 |   Publisher : Panasonic Company : Panasonic List Price: Our Price: $274.99 You Save: $24.01 (9%) Used Price : $249.95 |
Features
- Record to a Web Site or Hard Drive
- 802.11b Wireless Technology
- Receive Email from the Camera
- Compact design with hideable lens, for added comfort and privacy
- Automatically upload images to an FTP server or Web page -- images can be viewed by 30 users at once
Product Description
Wireless Network Camera 802.11g, Automatic Network Configuration, Universal Plug and Play, Set-up Wizard, Remote Pan/Tilt Control, Built in PIR motion detectorSimilarProduct
- Panasonic BL-C131A Network Camera Wireless 802.11
- Panasonic BL-C111A Network Camera Wired
- Kingston 32 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card SD4/32GB
- Sony 16 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo Flash Memory Card MSMT16G
- Garmin GPS 76CSX Handheld GPS with Barometric Altimeter and Electronic Compass
Customer reviews
Works fine on a Mac 
by .. Jefferson Harkins (FL, VI, NS)
Panasonic doesn't support it, but this camera, and all Panasonic Netcams, work fine with a Mac. Later versions of Safari, Netscape and Firefox allow you to view full motion video. No add-ons or active-x or other such nonsense is needed with. The video just works.
As for setup, you will have to set this (and other Panasonic Netcams) up with a broswer, not with the automatic setup CD that works with windows. It's not difficult. Configure your Mac to use the built in Ethernet connection only, configured manually to IP address 192.168.0.5, subnet 255.255.255.0. Connect an ethernet cable between your Mac and the Camera (with a modern Mac any cable will do, with older ones you'll need a crossover cable.) Then access the camera at the address specified deep in the documentation (for this camera it's 192.168.0.253). The first time in you'll be asked to select a username and password. Do that and then you'll have full access to the setup utilities where you can change IP addrerss, DCHP, and other parameters. You can also setup the excellent free viewnetcam.com service and give your camera a real internet name. This is my third Panasonic Netcam, and I've been very pleased with them all.
Nice camera for the price. Works great on a Mac by .. JC ()
I compared the feature sets of a number of cameras and only the Panasonic had the wireless + pan/tilt for under $300. Video quality is good with decent lighting, but expect to see "Christmas light" pixels in poor lighting. As some of the other reviewers have said, don't be fooled by the documentation that states "Windows Required". It will work fine on your Mac OS X. Here are step-by-step instructions for setting it up using a Mac (don't worry, the steps go by quickly!):
1) Plug-in camera to AC and hold down the "reset" pin with a pen. My computer would not recognize the camera until I physically reset it.
2) Make sure camera switch is set to "wired".
3) Connect the camera via Ethernet cable to you Mac.
4) Temporarily give your Mac the manual IP address 192.168.0.5 and subnet 255.255.255.0 in the Network Prefs.
5) Connect to the camera using Safari at address 192.168.0.253 - you should be able to see the settings page now.
6) Click through the setup but say "No" when it asks if you want to "go on the internet". This will make it try to find your router (which is not on the network) so don't do it.
7) Enter 192.168.0.253 in Safari once again and it should take you to the Network Camera page. You should have access to the camera controls after you click the "Single" tab at the top of the page. But we're not done yet.
8) Click the Setup tab on right side of the tabbed toobar.
9) Click Static IP to load the static ip address page for the camera
10) Uncheck the "Enable" checkbox at the top. This is for Windows setup.
11) Enter an IP address in your wireless network. My network is 192.168.2.x so I gave my camera 192.168.2.253.
12) Enter your router's address in the Default Gateway field. Example: 192.168.2.1. If you don't do this, your camera will not be accessible from outside your wireless network!
13) Click the Wireless tab on the left navigation bar of the camera page.
14) For SSID enter the exact name of your network. This is the name you gave your wireless router when you set it up. It appears under the Airport signal strength menu with a checkbox next to it.
15) If you have security (and you should!), enter you WEP Key. Be sure to make the right selection for your wep key (ASCII, HEX, etc).
16) Click Save.
17) Edit other settings such as Date and Time
18) Disconnect the ethernet cable from the camera.
19) Flip the camera switch from Wired to Wireless
20) Unplug the camera power, replug camera power (to restart it)
21) The camera should now go through it's blinking light procedure and if all is well you'll get a solid green light.
22) Go to your Network Prefs and set your computer back to using your wireless router.
23) You should now be able to access your camera at the address 192.168.2.253 wirelessly now.
24) Your router blocks traffic from the internet to your camera so you cannot view the camera from outside your network. To access your camera from the internet you'll neet to open a port on your router that maps to your camera. This can be done by setting up a "Virtual Server" (aka port forwarding) on the router. See your router's instructions for mapping a virtual server to your camera's IP and port.
Happy viewing...
Panasonic Has Great Developer Access by .. Benjamin J. Sintay (Winston-Salem, NC USA)
First of all, I didn't find this camera very difficult to setup. It's important that you understand wireless networking somewhat before getting any product like this. Also, to get to the webcam from outside of your firewall (or router), you must forward port 80 which may be a pain if you already have a web server running.
I bought this camera specifically because it has timed FTP transfer. I needed a solution that could handle a lot of users and since live video on a home network to thousands of users is NOT feasible with a simple plug-and-play solution like this, I was hopeful of uploading an image every second or so. This proved to be slower than I thought. First of all, you can only select buffering (snapshot) time intervals of 1 sec, 1 min, or 1 hour. This is not much of a choice. Second, the 1 second mode is too slow. It can't FTP out the images fast enough to make it even close to what I wanted. The images come about 15 to 30 seconds delayed and the system for doing this is so-so. I found that the system operated perfectly at 1 minute, so if this is all you need than the FTP option is right for you.
I was really frustrated at this point until I discovered the CGI documentation for this line of cameras. I haven't seen anyone else comment on this so I wanted to for all of the developers out there. Panasonic thought ahead when developing this product and made it such that you can issue CGI commands via HTTP1.0 (or 1.1) to make the camera do things or to acquire images. For my system this proved to be an absolutely perfect answer to my problem. I can call the camera with HTTP1.1, HTTP authentication, and a custom CGI and acquire the image on the screen at rates of 1 image per second with great results! There is no problem with the camera lagging at all. Best of all, almost everything you can do in the camera's admin panel can be done via CGI calls.
I also found that this camera does a decent job at night (using it to look outside), but as others have said is not good if you want to make out a ton of detail in someone's face for instance. The camera is also doing great being exposed to temperatures of 20 degrees F (in a garage) and hasn't froze or needed to be reset since I installed it a few weeks ago. The wireless range is really good... I am running the cam across the street to my wireless network with no problems.
For awesome customization and access via CGI, I'm giving this camera 5 big stars. This camera is a developer's best friend and for the price it is a huge value. Thanks Panasonic for solving some big problems for me!
Great by .. RMarler (Kansas)
I bought three of the wired version of this camera (BL-C10), and 1 wireless (BL-C30A) to keep an eye on our house while we took vacation. I simply placed them inside different windows for a complete view. The cameras set up without issue, they have a great pan range, and a great picture. I do wish the tilt could have a few more degrees of up tilt, and I wish they could zoom, but for the price they are just super, and these cameras worked great for security and peace of mind. Using the DDNS service provided with the cam, we was able to look in on the place and the pets, etc. from the hotel with my notebook. As well as while we was on the road driving, we could even look in on the cell phone. (Real-time images of the house while rolling down the interstate! How next century is that!). It is all set up for you. I feel like James Bond 007 or something, don't try to rob me now! Buy this.
Good WebCam at Reasonble Price by .. George Robbins (Sierra Vista, AZ)
This is my 4th BL-C30A camera. They have all given good service. We use them for remote security monitoring of our home, and they do the job just fine. If you are knowledgeable about networks, port forwarding, assigning IPs, MAC addresses, wireless modes, setting encryption keys, etc. you will have no trouble setting this camera up. If not, you'll need to read the manual carefully, and read your router/access point manual carefully. Or get a friend who knows all this to help you set it up. One wrong setting in the camera or your router, firewall, or access point and it won't work (not the fault of the camera - you just have to know what you're doing). Best to set it up wired via a LAN cable to your router first, then go wireless. Once set up, they provide good coverage via the pan and tilt controls, and - if selected to do so - will send you an e-mail and/or a snapshot of a picture when motion is detected. They are not rated for exterior use, but they will work outdoors if not in direct sunlight and not subjected to extreme heat or moisture. Cold does not seem to hurt them, but I lost one to heat after several months in direct sunlight. I have had another one under a patio in the shade for almost a year with no ill efects. They also have the ability to recognize a connection from a mobile device such as a PDA or cell phone with internet capability. They will send you a snapshot picture instead of streaming video (thus holding down connection costs), and you can then move the camera using your preset buttons and get another snapshot. It does not have exceptional night vision, but if you have outdoor lighting or motion activated floodlights, it sees well enough to tell you what's going on. This camera is priced about right for the features you get.