Outdoor IP camera advice needed, thanks in advance

Hi, I'm new to the IP camera scene and in need of some advice on which IP camera to buy.

I have a small hotel and would like to setup a webcam which will post images (via automated ftp) to our existing web site which is hosted in a separate ISP. I may do streaming video in the future but for now will just go with static image posting. I'd like the camera to be self sufficient so no PC required. The hotel is on the Oregon coast so lots of rain, salt air, and wind. The camera will be mounted just under the roof. The hotel has a network with a high speed DSL internet connection so I can run an ethernet cable to the camera or go wirless. My budget is around $500.

Thanks in advance for the advice.Â Al

Hello,

Here are a couple of IP Cameras for outdoor with quality images that support uploading to a ftp server.

Toshiba Outdoor w/ Wireless
http://www.webcamproshop.com/product/main.asp?pro_id=536

Panasonic Wireless Outdoor KX-HCM270
http://ecoustics.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2267788/search=panasonic

Also recommend taking a look at http://www.hostedvideo.com they offer a free service for hosting your camera for anywhere live access and a nominal monthly fee if you want to add recording where you ftp up images to their site for storage.

Forum

Hi, thanks for the help. I've narrowed it down to these after doing a bunch of research.

Panasonic KX-HCM230 Outdoor
Toshiba IK-WB11A

AXIS looks nice to too expensive. I would be interested to know if anyone has any experience on which one of these two is better. Specifically around these requirements:

1. I'm especially concerned with how they will perform outdoors with the rain and salt air. Also, will I need any extra housing or are they ok for outdoor (rain and salt air) as is. It will be mounted underneath a roof eve.

2. My hotel customers will be viewing the webcam so I'd like to make it as easy for them as possible and not have to have them download applets, etc. for example. Is there a way to customize the page and hide some of the controls. For example, they would use the pan and tilt but wouldn't use the presets.

Thanks,

Al

Keep in mind that the Toshiba is Java so it will need to load an aplet.

I would check the Manufacturer's specifications on the cameras that you listed.Â I suspect that the Toshiba is weather resistant and not weatherproof and I do not know about the Panasonic.

Hello,
For my solution, I use a Mobotix webcam (http://www.mobotix.com). This webcam is water resistant (IP65) and don't need any outdoor enclosure. I use one of this webcam on http://www.snowfactory.com/webcambelalp since 1.5 year without any problem. Maybe, the prize is a little bit expensive for your budget (about 1000$).