Shopping for a webcam has been frustrating and exhausting. I'm building a website for an oceanfront tourist town and mounting a camera outside that points over the ocean at the morning sunrise.
The site requires jpgs uploaded every 60 seconds, and I need
photographic quality. "High resolution" means nothing if the camera isn't capable of good exposures, which I'm finding nonexistent in IP cameras? I need photos of predawn sunrises and the moonlight reflecting off water (quality like the
Reykjavik, Iceland webcam or these
Alaska webcams.)
As far as I can tell, I have two choices:
1) A Stardot Netcam (way out of project's budget!)
2) The Olympus digital camera with SebecTec software (which requires I run a dedicated computer 24/7, and worse, buy a new computer because SebecTec software isn't compatible with my Mac.)
Ideally, I want an IP camera so I don't have to run a computer 24/7 to keep the website live. But, as far as I can tell (?) nearly all IP cameras:
1) Take grainy, mediocre quality images with limited dynamic ranges, even during perfect daylight conditions.
2) Use IR technology that destroys night photos, (and without IR enabled, can't take night / low light photos at all)
Can I accomplish this website without spending over a thousand dollars on a Stardot? Or a thousand dollars setting up the SebecTec system?
I've read dozens of threads here, and this community sure knows its stuff. I'd appreciate any guidance or advice!?