Anpviz5MP PoE IP Dome Camera with Audio/Mic, IP Security Camera Outdoor Indoor, 98ft IR Night Vision, IP66 Waterproof, 2.8mm Lens, 24/7 Recording, Human Detection, Not PTZ, NDAA Compliant (U Series)

I initially bought one of these cameras to keep watch over the front of my house, and it served its purpose well. I was under the impression that I needed an NVR in order to use the camera, so I bought an Anpviz NVR (it's terrible, by the way, and not necessary).I then bought another one to keep watch over our aviary. My main network switch isn't Power over Ethernet, so I bought a 4-port PoE switch and plugged the camera into it. After a quick nmap scan to find the camera on the network, I logged into it with Firefox, gave it a static IP on my main network, and then was able to view the camera video through the browser interface on any computer on my network. We frequently have at least three computers monitoring the camera at the same time, at it was (just barely) acceptable.The browser video, though, was very slow and choppy, and had no sound, so I thought the camera was pretty awful. But then I tried to view the camera video through VLC's rtsp:// protocol support, and the video was silky smooth, and had sound. Even with multiple computers monitoring at the same time, the experience has been nearly flawless. There is only a slight moment when first connecting when there is a minor stutter, but it passes quickly.Using rtsp means that a browser plugin is not required, and the camera will work with ANY operating system that has a program that speaks rtsp. My house runs on Linux, and I have no problems at all. The video quality is outstanding, the night vision is awesome, and the sound is surprisingly good.I want to test the camera's NFS support, but that will have to wait. Once I know (either way), I'll report back here. In any event, though, that doesn't detract from the camera. I will be surprised if the NFS doesn't work, since the camera itself runs on Linux.UPDATE:I have successfully configured the camera to write to my Debian NFS server, so I can confirm that the camera's NFS support works.I'm giving it a 5-star rating based on the features I was expecting when I bought it. It does not have Pan/Tilt/Zoom, but I knew that when I bought it. As such, I'm not dinging it any stars. So far it delivers on all the promises I've tested. It's a great value camera for what it provides. You can see them in action on youtube @ 'for the love of birds sanctuary and rescue services' under 'live' tab.

If you’re looking for ONVIF or Hik compatible IP camera, for my money Anpviz cameras are the BEST I’ve come across. Just as good as my HIK cameras without paying double! I have several NVRs running at different sites that were Hikvision and I like how easy it is to work with Hikvision cameras and NVRs. When I wanted to add more cameras, I noticed a wide variety of Hikvision, Hik compatible and ONVIF IP cameras with much better pricing than buying Hik branded IP cameras. I ordered a couple of IP cameras from several different brands that were said to be compatible with Hik NVRs or at least ONVIF compatible. Here’s why I will be ordering from Anpviz vs the others:Software interface/Default programming: With Anpviz, I could easily find the camera on my network. It’s defaulted to DHCP. My NVR software also recognizes the camera in the Device Management section which makes it easy to add individually on my computer or to do the same via the NVR. Some of the other brands didn’t even come with documentation and were not DHCP defaulted. Very frustrating and time consuming. Anpviz cameras were super easy to find, setup and adjust. As close to plug n play as anything out there and worked seamlessly with my HIK NVRs.Picture: I have to admit, when testing out the different cameras, I ordered 3 MP, 4 MP and 5 MP to compare. All of the cameras on my existing system were 4 MP and the quality was great. Going from 4 MP to 5 MP took a little getting used to. It feels more squared than widescreen. Worry not. It’s wider than a 4 MP and taller as well. 5 MP gives you more real estate. I’ve used these cameras indoors and the picture quality is excellent both day and night mode. Actually impressed with how good it looks in night mode. Some of the others I bought (and used) provided comparable picture quality, but were not very compatible with my HIK NVRs. I’ve had to make SOOO many adjustments to image and video settings just to get them to work and even then were glitchy- frozen livestreams, connection lost, etc. I am replacing them with Anpviz cameras. Not worth the frustration.Body/Size: Everything on this camera is solid. Metal casing feels solid. When you pop off the dome, adjusting the cameral angle is easy. I tend to be careful as to not break anything when adjusting as it feels a little fragile, but all in all never had an issue and adjustments are smooth. Lastly, the size. For both indoor and outdoor, the size of this camera is very good. Anpiz makes a smaller model than this one, but I think you lose a bit on the night vision quality. Any bigger than this size and I would say for outdoor use only. This particular model works very well for both. I’ve had Anpviz cameras for close to a year now without any issues. Can’t say the same for the others.Anpviz makes a solid IP camera and I haven’t come across anything yet that compares the value you get without sacrificing quality.

Would not recommend this for use inside your home unless you want to take the risk of someone watching you in your undies. The rtsp feed is not password protected. anybody you've shared your wifi pass with can sit outside your home and pull the stream for this camera. same goes for a "hacker" that has compromised your network or anyone who wants to unmount another poe ip cam from outside your home an plug the network cable into thier laptop can access this cameras stream.On that note, I have 3 of these cameras mounted outside under the eave of my home. They do have a good picture, I have other supposed 5mp cams from other manufacturers and the picture quality on these are the best by far. If a hacker happens to compromise my network he can look all he wants at what's going on OUTSIDE my home, pretty boring stuff..In the first pic with multiple cams the "backdoor" and "backyard" cams are this models "substream" which is a lower quality stream but which is still pretty good compared to the "patio" cam which is a JIDETECH 5mp ptz cam. second pic of "backyard" is the full 5mp quality. The "back 180" is the anvpiz 180 6mp dome model also have the anvpiz 4k 180 dome model which is pretty amazing especially with the new "starlight" technology. This model I'm reviewing doesn't have it that tech tho.