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The daytime image is good. It may be better than anything else out there in this price range, but it is not as good as it could be. Instead of telling me this plainly in their documentation, their on screen messages tricked me into wasting time installing the Java Runtime Environment and searching for non-existent applets on their website.In order to get audio, you need IE and their ActiveX control. Once this is done, the rest of the setup can be done via a web browser. They could have made it so that all of the features work with other browsers besides IE.
Panasonic's software and a PC are needed to set the camera's initial IP address. The networking seems reliable, its been up for three days now without problems.This camera is surveying my business parking lot. At night, one can see the shape of a person standing in the parking lot, but not fine details.The camera can be viewed and controlled from Firefox but there is no audio or zoom capability. For this reason, I only give the camera a rating of 3. The initial setup requires a PC, Panasonic's software that comes on the included CD and an Ethernet cable (not included) to connecting the camera to your network/PC.
Wireless network setup was fairly standard and should be not be difficult for anyone who has configured wireless devices before. Panasonic could have made this camera where setup could be done 100% by a web browser, just like a Linksys router.
The furnace quite and we were able to see the temp in the house and call the repair man so the house did not freeze up. Easy to log on and see and hear what the camera sees. Although I had a lot of time setting this product up and getting it going it paid for it self in monitoring our home in Wisconsin while we were in Florida. Works great.
One it's set up, it works like a champ. The audio is nice also. I love the presets (you can point the camera to a certain area, then save that and name it, then easily go right to that area). (I hear they're good though). I use this camera to keep an eye on my dogs while I'm at work. I point it toward the dog door and set the motion trigger and it sends me an email whenever one of them goes through. I know a lot about routers so I was able to set it up myself, but others may need help from Panasonic support.
Wired and wireless for the pany yielded no difference. In this comparison picture, both camera's are setup next to each other and a snapshot was taken at the same time. Overall I think the trade off from low light sensitivity to image quality is acceptable, and I will be buying another pany for another part of the house, but will be using the Linksys where the details matters more and don't need PZT. Software and setup was easy and well thought out, however I'm a little disappointed in the image quality detail. [.]. They both were configured for best quality at 1024 minimum kbps at 640x480 15frames per second.
If you can't get to this link then i'll upload a photo to Amazon. Just bought this Camera and I'm pretty impressed with it. I have a Linksys WVC54GCA wireless webcam ($120non-pan&zoom) as well and a side by side comparison the quality/detail on the Linksys is a little better in my opinion and produces more realistic color and definition (look at the detail in the cups and dishes on the table, however to be fair the pany does have better low light sensitivity as you can see in my photo capturing the items in the background but at a cost of washing out some other things that are well lit. Viewing it from a browser or on my iPod touch you can notice the difference right away.
I use and like Active WebCam Deluxe from PY Software at $89. Search online and you will find something that will fit you needs for $35 to $100. This is either the next letter or number (varies) in the last (12th position) from the main MAC address. Read the specs.its resolution and fixed focus is as described. 1st the one labelled on the camera and that appears on the Easy Setup screen plus many other places AND after you have connected to the camera the 2nd one hidden under the MAINTENANCE tab WIRELESS STATUS side tab, the BSSID address must also be entered in you router's allowed MAC address list. It is very weak for surviellence and recording use.
And the Panasonic software for this purpose is absurdly expensive for what it does. If these are sufficient for your application, it is a great camera, but do not expect sharp long range vistas taken through your window. You need to enter TWO (2) MAC addresses in your router. Example: If main MAC is 00:90:F0:B7:1H:3C then 2nd is 00:90:F0:B7:1H:3D or if 00:90:F0:B7:1H:37 then 00:90:F0:B7:1H:38.Internet viewing and control works perfectly on both my wife's and my 3GS iPhones. That takes $600 to $1000+ camera. I now have three of the 131 wirelesses.
For this camera, think 5 to 50 feet range with images twice as good as a standard USB webcam but only half as good as a decent standard definition camcorder.One thing I don't now why is so hidden in the documentation, is what MAC addresseS to set in your router if you use MAC filtering for security. But, it is very slow if your connection is Edge rather than 3G or wifi.The web interface is fine for locally or remotely viewing and controlling a camera.
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