IP Cam with ONVIF: how to get Snapshots

[binderth]

Hi there,

I bought a chinese IP Cam (IPC - U1 PTZ H.264 960P Waterproof Outdoor Bullet WiFi Security IP Camera 2.8 - 12mm Auto Focus Manual Varifocal Lens EU PLUG-$117.4 Online Shopping| GearBest.com).
It came without a manufacturer name and without a manual other than how to install the Cam with an App.

What I'd like to do:
1. hook the cam up to my network (already done - works)
2. let my raspberry pi make regular snapshots (almost done - only 'mobile picture resolution')
3. let my raspberry pi move to PTZ presets

ad 1:
camera works (I can go into the administration, it says "IP Camera" only)
I can also change the configuration and see live streams

ad 2:
The camera doesn't offer (or I don't know how?) an direct API other than ONVIF, I guess...
I managed to use python-onvif and got connection to the camera (but I'm clueless on how to use ONVIF for a snapshot...)
but I managed to retrieve an URL for an snapshot (unfortunately it's the "mobile picture resolution" - 640x385, which is not the 960p resolution, the IP cam is capable of)
I'd like to adress the hires snapshot

ad 3:
If I have the ability to adress the snapshot, I'd also like to move the camera to positions (either per presets or per coordinates, I don't mind - this one is the hardest, I don't know how to begin with this in the first place...

Thanks for your help!

Thomas.

 

[tangent]

You can get WAY better cameras for that same price. The best advice I can give you would be to return those or sell them on ebay and buy better cameras like Dahua HDW4231EM-AS
You'll get an image that's an order of magnitude better and a documented API.

 

[binderth]

Thanks for the tipp! but unfortunately, the IP camera is already installed (at a remote place) and I cannot easily replace it now.
There must be a way to adress the camera via ONVIF - and via Scripting Interface like bash, python or the like?

thanks!