Vivotek PZ6112

[George Richardson]

Hello,

I feel that I am fortunate to have an interesting and attractive view from my home that makes a great webcam location. I am using a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 as a temporary view until I can make the leap to a camera like Rick's at DeltaWeather or Bob's at NHWeather.

Until my ship comes in, I have kept my eyes open for a deal. I have found something that while not the leap referred to above, seems to be a giant step. This setup (http://www.apexcctv.com/p-141-vivotek-pz6112-ip-network-ptz-camera-outdoor-housing.aspx) got my attention but the price was a little high still for an unknown. I then found this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280259844730&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018) on ebay and decided to gamble on it (there are 6 more going over the next few days!). That may seem a silly move but it payed off when I found this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280259844730&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018) a day later. I have not received either so I can't endorse them but I wanted to share what seems like a deal. I have talked with a member of this forum that does have this setup and he is pleased with it. By the way, both eBay purchases were made with a credit card so if I were to get stiffed, I have recourse.

I expect this "deal" will be gone before I receive and set mine up so again I say, this post is to make you aware but not to endorse!

FWIW

George

[tinplate]

Both ebay links point to just a housing. Did you paste the wrong link on one?

[George Richardson]

Sorry Steve,

This is the camera I purchased. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320292410686&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=011

The link I tried to paste was a new listing by the same seller at the same price. It has since sold. Hopefully he has more if you are interested.

George

[George Richardson]

To follow-up on this thread. The seller of this camera originally had it listed on eBay for $390.00 I think. It did not sell so he relisted it for $350.00. I bought it for that. He had very low feedback but since it was paypal (creditcard) payment, I decided to chance it. The seller's location is listed as Brooklyn, NY. Today I received the camera; brand new as advertised. The one kicker is that it was shipped from Tokyo, Japan. All documentation is english. The seller has sold 3 more units since I made my purchase. The question I would ask is, would you make the purchase again? The answer is yes at this time and will change only if the quality of the camera is not what I expect.
FWIW
George

[tinplate]

When you get it set up, post a link here so we can see the quality of its picture, or at least post a good snapshot from it. I'd also like to know how it handles the sun being in the frame of the picture.

[blackjack52]

I use one.  A very nice camera.
http://www.apexcctv.com/p-141-vivotek-pz6112-ip-network-ptz-camera-outdoor-housing.aspx
Excellent customer service.

George,
Good luck installing yours.

[blackjack52]

Vivotek PZ6112 up and working locally. I am thrilled. I have done professional photography and am quite critical of optics. This is not as crisp as Bob's and Rick's but then there is quite a price differential AND I haven't tweaked it yet. I am extremely web challenged but I'll try to have it rolling by tomorrow.
George

Looks really good.  I'm curious though, your image seems to be about 66% longer.  Also, are you using movie salsa?

[George Richardson]

Actually that is the Logitech 9000. I think I am close to getting the setup to the net for the Viotek but its not ready for prime time yet. The elongation of the logitech image was done in Image Salsa and the bottom 1/4 was cropped, not using movie salsa just live images.

[George Richardson]

OK Guys,
In order to "push" the seller of this camera to ship my camera quickly, I emailed him that there were members of this forum that were interested in the outcome of my purchase before committing to a purchase themselves. He has kept in touch as to the status of my order and this evening emailed that he had about five units left if we were interested. I have a temporary setup running if anyone is interested in viewing before committing, drop me a note and I'll give you a temporary address. Remember, this camera does require Internet Explorer and ActiveX out of the box. Bob at NHWeather (Racenet) is using a wonderful Toshiba that uses Internet Explorer and ActiveX also but he has software (WebcamXP I think) that gets around that but I haven't gotten there yet and can't promise this camera will also but the software says it will. Now, bottom line: if Bob (NHWeather) or Rick (DeltaWeather) said they'ed trade me cameras even, I'd jump on it in a second, but if I didn't think this was a good deal I wouldn't be wasting my time sharing the information. You Just don't know how slowly I type. I'm hitting the sack now but will respond by 9:00 AM.

[blackjack52]

Actually that is the Logitech 9000. I think I am close to getting the setup to the net for the Viotek but its not ready for prime time yet. The elongation of the logitech image was done in Image Salsa and the bottom 1/4 was cropped, not using movie salsa just live images.

Whew...  I was beginning to think something was wrong.

I am debating on giving access to the camera.  How about you?

[George Richardson]

Lee,
Just got in, long day. I will give access to the camera as soon as I figure how to get it through my web site server. I don't want my home LAN open to the world. Not afraid of security, (nothing to secure) just afraid of being overwhelmed.
George

[NiceBill]

Hi George and Lee,

Several folks have requested access to my camera.  I have given the requests some considerable thought.  The camera has a lot of things to play with, although one could not move the rotor, the camera pan part would work.
My biggest fear is that one would leave the camera in a vulnerable position such as the sun would be pointing directly into the lens, or should I say the lens would wind up pointing at the sun--what ever and that would tend to cause a disastrous situation which would be quite expensive to repair.
Not to hog it all to my self, I am just getting to old to go up on the roof and take it all down for the repair.
Something to consider.

Hope folks understand.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[SLOweather]

FWIW, the similar Panasonic PTZ cams have a setting that will return the camera to a preset after a programmable period of time. Does your Vivotek perhaps have a similar setting?

[NiceBill]

FWIW, the similar Panasonic PTZ cams have a setting that will return the camera to a preset after a programmable period of time. Does your Vivotek perhaps have a similar setting?

That's interesting Chris, I have a Panasonic PTZ cam and was not aware of that feature.  I will look into that and  see if I can't release it to the public.  If after time, it could possibly return to facing north, away from the sun.

Thanks,
Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[blackjack52]

it could possibly return to facing north, away from the sun.


[/quote]

...away from the hot tub.

Thanks for the info Chris and Bill.  I haven't discovered that option yet. 

[blackjack52]

Someone mentioned using webcamXP in another thread.  Whomever that was, thank you.  I'm now using the free program to stream live web cam. MadCam.

[ncpilot]

It looks like you're trying to stream using your internal LAN address...

[George Richardson]

Lee,
You might want to look at NO-IP.
George

[blackjack52]

Thanks guys.  That explains it.  I'll have to troubleshoot a bit.

[ncpilot]

I was trying to remember why WebcamXP sounded so familiar... I tried it and could never get it to stream for more than about 10-30 seconds... finally gave up after realizing it just wasn't worth my time to troubleshoot, even for a free program.

Another forum member (I think it was Steve aka tinplate) told me about Dorgem--works great for me...

I use DYNDNS services to map to my IP address...

[tinplate]

There's also Webcam Publisher from Where's James. It's free and good.

[ncpilot]

Where/how do find this stuff????? 

Don't think I've seen this software in all my web searches...

Thanks for another option!

[capeweather]

Where/how do find this stuff????? 

Don't think I've seen this software in all my web searches...

Thanks for another option!

Yes, thanks a bunch. I downloaded both and will try them at later dates.

[blackjack52]

Thanks ya'll.  I downloaded the other two and will start trying them out today.

[ncpilot]

Another idea, although maybe not as "pleasant", is to use Windows Media Encoder... it's certainly more of a resource hog than something like Dorgem, but it's supposed to dynamically handle load and take into account the quality of connection when someone taps your webcam feed...

I have tested it successfully on my own LAN to stream a webcam...