POE IP Camera recommendations for filming cats for youtube..

[Ace Overlord]

I've been considering some POE or IP cameras for filming my cats. They are in a sort of.. maze you could say, so I'm looking for something with a wide field
of view, around 80- 90 degree FOV. The filming set is also low light, it's lit up with some LED lights here and there, but it looks more like a dungeon.

Now security cameras aren't exactly the go to choice for cinematography, I don't really need anything that can read a license plate from 100 meters.
I need something with good color, low noise and without the over sharpening look that many cameras have. And I need it at a budget of around 30 dollars
per camera. Of course just because I want it, doesn't mean I'll get it. But maybe there is something that fits the bill, some cameras that are now cheap on the
used eBay market.


So to clarify.
A security camera with all the wrong specs... for cinematography
wide field of view 80-90 fov
A good deal used (30$ish)
Performs well in low light
Small as possible so I can stuff 12 of them inside a 1 foot tall room
Preferably POE


I have nothing to offer, but please spare some knowledge for a guy who knows absolutely nothing about POE and IP cameras

 

[mat200]

I've been considering some POE or IP cameras for filming my cats. They are in a sort of.. maze you could say, so I'm looking for something with a wide field
of view, around 80- 90 degree FOV. The filming set is also low light, it's lit up with some LED lights here and there, but it looks more like a dungeon.

Now security cameras aren't exactly the go to choice for cinematography, I don't really need anything that can read a license plate from 100 meters.
I need something with good color, low noise and without the over sharpening look that many cameras have. And I need it at a budget of around 30 dollars
per camera. Of course just because I want it, doesn't mean I'll get it. But maybe there is something that fits the bill, some cameras that are now cheap on the
used eBay market.


So to clarify.
A security camera with all the wrong specs... for cinematography
wide field of view 80-90 fov
A good deal used (30$ish)
Performs well in low light
Small as possible so I can stuff 12 of them inside a 1 foot tall room
Preferably POE


I have nothing to offer, but please spare some knowledge for a guy who knows absolutely nothing about POE and IP cameras

Welcome @Ace Overlord

A good deal used (30$ish)
Performs well in low light
Small as possible so I can stuff 12 of them inside a 1 foot tall room
Preferably POE

Seems like that will be a challenge to meet ..

in the past we've seen some cheap Chinese IP PoE mini cameras .. seen a few mentioned in past threads, not much recently tho.

Search on google results for example ..

 

[TonyR]

I've been considering some POE or IP cameras for filming my cats. They are in a sort of.. maze you could say, so I'm looking for something with a wide field
of view, around 80- 90 degree FOV. The filming set is also low light, it's lit up with some LED lights here and there, but it looks more like a dungeon.

Now security cameras aren't exactly the go to choice for cinematography, I don't really need anything that can read a license plate from 100 meters.
I need something with good color, low noise and without the over sharpening look that many cameras have. And I need it at a budget of around 30 dollars
per camera. Of course just because I want it, doesn't mean I'll get it. But maybe there is something that fits the bill, some cameras that are now cheap on the
used eBay market.


So to clarify.
A security camera with all the wrong specs... for cinematography
wide field of view 80-90 fov
A good deal used (30$ish)
Performs well in low light
Small as possible so I can stuff 12 of them inside a 1 foot tall room
Preferably POE


I have nothing to offer, but please spare some knowledge for a guy who knows absolutely nothing about POE and IP cameras

You want good color, low noise, operates in low light and $30 or less.

Question: will any of the cats move on occasions? I ask because you will not find a camera for "$30-ish" with an adequately-sized sensor to resolution ratio to provide satisfactory performance in low light, especially if there is ANY motion.

 

[Ace Overlord]

Thanks for the welcome Mat200. I was originally going to post on reddit, but I really liked the community I saw here when I was researching blue Iris.

I originally tried experimenting with logitech c930e cameras. They retail for 88-130 and I was able to pick up 7 of them for 18 each on ebay. I just couldn't get it to work
with blue iris, even giving each webcam it's own dedicated usb controller, the framerate kept switching back to 5fps when I changed the resolution to 1080p. I was hoping
there was an option like the webcams that fell out of popularity. The great low lighting quality I'm looking for is about that of a decent webcam.

A couple options I was considering was the Blink mini or Wyz Cam V3.


As you can see, the quality is decent for 30 dollars.

And here is a similar 20$ budget webcam that can be bought on amazon. All three of these shots are with natural lighting.


I'm satisfied enough with quality similar to the webcam above, but of course I'm looking for the best option within my budget.


And here is an example of the room I'm filming in with a cheap webcam. As you can see there are areas that are brighter and darker. I'm satisfied enough with this quality,
so if there is anything comparable or of better quality, that is what I'm looking for.


For now I'll start sifting though the mini POE options you recommended Mat, maybe there is a gem somewhere.


As for your question TonyR, the cats do move, but considering the environment they are in, not all that fast. But I do need 24-30fps. If it comes to it I can find a way to increase
the camera budget, so I'm not opposed to hearing other options. If nothing else just to have a model to start the research.

 

[mat200]

Thanks for the welcome Mat200. I was originally going to post on reddit, but I really liked the community I saw here when I was researching blue Iris.

I originally tried experimenting with logitech c930e cameras. They retail for 88-130 and I was able to pick up 7 of them for 18 each on ebay. I just couldn't get it to work
with blue iris, even giving each webcam it's own dedicated usb controller, the framerate kept switching back to 5fps when I changed the resolution to 1080p. I was hoping
there was an option like the webcams that fell out of popularity. The great low lighting quality I'm looking for is about that of a decent webcam.

A couple options I was considering was the Blink mini or Wyz Cam V3.
View attachment 188307

As you can see, the quality is decent for 30 dollars.

And here is a similar 20$ budget webcam that can be bought on amazon. All three of these shots are with natural lighting.
View attachment 188308

I'm satisfied enough with quality similar to the webcam above, but of course I'm looking for the best option within my budget.


And here is an example of the room I'm filming in with a cheap webcam. As you can see there are areas that are brighter and darker. I'm satisfied enough with this quality,
so if there is anything comparable or of better quality, that is what I'm looking for.
View attachment 188311

For now I'll start sifting though the mini POE options you recommended Mat, maybe there is a gem somewhere.


As for your question TonyR, the cats do move, but considering the environment they are in, not all that fast. But I do need 24-30fps. If it comes to it I can find a way to increase
the camera budget, so I'm not opposed to hearing other options. If nothing else just to have a model to start the research.

cool .. do let us know if you find something ..

I know a lot of older model ip poe cameras had 15-20 fps .. so you would want to really watch out for fps specs as you need 30 fps .. this probably is the first spec I would look for as that will filter out a lot of cameras