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Consumer Webcams With High-Quality Sensors?
xmas2003 writes "Since 2005, I've had a live webcam watching my grass grow — another is currently watching a bird nest on my front door — five babies! While I appreciate the 802.11g wireless and Pan/Tilt/Zoom (10x optical) of the five-year-old D-Link DCS-6620g, it has issues, especially image quality. I've investigated getting a new webcam, but except for high-end/security-related gear from companies such as Axis, there doesn't seem to be much improvement in the consumer space, as most offerings are just cheaper and USB-connected for tethered video conferencing, etc." So where, the reader wants to know, are the high-quality, reasonably affordable webcams? (Read on below.)
"I have an 18 Megapixel Canon 7D DSLR that shoots gorgeous 1920x1080x30p hi-def video. While I don't expect that in a consumer webcam, their recently released T2i uses the same chip and sells for $800. And heck, point-n-shoots are a couple of hundred bucks, and now many cell phones have cameras built in, so there're plenty of low-power, speedy CPUs in small packages these days to handle the signal processing. So why hasn't someone taken a sensor with good image quality, downsized to around 1024x768, and put it in a PTZ webcam package with 802.11n wireless for around $500?" Even if it's not that exact combination, what are the best options going these days for high-resolution webcams?
Especially with the advances in storage technology, it would seem like higher resolution for security purposes could sometimes be handy, certainly enough to justify paying at least a modest premium over 10-year-old technology.
HQ, reasonably priced wireless webcams to be easily stashed wherever I please? I've had that dream as well......
Watching grass grow? Watching birds? Tell us *really* what you are going to use the webcam for...
can't be from 2005
trendnet IP-TV252W and IP-TV512P are decent POE cameras at relatively cheap prices. one is a pan tilt dome the other is not. interfaces well with linux systems and work really well. not especially high rez but pic quality is decent for $250 or so..
Some routers have external USB ports (typically meant for storage); some of them have the possibility of using quite "normal" Linux, and hence all the drivers it has. So just connect a good quality webcam (note: you might need powered USB hub)
Or even connect Canon digicam with modified firmware and/or use app or script (there are *nix CLI ones) which can control such cheap camera.
(cheap & energy efficient Atom nettop would be fine too, of course...but WiFi routers are somewhat closer to the "independent" webcams you mentioned)
One that hath name thou can not otter
Argh! a hand almost grabbed those birds!
Since you've just posted a link to your site containing large jpegs, I must assume that either you're not paying for bandwidth, or that you're really, really new around here! Or, quite possibly, you are attempting to test the performance of your server under heavy loads.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I don't want to be crass, but some of the video technology those guys sometimes girls use are high quality tech.
Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
I think I just found a time machine to 1997.
Aaaggghhn...
Oh dear. My eyes. I'm going to have a lie down.
I have a 3CCD camcorder with a USB webcam mode. The image is stupid-high quality. Of course, it wasn't cheap and that's not why I bought it but it's a nice added feature. Just about any mini-DV type camcorder will produce a better quality picture than any webcam and many of them are in the $100-200 range. Find one with a webcam mode and you're set.
It has crashed my browser (Chrome) 3 times. Congrats.
Get an Axis, it is well worth the difference in price. And in addition the Axis cameras run linux :-)
1995 called. It wants its website theme back.
I guess the market has not grown because of the tiny percentage of people (not including corporations) using pan/tilt/web-addressable web-cams, most are not really concerned with high-end image quality. They just want to watch birds or use it for home monitoring. A guy in my office has one watching the river behind his house (it floods often). The people who really do want/need the high-end stuff are more than willing to pay big money for it.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
Logitech has some webcams with a pretty decent sensor. Don't remember the model name right off the bat, but you might check out their product line.
So why hasn't someone taken a sensor with good image quality, downsized to around 1024x768, and put it in a PTZ webcam package with 802.11n wireless for around $500?
Because the market for what you're asking for is miniscule. Any company that did that would probably sell a few thousand units over the course of a year.
Why "security" cameras(ie. webcam and some sort of TCP/IP speaking computer in the same box, often with goodies like 12/24 volt tolerant GPIO, POE, and weatherproof housings) have largely lagged; but the situation isn't nearly as dire if you are willing to do a touch of DIY.
Between the substantial increase in the number of ~$100 webcams that actually work with UVC drivers and have image quality that doesn't suck, and the availability of highly capable SBCs like the Shivaplug for not much more, you can get an ugly; but surprisingly functional, setup going for ~$300 and a little linux fiddling.
The other option with good price performance punch is taking advantage of all the DV video cameras that are being upgraded by their owners, or have shot tape-transport mechanisms. All but the ghastliest DV cams will outclass virtually all webcams in terms of optics and sensors, and they all connect via firewire in a standard way. A bit bulky; but if you go after stuff being dumped by "HD" enthusiasts, or hardware with broken tape parts, you can get fairly serious image quality for peanuts.
Take a look at Microsoft LifeCam Cinema.
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/digitalcommunication/productdetails.aspx?pid=008.
English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
A "webcam" is typically a USB camera you attach to your PC to do web (video) conferencing.
An "IP cam" is what you're thinking of, which attaches directly to the internet without a separate host.
Now, someone will probably follow up and tell me that "IP cam" is an overloaded term as well.
For example: http://www.everythingusb.com/microsoft-lifecam-vx-7000-14105.html
Or use a point-and-shoot with a webcam mode.
That said, you'll likely have to massively trade off frame rate for image quality, particularly when you're dealing with an embedded CPU doing the compression.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
I've had some of those expensive Axis/Canon PTZ webcams for work. Pretty sweet what you can zoom into.... we could read license plates off cars in the parking lot outside the office building windows.
I think your best bet would be to attach a $100 USB Logitech Orbit to a $200 nettop, perhaps running off an SD card. There are fairly good Linux drivers (including rudimentary PTZ) and fairly decent optical quality for the Logitech webcams (compared to those D-link webcam things, which I've also learned to loathe). So you could get 1280x960 stills at low frame rates (sounds good for what you're doing) and also 30fps 640x480 video, plus audio. If you stick it on a beefier machine, you could even do mpeg4 encoding and streaming using VLC or something.
Has anyone tried the linksys N?
Other than that, I've attached a QuickCam Pro to a dedicated $50 laptop, and left it running. The whole setup cost about 130, and provided decent low-light performance for the time.
The ______ Agenda
Ahhhhh! Buzz light year!
Watch the device driver support, I port a cheap Net cam, only to find it didn't support Linux or XP 64 which are all I use. The cam was useless to me.
The goggles do nothing!
your little page compares a web cam to a DSLR. In other news, a Corvette smoked a Ford Focus on I95N today, film at 11.
what about looking into something made for either machine vision or astrophotography? there are some very nice, very simple cameras for those purposes.
I saw that. didn't grab a screenshot in time tho...
i'll be waiting...
sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
I'd love to know also. I bought a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 for about $100 to test out for my White Dots (www.whitedots.org) project, but it had very disappointing performance in low light levels (the only ones that matter for me). Distant planes disappeared in a sea of multi-colored noise.
1. Buy a smallish, cheap digital camera that has good resolution and a USB connection. 2. Buy a tripod. 3. Attach camera to tripod, attach camera via USB cord to computer.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
So, if my math is right, you have a 100 Mbps and each image is near 35KBytes. So, with 1k users streaming that puts your total usage at 17.5 MBytes/s, 40 Mbps over your cap... Inc overages!
Apparently you missed the fact that he's looking for one with pan-tilt controls as well as zoom.
I like the VB-C60 by Canon.. PTZ, 40x zoom, low-light, etc. http://nuspectra.com/
Surely there is a limit to what can be sent over usb. Assuming 20fps, 60MBytes/s max (usb 2.0 transfer rate, 480Mb/s), 16bit colour. We have 2bytes per pixel, 3 MByte available per image, so 1.5Mpixel limit to video.
The original poster is looking for a replacement for a camera that has pan/tilt/zoom controls.
I think I found what you need.
Is there some software/standard which gets cameras to snap a picture?
Alek O. Komarnitsky
(December 2007)
This is a first: an Ethics Hero who emerged from the shadow of an Unethical Website designation. Back in 2004, Alek O. Komarnitsky received national attention for a whimsical holiday website that allowed people all over the world to turn his Christmas lights on from their home computers. Everyone had fun, which was clearly Alek's design. Still, when it became known that his site was a hoax and that the lights going on were only an illusion, the Scoreboard weighed in with the opinion that perpetrating such a large-scale deception was wrong, no matter how well-intentioned. Alek objected, and has maintained a spirited defense of his stunt in e-mail exchanges with the Scoreboard. But you can't keep a Christmas spirit down. At a significant cost in time and money, Alek figured out a way to really let people all over the world turn on his lights, at http://www.komar.org/cgi-bin/christmas_webcam---the very same site that the Scoreboard previously deplored. He has done this for a couple of years now, but has added a new feature in 2007. To quote Jolly Old Alec himself "There are three live webcams and X10 powerline control technology system so web surfers can not only view the action, but also *control* the 17,000 lights. Heck, you can even inflate/deflate the giant Elmo, Frosty, Santa, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Homer SimpsonWhile people around the world (157 countries last year) enjoy seeing the lights ON, environmentalists will be happy to know that they can turn the lights OFF with a click of the mouse. Better yet, this is the 4th year I'm using 100% Wind Energy and even though that is "clean" energy, I even did a Carbon Offset contribution for the 0.61 Tons of CO2 for the ~MegaWatt-Hour of power consumed; that's about the same as one cross-country airline trip. Finally, by providing viewing via webcam, you don't need to burn fossil fuels by driving around to see Christmas lights - Al Gore would be proud! But HEY, the $3/day in electrical costs are well worth the joy it brings to people (especially the kids) when they see the display in person and/or on the web. And new this year is a Hi-Def option, so gather your family around the large screen" The website, Alek reminds us, is free, and also exists to raise awareness of Celiac Disease,which afflicts his two sons as well as many others. He says his lights have raised nearly $20,000 for the cause. I've visited Alek's site, and it is fun, and you can turn the lights on and off, as well as inflate and deflate Homer. You win, Alek! The Scoreboard hereby pardons www.komar.org, and declares you a true Ethics Hero, and a damn persistent one, I must say. Thanks from all us kids, and a very Merry Christmas to you! You've certainly earned it.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
I realize it's unrelated to your search for a webcam, but ... how do I turn off the sound on your page!?
Unless I'm mistaken, Canon dslr's won't allow you to leave them on 24/7 and would not work for a continuous-on camera, which is a typical requirement of a web cam.
Not completely appropo, but sometimes you can find what you're looking for by trying out the not-so-obvious solution.
First, go to your local computer store and get a few generic UVC webcams.
While you're there get a few long USB extension cords. You can get an active one that will let you put your camera a few hundred yards away if you like, or a passive one that will get you to thirty or forty feet.
Now go home and plug in all your cameras, one at a time. You can plug in as many as you have USB ports, and, don't worry, no drivers needed.
For Windows, visit this site to download the "MJPEG Surveillance" program: http://www.brooksyounce.com/. Install it and run "MJPEG Recorder," click the right mouse button, and choose "Add New DirectX Camera." This program will let you adjust most of your camera's parameters including frame rate, and even motion detection and how long to record after motion stops. Jack up the resolution to the highest your camera will support since you're not going to want to record full-motion video in a surveillance situation. Be sure to set the JPEG quality to an acceptable level and put a time stamp in the corner, too, that you can read and won't get smudged by the JPEG compression.
A couple of gigabytes of free space is more than enough to record days of 1280x800 at 85% JPEG quality and 1 FPS. Experiment. The motion detection is key.
For example, at my local Micro Center, you can get a typical, generic UVC 1280x800 webcam for $25 or less. Try the WinBook WB-7144 HD Webcam 2-Pack for $40 or $25 for just one camera. In any case you should not pay more than $25 for a UVC webcam. These cheap units do 1280x800 at 30 frames per second and have autofocus, too, which is unbelievable at this price point. For discretion you may wish to disable the LEDs by disassembling the camera (they pop apart after unscrewing the base) and with a needle-nose pliers remove the two LEDs.
The quality is good for daylight, and rather grainy at nighttime. At these prices, experiment and have fun!!
Kriston
Sure, current Logitech webcams are rather decent (though at most quality levels you can get something cheaper usually (*)); but don't forget that Logitech, being the longtime "leader" of webcams, is almost single-handedly responsible for their stagnation which lasted almost a decade and was interrupted only recently. For almost 10 years they sold to people the same entry level (and most people will of course pick that one) basic design, price and poor quality. Leaving people disgusted with what can be "achieved" by their new webcam...
(*)unless of course you want to use Skype HQ; which is, with willing cooperation of Logitech, restricted to only few webcam of the latter; which only makes things worse in my eyes. Otherwise it's often a safe bet that, say, a Creative webcam will have better quality/price ratio (and understand fully what it means for me to recommend something from Creative - I will never forgive them for Aureal)
One that hath name thou can not otter
There are pretty good HD cameras used in videoconferencing that are affordable.
I have several infrared high resolution closed circuit security cameras at my home from this company which works well for me www.supercirucits.com. They have some high resolution webcameras that you can see if it works for you http://www.supercircuits.com/search?keywords=ip
My question is well related to the original one posted: I'm currently looking for a way to use a webcam wireless for our conference room. Currently we have are using a Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 with a long extension cable. We video conference with Skype, Adobe Connect, and Microsoft Office Communicator. The USB cable has to go. We tried a wireless USB hub, but it doesn't support webcams. Having a battery powered solution would be great, but if we can get our webcam stream back to the PC wirelessly, our engineering team tells me they can come up with a battery solution. I'm open to just about any solution that will work with the programs above. Keeping this below $500 would be good as well. Thanks!
If you want High quality you're not going to get it with wireless.
Switch to Firewire or traditional capture cards and zoneminder ( www.zoneminder.com ) bluecherry.net sells capture cards that are compatable with zoneminder and the alternatives, and even have their own distribution of Linux for zoneminder.
You will be glad you did, and wonder what you did without for so long.
- Dan.
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
After scouring the web for reviews I ordered the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema this morning for $50 from Amazon. It shoots (widescreen) 720p high definition video, is manufactured with all-glass lenses and performs great in low light situations. I was wary of buying a Microsoft product, but the camera is UVC and works out-of-the-box with Linux. Can't wait to get it.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
While using Skype one day I stumbled upon the fact that my nearly 6 year old Panasonic Mini-DV camcorder (PV-GS120) will function as a webcam when it's connected via Firewire. It provides picture quality at or better than an expensive USB webcam, functions well in low light, and has zoom and infrared auto-focus. Turning the built-in LCD around towards the front provides a "view my video" function freeing up my monitor to just display the other party. True, it's not "HD" quality but it serves a new purpose using an outdated camcorder I just had sitting around.
"If it's got a switch... it's my bitch!!"
Performance is pretty good except at night... I have the cameras set to switch to 'night mode' at night which means B&W and no IR filter... Unfortunately, if someone walks past, across the street from one of the cameras, all I get is a few frames with a blurry person in various stages of walking... Night is when I want clarity... My guess is I need a better lens or at best, more clue.
but it's 609
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BB-HCM371A-Outdoor-Wireless-Network/dp/B0009PD0ZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273093932&sr=1-1
here is the wired PD device (poe 802.3 powered)
for 665
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BB-HCM735A-Network-splash-resistant-optical/dp/B002PILZV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273093861&sr=8-1
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Seriously, what's with that annoying moving lawnmower following my mouse cursor around?
I have spent many an engineering lesson on watching-grass-grow.com. Maybe I need to go outside more?
I care not for your karma and your mod points.
I checked for that some year ago. None (!) had a webcam mode. Best they could do was to play the DV tape over USB. Maybe the market is different here... :(
project
performace
low light levels
Distant planes
Would you mind giving some of your identifying information to that kind gentleman in the suit who is standing over your shoulder?
Correction - you will give your identifying information to that kind gentleman over your shoulder.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Professionals don't use it nearly as much as they used to these days. They use high resolution and wide angle lenses instead, and do PTZ in software. PTZ was important when your video frame was 480x320 or suchlike. Now you shoot 5 megapixels and pan and zoom digitally.
Depends what kind of grass we are talking about doesn't it? What is grass to some are weed to others ;)
... to paraphrase a certain someone in the IT industry.
In all seriousnessity, check out the Zonet ZVC7630W if 640x480 meets your needs. It runs an embedded Linux kernel with Busybox, supports LAN/WiFi/USB sticks for recording, MJPEG streaming, and has some nifty motion trigger features.
I use a few of these for security cameras and they're pretty easy to weather proof with some caulk and tupperware. My one big complaint however (which might be a showstopper for many on ./) is the built in web features such as 2-way talk require Internet Exploder. It utilizes an ActiveX applet that I haven't been able to get around.
"Powers. I have them."
Careful! Maximum USB cord length is 5 meters (16ft).
I shrugged that off until I tried connecting a USB printer with cable twice the length. My computer didn't like that. I got messages ranging from unknown device to being able to see, but not print. Only when I connected a shorter cable did everything start to work.
I hear there are cable repeaters, but it will require another AC adapter to be plugged in someplace (powered USB hub might work).
Life is not for the lazy.
Once you get this running don't forget to get the mandatory VPN tunnel up between you and CTU. You never know when Jack Bauer will need Chole to pull up your video feeds to find terrorists. Heck, if every Mom & Pop gas station can do this it should be a breeze for you.
Not only does it work well with Linux, the autofocus function works too! (it's not software-based, it's in the camera, unlike others).
In skype on Linux it is used by default in 320x240 mode though. You can edit the CaptureWidth/CaptureHeight in ~/.Skype/user/config.xml to 640/480 for better quality video. It will not accept 1280x720 which is the native res, nor will it show a wide format image, but all that is a Skype limitation.
I have a Sony Handycam that does that (over firewire, anyway), used it in night-vision mode to monitor my back yard).
Sony DCR-TR280
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Free software can turn some digital cameras into high quality webcams. The list of cameras that VM95 can control is limited, but if you have one or can get one cheap it's a good solution. Of course, you need to have the camera attached to a computer, which may not work for you.
http://www.video-monitoring.com/about_VM95.htm
I used VM95 and an old Kodak digicam from eBay to make a very high quality webcam of an aquarium.
I have a logitech webcam pro 9000 that takes awesome video and does hd video also. Great quality and should be good for your needs. Maybe look into it.
http://www.networkcamerareviews.com/
has a lot for the new and old guy. And these are not webcams, they are network cameras, or IP cameras. They don't plug into USB but are regular, full-blown servers with a camera attached. And pretty much every single one runs Linux.
Been playing around with IP cameras for a few years. For the most part I set up camera systems for friends to monitor their vacation homes during the week. Have tried D-Link, Panasonic, Axis, and lately have been using nothing but Mobotix.
Mobotix is by far the most expensive, but Mobotix has been the most reliable for me. Axis was my 2nd favorite, but I have nothing but lockup problems with Axis cameras requiring the cameras be scripted to reboot every 24 hours.
Folks have touched on a few subjects--wireless is convenient, but such a bandwidth hog. Setup a small office with two wireless parking lot cams. The folks in the office used wireless laptops. None of the laptops could get better than 1.5mbps transfers when the wireless cameras were on. Wired the cameras and everyone was happy. The FPS on the cameras improved dramatically and the four or five folks in the office had speedy internet once again.
Another thing folks touched on--picture quality. Look for a camera with a changeable lens. If you want be able to read a license plate or recognize a face at 25' to 50'--you are going to need a nice lens. Even more so if you want to be able to read the license plate on a moving car at night.
You have some grass or a birds nest that you want to capture on a cam. The webcams are a thing of the past, because any camera, video or otherwise will act as a webcam. I am going to take a guess, and say that the problem you are having is finding a wireless camera to do the job? Perhaps a wireless memory card will suit your needs. (a memory card that automatically transmits the photos from your camera to your computer wirelessly when you bring it within range.).. Or just take a drill and put a small hole in your house so you can run the USB through it. I mean your watching the grass grow, why not drill a hole in the house. And when your done with it just fill it with cauilk. The cable companies do it all the time.. If you do make sure you pick a good spot thats not noticable, angle the hole downward from inside to out so water dont run in along the cord, Caulk it, and make a loop below the hole on the outside with the wire to help prevent the water from getting inside.
If you can do VGA over Cat5, surely there's some sort of USB over Cat5 setup? Maximum span of 100m per switch, plus I'd imagine you could rig up something with PoE to avoid having to do a separate AC run.
When looking for a nannycam, I wanted something that was wireless with a remote and/or computer controllable for pan and zoom. I was pointed to porn cams, because there are plenty that are used for that where they have remotes and things. I never did find anything, because searching for "cam" and "porn" wouldn't ever get me what I was looking for. Anyone know what a common one is used for that? They shouldn't be too much, and would have some nice features.
It seems the industry has been focused on the cheapest thing that looks good with Skype/MSN/Yahoo type stuff, and very little that's for higher quality or for aiming at anything other than a stationary talking head.
Learn to love Alaska
Interesting idea. Turns out there are USB extender kits over CAT5.
According to Newegg, the SIIG JU-EX0011-S1 will support USB v1 and 2. However, the data rate gets stepped down to 12Mbit/s. That may or may not be enough bandwidth depending on your device needs.
Life is not for the lazy.
"Since 2005, I've had a live webcam watching my grass grow — another is currently watching a bird nest on my front door — five babies!"
Not to be technical here, this is ./ after all, the term to use is "chicks", something the o.p. will only see with plumage.
Uh, Creative were just as responsible for the stagnation thing. In fact, they've doing it across several different technologies at the same time! Webcams, Audio cards, portable media players. Creative peddle complete shit.
We have active USB repeaters. These cameras draw very little power. Some of the power is used to run the repeater.
Here's a list of some cheap ones you can use to 16 more feet: http://www.cyberguys.com/product-search/?keyword=usb+extender&gps=60
And here's your 1000-foot USB extender: http://www.networktechinc.com/extenders-usb.html
Again, my goal is thinking how cheap can we keep it so that if things go horribly wrong we just shrug and try again. I have conventional NTSC Lorex and Q-see systems plus some NTSC camera cards but they're a pain in the neck. If you already know computers the UVC USB webcams give so much more picture resolution for so much less money and annoying CMOS camera headaches.
Also, you can install an infrared spotlight. These cameras will pick that light up in the darkness, too (most any camera will).
Have fun!!
Kriston
Oh, I just noticed the note you folks made about the speed going down. For surveillance purposes, you might be doing one frame per second. That is also how often the motion sensor polls the camera, so you're just taking super-high-resolution snapshots once per second, or whatever you set your frame rate to. My bandwidth math-fu is pretty rusty but once per second should be okay for one 12 megabit USB link.
Kriston
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.22789
200ft $18 :-)
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
Curious: what resolution do you get in webcam mode over firewire?
Do you perceive any lag in webcam mode?
Get yourself a 1080/30p camcorder with HDMI out, and
an HDMI -> PCIe card
( MOTU, aka Mark Of The Unicorn
http://www.motu.com/video-products/hd-express-hdmi/ ,
and Black Magic Designs
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/ , and
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/techspecs/ ,
( only "shuttle" USB3 version can do 30p! ), both make one
http://www.provideocoalition.com/ for possibly others )
and you'll have ALL the data-storage-problems your heart could possibly desire!
C :
( PS: you may get better quality this-way than from recording in-camera:
some cameras send uncompressed, or unprocessed? video to the HDMI,
so you get better quality data )
Nice, no reason this is rated so low! I do notice that there are several LiveCam Cinemas out there - any idea what the differences are? Is it just the market that changes the model number? I see them ending in 0001 and 0002 and 0003 from Dell. Weird! Some are listed as "HD" but all seem to support the same 720P. I've ordered a 0002 model from Amazon which seemed cheapest at $50 shipped...
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
The best sensor in the world won't do jack squat for you if you have crap-tastic optics. For pro-am digital photography the lenses are the limiting factor these days, the sensors are more than good enough. And it's not likely you're going to find a webcam with decent glass, sorry. For that form factor (teeny tiny camera) you're not going to get good quality or low light performance.
Coding with assembly is like playing with Legos. Coding an application in assembly is like building a car with Legos.
I work with IP security cameras, and in the last year there has been a huge increase in the number of IP cameras, even quite a few now with megapixel images.
Vivotek based in Taiwan is the OEM that made the DLINK cameras and has quite a few cheaper cameras (as well as expensive professional ones). Not sure where they can be obtained retail, I buy wholesale.
It's 640x480 dv (about 57Mbit/s). Nope, no lag that I'm aware of. Use it for video conferencing on a Mac Mini and it's perfect. Doesn't ever time out in camera mode if it's plugged in to power, which is great.
I bought it off eBay used like 4 years ago though, not sure how prevalent they are now.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
Make sure that the USB cable extension supports USB2, I know a lot don't.
This is awesome!! Thanks for the tips, everyone!!
Kriston
The original Netscape fishcam http://www.fishcam.com/ has gone through several iterations of cameras. It started on a SGI indy with a camera that came with the computer. It then moved to a portable video camera that was fairly old at the time, but had an analog RCA output and was encoded by the SGI. Now it runs on a Stardot NetCam SC5IR The Startdot camera is an embedded linux computer with a 5 MP video camera and high quality interchangeable lenses. The fact that it is a linux machine means you can do lots of creative things, like run a small web server, FTP, NFS, CIFS, scripts, etc. The most important aspect about a camera in my mind is its reliability. I don't want to reset the thing ever if possible. The Stardot has been running for more than a year uninterrupted. The big problem with Stardot cameras is the price. My SC5IR is over $1000 with all the accessories. A cheaper alternative is to set up a video server and use cheap security cameras with CGA resolution. You can get security cameras for $100 each and a cheap video card for ~$200.
the wired one is 1280 X 960
does h.264 video
it's very good
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
While you're there get a few long USB extension cords. You can get an active one that will let you put your camera a few hundred yards away if you like, or a passive one that will get you to thirty or forty feet.
I don't know what makes you think USB can support "a few hundred yards". The USB 2.0 Spec (http://www.usb.org/developers/docs) supports nothing remotely close to this length.
From the USB 2.0 specifications: "USB allows cable segments of variable lengths, up to several meters" (not several hundred meters).
http://www3.elphel.com/
Elphel, Inc. was started in 2001 to provide high performance cameras based on free software and hardware designs. Freedom of the users of Elphel products is our top priority - we value and protect it with the GNU General Public License that covers all the Elphel software and hardware designs.
This freedom extends from the convenience of the out-of-the-box usage of the cameras with the intuitive GUI to the possibility to modify any parts of them. It protects user right to create and distribute derivative products based on our designs, products that may be suitable for the applications we had never thought about ourselves.
http://www.vivotek.com/ I've setup a number of these for customers and it's pretty much Axis at 1/3 the price. Sure the housing might not be the same build quality as Axis but their image quality is top notch (even in very low light situations). for the price, you can't lose.
> Since 2005, I've had a live webcam watching my grass grow...
Only on Slashdot is that something to be proud of ;-)
Hi,
Iuse Elphel NC353L network cameras: http://www3.elphel.com/
Here are some videos: http://vimeo.com/channels/hawks
And it can film not only birds ;): http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=SCINI:_Submersible_Capable_of_under_Ice_Navigation_and_Imaging
hmm about removing those LEDs, is the camera infrared/UV sensitive? you might be able to replace the LED with infrared ones for night vision.
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
Thanks for posting the model number for those who might be interested in knowing.
We had some problems with break ins and vandalism in the neighborhood so I got 3 Axis 207MW camera's setup around the house facing out exterior windows. They're a bit pricey at around $350-$400, but they're the only thing I could find at the time in that price range that did 1280x1024 and were wireless. I couldn't easily wire coax or cat5 to two of the cameras because of my house layout (brick) and I didn't want exposed wires inside the house for aesthetics or outside the house where they could get cut. They do a decent job. I wasn't terribly impressed with the built in motion detection and capturing. You can record video or still pics to an ftp site or have pictures emailed to you, but the buffer is so small that you're not going to get any decent frame rates or length of video at any of the higher resolutions. I ultimately just have my desktop capturing their feed live using zoneminder. http://www.zoneminder.com/ I have it setup to record at 4 fps constantly and then if it gets an alarm (senses motion) it captures as fast as it can. That way I can always be sure and review what's happened before and after an event...even if the camera doesn't alert or I want to see something not captured in the "alarm". So far the only thing the cameras have been good for is helping the police prove a drug dealer was lying about getting shot outside my house. That, and it's helpful in the rare occasion the girlfriend accidental sets off the alarm when she gets home for work. I get a text on my cell phone and then can lookup the cameras remotely.
Our community is replacing its outmoded (640x480) surveillance cameras. Their image is so poor that pointed right at a person, you cannot identify that person, let alone see a license plate number on a car. We are going for the Arecont 10 megapixel camera, which can be had for $765 here, though it will cost us a bit more from our installer. It needs weather protection, and doesn't pan or tilt. But here are the amazing specifications: "Arecont Vision announced the presentation of the first 10-megapixel video surveillance camera that incorporates H.264 compression. The AV10005 is the very first camera that is capable of H.264 at full resolution, offering a 3,648 x 2,752 pixel resolution at up to 5 frames per second and even dual H.264 and MJPEG encoding." I have tested 10 megapixel. Now our surveillance videos will include faces and even license plate numbers. That should be enough for watching the Aphids under the grass grow, and watching the feather follicles on your flock of baby birds.
I have a setup with an analog Sony CCD camera connected via component video cables to a high quality capture card in a pc running Linux.
That's a great idea. I was a little concerned about the current draw and the fact that I don't know how to do SMT soldering, but that would be a great enhancement to the setup.
Kriston
you can have a cellphone with 12mp camera, but it will never be more than a cellphone camera. pixel count cant give you quality if you don't have good optics. and whats the point of all those pixels when all you see are the imperfections of lens. you can make cheap electronics but good optics have always been expensive and will continue to be expensive for the foreseeable future. so no pro grade consumer cams any time soon
thanks!