4MP PoE Outdoor PTZ Speed Dome Camera

I actually purchased this camera for my wife's garden, we call if GardenCam. We wanted to be able to check out the garden, and the back yard, watch the kids in the pool and generally keep an eye on things. We already had a full network set up in the house including the necessary Cisco POE switch to drive this (and another fixed camera for our basketball court) so my kids and I only had to run the ethernet through the attic and under the eve to where we wanted it mounted. The camera was very easy to configure and once on the network I was able to connect it to our Blue Iris software without any issues at all. We live in Phoenix and the temperatures have been 117+ multiple times this year and the camera never once glitched even in the hottest temperatures. Using Blue Iris I have the camera automatically pan to different locations every 30 minutes and take a hi-res snapshot so I can do a big time-lapse of my wife's garden next year. It is amazing the quality at night as well. The camera is well built, can stand up to Phoenix summer temperatures, and was pretty inexpensive for the camera quality that you get. If you are looking for a high quality camera and a decent price that does PTZ, then this is the camera for you.

Awesome camera. Better than expected. Only issue I ran into, was distance from the NVR box. I was going off the instructions and it says that it could go a specific distance with the POE. It’s not nearly as far as they claim. I kept having to shorten and shorten the cable until I was able to get a signal. Originally I ran the cable so that it could not be seen, which made it a little long. About 100 or so feet. I ended up having to run a cable straight which ended up being about 50-60 feet. Other than that issues the camera has worked great. Been through a few typhoons, storms, heat, and it still continues to work well. Zoom on it is amazing, IR lights work extremely well. Very good camera for the money.

I have purchased numerous IP Cameras over the last 5-10 years. I usually look for the less expensive cameras, and end up regretting my choice. So I decided to splurge. This was my first Amcrest purchase. I was a little reluctant after reading some of the negative reviews, but for the most part couldn't be happier. For those debating between a POE and a wifi model; don't. I am using this camera connected to a TP-Link N300 Wireless portable Nano Travel Router, set up in client mode, and am using the camera as a wifi camera. You will need a nearby AC outlet to power the router as well as your POE injector. Pros: One of the easiest cameras to set up I have ever installed, even using my wireless nano router. Best to use your smartphone as shown in the quick start guide. Amcrest also provides an IP Configuration tool for your PC to easily locate your camera, should have troubles with the installation, which I doubt you will have. The picture quality is one of the best I have seen, but not perfect (see Cons) Zoom is awesome as seen in my pictures. The smartphone App was excellent, giving you access to the camera wherever you are. There is no PC app per say. You use your browser which was a little tricky. If you are using Chrome, you are prompted to download a chrome App (not extension, see cons below). This camera has one of the best GUI interface I have ever used. A few glitches that are discussed below. I needed to get hold of technical support for a minor issue, and was able to a real person after a 5 minute wait. A big plus. The manual was robust and written in English. I recommend you download the online manual which is even more robust than the one in the box. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fNxWkDzGBi5zTHGUC-_LqI2KQK3A_TP8/view There are numerous Amcrest "how to" videos I had some advanced user requirements and found all a wealth of information on Amrest user forums. Cons: The camera came with anchor bolts for securing camera to a concrete wall. It did not come with the lag bolts for attaching to a wooden wall. I would not attach this camera to Sheetrock. Not really a con, but this camera is a lot bigger than I expected. It's over 1 foot tall, is 7 inches wide, and weighs over 10 lbs. It sticks out 10 inches from the wall. I have not been able to get the Amcrest DDNS service to work. Will be making another call to tech support. Picture quality is excellent, however when viewing sky conditions, the image is somewhat washed out. If preset views have been configured, the camera, if pointing to a some other view, will spontaneously change to the preset 1 location after about 30 seconds. Other users have reported this bug. Removing all the presets fixes this problem. There is no firmware listed on the Amcrest website for this model. I assume I have the current firmware version. If you are using Chrome or MS Edge, after entering the camera IP address. You are then prompted to download an Amcrest extension, which in fact is NOT an extension. It download a Google App that is place with your other Google apps. When you click on the App, the Amcrest App opens and you have to enter the cameras IP address. You then have to enter the cameras user name and password (BOTH case sensitive). This is a little clunky, but no big deal. Interesting enough, it works better on MS's Internet explorer. As I said, this is one of the best IP cameras I have ever had. I was so pleased, I also bought the Amcrest bullet POE camera. It uses same smartphone app and GUI interface.

Amcrest cameras are great but their new android surveillance 2 software is terrible. Half the time the software crashes and runs extremely slow. Many times the cameras won't even show up on the app. And when you are running the Surveillance 2 app, it slows down your entire tablet to the point that you can't use any other apps. The reason I am leaving this one star review is in hope that Amcrest takes notice and fixes the software soon! Also I can not recommend anyone buying these cameras until they fix the app.