes
Color ............................. Yes.......................Yes
PIR..................................Yes......................Yes
Built-in Light....................Yes......................No
Megapixel.......................No .......................Yes
MJPEG..........................Yes.......................Yes
MPEG-4.........................Yes......................Yes
H.264.............................Yes......................Yes
Motion detection............Yes......................Yes (but not in MJPEG)
Mount included..............Yes....................... Yes
Lens Changeable...........No........................Yes (CS mount)
Two-way Audio..............Yes........................Yes
External Speaker........... No.........................Yes
I/O interface....................No.........................Yes
Browser agnostic?..........Yes........................No (IE only)
Wireless..........................Yes........................No
Price...............................$250......................$300













Here it is side-by-side with the Axis.  The axis is smaller, and lighter, but the Acti isn't a heavyweight by any means.  The Axis is thinner, and doesn't get as warm.  The lens area of that Acti camera gets VERY warm... almost hot. The housings of both are plastic, as are their mounting bases.  Neither of these cameras would survive any sort of physical assault, so don't mistake either of these cameras for vandal-resistant models.  







I set both cameras up to look at the same ARF screen on a laptop several feet away.  I lined up the lower-right corners of the pictures as best I could.  The resolution of the Axis is 640x480, while the Acti lens is slightly wider-angle, with a resolution that comes in at 1280x1024.  Both cameras are capable of MJPEG, MPEG-4, and H.264 compression, so we'll compare all three.  

Note:  ARF automatically resizes larger pictures to 800x600... so below each Acti picture, you'll find a photobucket link to a full-size version.


Axis MJPEG:



Acti MJPEG:


Link to full-size version




Axis MPEG-4:



Acti MPEG-4


Link to full-size version




Axis H.264:



Acti H.264:


Link to full-size version





You can clearly see that the Acti gives a larger picture, and better resolution than the Axis model.  What it also produces is more network traffic, since the Acti puts out 18 FPS at its highest resolution, with a picture size that varies depending on the protocol being used.  Ditto for the Axis, except it runs at 30 FPS.

MJPEG is generally considered to produce very good images... but with higher network loads.  MPEG-4 is a more efficient compression for your network, but there is more compression artifact, and the pictures quality can suffer just a little bit.  H.264 is supposed to fix some of those problems, while also being easy on your network.


Here is the Axis camera, with the three network loads noted (this is a 1Gbps link):




And here is the Acti camera, with the three network loads displayed:





The strengths of both of these cameras lie in their price-points.  Either one seems to be a good option for indoor surveillance of a warehouse, convenience store, gun store, or other location with decent environmental control.  You can also pick these up for 1/2 to 1/3 of the price you'd pay for a vandal-resistant outdoor IP dome.  If you have a door to cover, you could always cover it from the inside using one of these cheaper cameras, rather than spending 2-3x the money for an outside view of the same door (of course, you'd have no pictures of an attempted break-in... only of a successful one).

These seem like a nice option for the budget-conscious consumer, who'd like something more than what the picture quality of analog systems can offer.

I have one... I'll post some pics later.

Rather than reposting, go to the top of this page and scroll down a bit.  Myself and one other member have tried out the Ubiquiti cams.

Not bad for the price, but pretty lightly-built (eg. they're plastic, and pretty lightweight plastic at that... they will NOT take any sort of hit).

Nah... it's cool to post them here.

The Aircams take "passive PoE"...  it's about half the voltage of standard PoE.  There's a dinky little in-line resistor piece you can buy if you're using standard PoE switches... or you can use the included PSU.  They do NOT take standard 802.3af power-over-ethernet.

Ubiquiti is the only camera/AP manufacturer I've encountered that uses the odd off-spec "passive PoE."  Mobotix, Acti, Panasonic, Arecont, Axis, etc all use 802.3af-spec PoE.

No.  

Glass tends to block IR (which is why greenhouses work).  Of course, you could put in an external PIR, and have the camera indoors.  That might be an alternative if you were trying to do this on-the-cheap (and without springing for the extra expense of a vandal/weather-resistant dome).  

The powerline adapters do work, but make sure it supplies enough bandwidth to carry the data stream.

Sharky has one of those.  Send a PM to GR8TWYT.  He's a busy guy, but may be able to give you some real-user feedback on how well it works.

I am still looking for a reasonable LPR camera.  The setups that actually read the plate and log in the plate numbers are mega-bucks (we're talking thousands of dollars), and not needed for residential use.  However, you can fudge by simply getting a megapixel camera and focusing it on a driveway area, or road where a vehicle has to transit through.  

You also need to think about your particular location/state (two-plate-states are easier to get plates than one-plate states, since you have twice the opportunity to catch the numbers).  

I had hopes for the Acti KCM-5311E, but the internal storage isn't nearly  fast enough to read a plate, unless you get really lucky.  It stores maybe 2FPS at the highest resolution... which is slow, and not enough of a frame-rate to catch a plate on a moving vehicle.

There is a difference.  

Most LPR cameras are specifically for that purpose, and have a couple of distinct characteristics, some of which make them unsuitable for anything else.  They have a higher frame-rate (or faster shutter speed) than the average camera, and they frequently employ infrared illumination, combined with a long-pass optical filter on the lens.  They avoid visible-spectrum illuminators with LPR cameras to avoid distracting the driver, and to avoid drawing attention to the camera.  The IR light source is usually positioned near the visual axis of the camera to illuminate the plate, and the OLPF/Optical Low/Long-pass Filter (like these) attenuates other wavelengths of light.  This keeps headlights, sunlight, etc from blinding the camera, and allows the pre-set illuminator to highlight the plate.  

Unfortunately, this frequently means you get a black-and-white image at best, and the plate is highlighted (and not much else).  You can't tell very much about the car, driver, etc, particularly at night.  To fix that problem, I've seen LPR cameras used in tandem with conventional security cameras, where the latter provide more general detail of the vehicle color, driver, etc.

Haven't played with that one yet.

Haven't played with any of those, but that's a wicked-good price.  If they work with your NVR software, and the quality is good, that could be worth a shot.

I await the review with bated breath.  

Nice... not a bad camera.  I like how they did the infrared... it doesn't hotspot much at all, which makes me suspect they're using a SmartIR (or WDR) feature of some sort to compensate.  

BTW, Nelly's is a good place to get used hardware like enclosures and whatnot.  I've bought from them before and been pretty satisfied.

ETA:  They also seem to like the Acti D72 over there ( Link to their review ).  I just purchased one of those, and will be posting some pics in the near future.

At that price point, I'd half expect it to let out the "magic blue smoke" within a week.

Outdoor-rated IP POE PTZ?  You're looking at spending some very serious coin.  Is there a particular reason you want PTZ?

That would be far cheaper.

PTZ are almost never worth the premium you pay, unless there's a person there to man it all the time.  In the absence of that, it basically acts as a fixed camera.

Great video performance for the price.  Now that the dahua and hikvision stuff is out there, it might be good to rewrite this section.

I'll have to add it to my to-do list

You using IP Cam Viewer to get those screenshots?  What setting did you use in the software to make it work?  I haven't been able to get my Hikvision dome to work with the software yet... that's been my primary  beef.

We are waiting.

I need to upgrade my Panasonic out front.  It has seen better days.  The hikvision looks promising.

I just ordered A hikvision DS-2CD2032-I  should have it next week. I'll update this once I get tint.  It's the 4mm lens version to replace an old Panasonic camera that is just not very clear.  The reviews are outstanding on the camera, and I cannot wait to try it out.

I think you'll be happy.  

How's your system running these days anyway?

Good.  Had an incident with a neighbor and a 3 am knock on the door.  My Panasonic was less than helpful, and only showed a car in the street.  Couldn't identify it for crap. So, it's going to get replaced with a better one.

Did you ask me about that one?   If not. I'd have tried to guide you in improving the picture (more light might have helped)

No, but it's not a good camera. And it's a toshiba, not a Panasonic. The hik camera is much better and should give me a better picture.