Amcrest 4MP Outdoor PTZ POE+ 802.3at AI IP Camera Pan Tilt Zoom (Optical 25x Motorized), Face Detection, High Speed Auto Tracking, Video MetaData Monitoring, 492ft IR Night Vision, IP4M-1093EW-AI

I actually purchased this camera for my wife's garden, we call if GardenCam. We wanted to be able to check out the garden, and the back yard, watch the kids in the pool and generally keep an eye on things. We already had a full network set up in the house including the necessary Cisco POE switch to drive this (and another fixed camera for our basketball court) so my kids and I only had to run the ethernet through the attic and under the eve to where we wanted it mounted. The camera was very easy to configure and once on the network I was able to connect it to our Blue Iris software without any issues at all. We live in Phoenix and the temperatures have been 117+ multiple times this year and the camera never once glitched even in the hottest temperatures. Using Blue Iris I have the camera automatically pan to different locations every 30 minutes and take a hi-res snapshot so I can do a big time-lapse of my wife's garden next year. It is amazing the quality at night as well. The camera is well built, can stand up to Phoenix summer temperatures, and was pretty inexpensive for the camera quality that you get. If you are looking for a high quality camera and a decent price that does PTZ, then this is the camera for you.

Awesome camera. Better than expected. Only issue I ran into, was distance from the NVR box. I was going off the instructions and it says that it could go a specific distance with the POE. It’s not nearly as far as they claim. I kept having to shorten and shorten the cable until I was able to get a signal. Originally I ran the cable so that it could not be seen, which made it a little long. About 100 or so feet. I ended up having to run a cable straight which ended up being about 50-60 feet. Other than that issues the camera has worked great. Been through a few typhoons, storms, heat, and it still continues to work well. Zoom on it is amazing, IR lights work extremely well. Very good camera for the money.

I have purchased numerous IP Cameras over the last 5-10 years. I usually look for the less expensive cameras, and end up regretting my choice. So I decided to splurge. This was my first Amcrest purchase. I was a little reluctant after reading some of the negative reviews, but for the most part couldn't be happier. For those debating between a POE and a wifi model; don't. I am using this camera connected to a TP-Link N300 Wireless portable Nano Travel Router, set up in client mode, and am using the camera as a wifi camera. You will need a nearby AC outlet to power the router as well as your POE injector. Pros: One of the easiest cameras to set up I have ever installed, even using my wireless nano router. Best to use your smartphone as shown in the quick start guide. Amcrest also provides an IP Configuration tool for your PC to easily locate your camera, should have troubles with the installation, which I doubt you will have. The picture quality is one of the best I have seen, but not perfect (see Cons) Zoom is awesome as seen in my pictures. The smartphone App was excellent, giving you access to the camera wherever you are. There is no PC app per say. You use your browser which was a little tricky. If you are using Chrome, you are prompted to download a chrome App (not extension, see cons below). This camera has one of the best GUI interface I have ever used. A few glitches that are discussed below. I needed to get hold of technical support for a minor issue, and was able to a real person after a 5 minute wait. A big plus. The manual was robust and written in English. I recommend you download the online manual which is even more robust than the one in the box. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fNxWkDzGBi5zTHGUC-_LqI2KQK3A_TP8/view There are numerous Amcrest "how to" videos I had some advanced user requirements and found all a wealth of information on Amrest user forums. Cons: The camera came with anchor bolts for securing camera to a concrete wall. It did not come with the lag bolts for attaching to a wooden wall. I would not attach this camera to Sheetrock. Not really a con, but this camera is a lot bigger than I expected. It's over 1 foot tall, is 7 inches wide, and weighs over 10 lbs. It sticks out 10 inches from the wall. I have not been able to get the Amcrest DDNS service to work. Will be making another call to tech support. Picture quality is excellent, however when viewing sky conditions, the image is somewhat washed out. If preset views have been configured, the camera, if pointing to a some other view, will spontaneously change to the preset 1 location after about 30 seconds. Other users have reported this bug. Removing all the presets fixes this problem. There is no firmware listed on the Amcrest website for this model. I assume I have the current firmware version. If you are using Chrome or MS Edge, after entering the camera IP address. You are then prompted to download an Amcrest extension, which in fact is NOT an extension. It download a Google App that is place with your other Google apps. When you click on the App, the Amcrest App opens and you have to enter the cameras IP address. You then have to enter the cameras user name and password (BOTH case sensitive). This is a little clunky, but no big deal. Interesting enough, it works better on MS's Internet explorer. As I said, this is one of the best IP cameras I have ever had. I was so pleased, I also bought the Amcrest bullet POE camera. It uses same smartphone app and GUI interface.

Amcrest cameras are great but their new android surveillance 2 software is terrible. Half the time the software crashes and runs extremely slow. Many times the cameras won't even show up on the app. And when you are running the Surveillance 2 app, it slows down your entire tablet to the point that you can't use any other apps. The reason I am leaving this one star review is in hope that Amcrest takes notice and fixes the software soon! Also I can not recommend anyone buying these cameras until they fix the app.

Used for security views of front yard, shop (side of house), and down the driveway. We have a big yard and this thing covers it with ease. It will zoom allllll the way down to (and across) highway to read a licence plate off a automobile which is easily a 300+ yard distance. Its IF (nighttime) capabilities are good for roughly half that IMO, especially if you are manually controlling its zoom, focus, and iris controls. See zoomedIN and zoomedOUT pics specifically. Install was straightforward. I have had issues with perameter settings not saving within its browser (desktop) and smartphone application. Took 3 calls but finally talked to someone with their tech line who know what they were doing and after a manual restart, walk through of other specs, and dl'ing a remote control SPLASHTOP.app which allowed him to control my computer for a short time (which I didn't really care for to to privacy and security issues) but deleted the app after we were finished....I was able to get them fixed, so far. He was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Getting the sensitivity and threshold adjusted correctly as to not get false positives is a trick tho. Still working on that issue due to wind, snow, dust particles, and rain its extremely hard to differentiate those vs the things you want to see coming across the screen. Getting email alerts is an issue when using a secondary authentication on you're regular email app such as (in my case) yahoo or google. The iris control doesn't seem to be automatic and can be annoying trying to look at small details such as licence plates when artificial light is introduced from headlights, brakelights, or even eyes. Not an issue when controlled manually. Ive played with image settings some, but the settings are pretty much default on the pictures seen. Would probably do the wireless X25 optical zoom if I had to do again. Generally speaking I get about 1000kbps connection speed to camera from my desktop which is wireless to wifi router. Connection speed or bandwidth (whatever its called) is only about 10-20% of that viewing from my cell phone through the same wifi. Which introduces small lag time when PTZ'ing the camera, and image resolution updates. Using cell service data, those will vary depending on cell signal. Long story short, worth the money IMO. Would purchase again. Sry for long post, but it's alot of money and time spent so I figured it justified. I DO NOT have much experience with many other ptz cameras so this review is specifically based on this one FYI. Sry, alot to fit in one box, but i'd be happy to answer (imo) any other questions about it that isn't answered in other reviews. Hope this helps.

I’ve got six other AMCREST cameras but this is my first PoE camera. I found it very easy to setup and configure but I was most impressed with the picture quality and zoom. Unbelievable! I’ll probably be buying another in the near future. I purchased a BV-Tech 6 Port PoE+ Switch with the camera and had no issues installing either. The only thing I didn’t like was the mounting bracket... I really don’t have a good vertical surface in the area I wanted to monitor to use it so I ended up fabricating one I could use under an eve of my house. I really wish you could purchase different mounting brackets separately but it’s not a super big issue. Didn’t need to consult with tech support with this camera since setup & configuration is just like my other cameras... but I’ve found the tech support excellent in the past.

I should have got this camera first! I suffered through a Sunba and a Alptop that turned out be a POS. Both cameras were of very acceptable construction, but the software and electronics were absolute JUNK and both failed in about a week. Sunba software locked up the camera and electronics on the Alptop caused the zoom and autofocus to fail. The firmware for both looked like it was written by Chinese children. The Amcrest 4k/12x optical zoom and 16x digital has worked flawless. IR is a pretty solid 300m, but the light sensitivity outdoor darkness gives additional range. In my attached sample, same position with no zoom and then max 12x with 16x optical. The distortion seen is heat waves! Autofocus works PERFECT, day or night and FAST. Save yourself the headache and get the Amcrest, forget the other junk. I wish I would have!!

I installed this camera on a pole outside of our home to not only monitor the house, but also the surrounding neighborhood. This camera and mounting arm are solidly constructed and appear to be built for even industrial use. The 4 MP picture is quite clear and can read license plates. The IR LED's provide abundant light for night photos. Please note that this is a POE+ camera and must either be supplied by a dedicated POE+ power supply or POE switch with the extra voltage. The higher power requires are needed for the PTZ functions. My only quibble with this product is the software, which is lacking. The recommended software is limited and you must access the camera via IP address in order to properly configure it. There are no instructions in this regard and I was able to do it based upon experience with other cameras. Otherwise excellent product.