You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
IP Cameras
- Thread starter bcaza27
- Start date
Lawrence_SoCal
Active Member
What features are you looking for?
There are cheap, low-end IP cameras that are 15 fps, with multi-second latency with poor optics. Or there are expensive PTZ (pan tilt zoom) NDI cameras with smooth motors for movement and zoom. There are knock NDI PTZ cameras that lack long-term support (think NDI updates), poor drivers, etc.
Are you thinking multi cameras, statically positioned?
How important is image quality? low-light capability? etc
There are cheap, low-end IP cameras that are 15 fps, with multi-second latency with poor optics. Or there are expensive PTZ (pan tilt zoom) NDI cameras with smooth motors for movement and zoom. There are knock NDI PTZ cameras that lack long-term support (think NDI updates), poor drivers, etc.
Are you thinking multi cameras, statically positioned?
How important is image quality? low-light capability? etc
We are live streaming RC Race cars so would probably need 30FPS and a couple of cameras that we can switch back and forth from. Trying to use PTZ I think would be difficultWhat features are you looking for?
There are cheap, low-end IP cameras that are 15 fps, with multi-second latency with poor optics. Or there are expensive PTZ (pan tilt zoom) NDI cameras with smooth motors for movement and zoom. There are knock NDI PTZ cameras that lack long-term support (think NDI updates), poor drivers, etc.
Are you thinking multi cameras, statically positioned?
How important is image quality? low-light capability? etc
Low light is not an issue...We are live streaming RC Race cars so would probably need 30FPS and a couple of cameras that we can switch back and forth from. Trying to use PTZ I think would be difficult
Lawrence_SoCal
Active Member
Makes sense
beware real low end IP security cameras as not all/many are 30 fps, and if mix vendor, model, etc you may end up with varying latency (causing sync issues)... so just be aware of going too cheap
Next issue to consider is support. There are numerous recent IP camera vendors that are complete fly-by-night operations. And you'll be lucky to have decent firmware/drivers, and who knows about future updates.
Then there is the protocol with some simply streaming HTTP vs RTSP vs NDI, etc. And then you need to set up the receiving end to go with what is being sent. And now we reach, maybe, the end of where I can advise at a product level. I'm using a Tier 1 vendor NDI PTZ camera, with robust local support (and $2K per 1080p camera). There are lots of recent knock-off NDI PTZ cameras for $1K (not as good optics, nor motion controls, and really bad firmware). Then there are lots of IP security cameras, with large range of quality ... and NONE of them designed for real-time live streaming. Then, there is the consideration of RC car motion and optical focusing. What is depth of focus, etc. Is image stabilization important (vs how solid is camera mount). Unfortunately, I don't have a vendor/model recommendation for you
I can't caution enough about buying too cheap unless you are prepared to be your own software support expert.
beware real low end IP security cameras as not all/many are 30 fps, and if mix vendor, model, etc you may end up with varying latency (causing sync issues)... so just be aware of going too cheap
Next issue to consider is support. There are numerous recent IP camera vendors that are complete fly-by-night operations. And you'll be lucky to have decent firmware/drivers, and who knows about future updates.
Then there is the protocol with some simply streaming HTTP vs RTSP vs NDI, etc. And then you need to set up the receiving end to go with what is being sent. And now we reach, maybe, the end of where I can advise at a product level. I'm using a Tier 1 vendor NDI PTZ camera, with robust local support (and $2K per 1080p camera). There are lots of recent knock-off NDI PTZ cameras for $1K (not as good optics, nor motion controls, and really bad firmware). Then there are lots of IP security cameras, with large range of quality ... and NONE of them designed for real-time live streaming. Then, there is the consideration of RC car motion and optical focusing. What is depth of focus, etc. Is image stabilization important (vs how solid is camera mount). Unfortunately, I don't have a vendor/model recommendation for you
I can't caution enough about buying too cheap unless you are prepared to be your own software support expert.
Lawrence_SoCal
Active Member
that is a LARGE space to cover with a single lens. from a simple photography perspective, you are going to have depth-of-field issues
You can get a true wide angle lens, but little will be in sharp focus over such a space. A greater depth of field requires a larger F/stop but that means less light gathering ability in lens (ie need a lot more light on subject)
My recommendation - get someone with a decent camera setup and try different lenses to get a sense of what will and won't work (how wide of an angle lens vs camera position, amount of light available during an event, etc) Trying video recording on camera and reviewing that video to see if a single lens setup will suffice. Recognize that camera video recording is likely to be of much higher quality than livestream video due to compression required to fit into available upload bandwidth
My concern - for a single lens to work, and provide decent focus, that you would probably need the camera placed a decent distance away from the track, and then will need the track really brightly lit. The best image quality would probably come a lens position like
[<left edge - 60ft - right edge>]
60->100ft {or something like this}
camera lens {and probably 20ft high, or thereabouts}
hopefully someone will have a better idea
You can get a true wide angle lens, but little will be in sharp focus over such a space. A greater depth of field requires a larger F/stop but that means less light gathering ability in lens (ie need a lot more light on subject)
My recommendation - get someone with a decent camera setup and try different lenses to get a sense of what will and won't work (how wide of an angle lens vs camera position, amount of light available during an event, etc) Trying video recording on camera and reviewing that video to see if a single lens setup will suffice. Recognize that camera video recording is likely to be of much higher quality than livestream video due to compression required to fit into available upload bandwidth
My concern - for a single lens to work, and provide decent focus, that you would probably need the camera placed a decent distance away from the track, and then will need the track really brightly lit. The best image quality would probably come a lens position like
[<left edge - 60ft - right edge>]
60->100ft {or something like this}
camera lens {and probably 20ft high, or thereabouts}
hopefully someone will have a better idea