Customer Reviews

Panasonic BB-HCM547A Power Over Ethernet Dome Ceiling Mount Network Camera with 4.6 Zoom Lens and 73° Wide Viewing Angle

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got this last year to keep an eye/ear on my backyard and hot tub. This camera has performed flawlessly. It was easy to install, it has POE so you only need one internet cable to run it. It comes with its own website so that you can control it from any internet connection or your iPhone. I use motion and audio triggers to limit the recordings to real events and am averaging about 1 Gb file/day on high resolution. The 4.6 magnification is enough to monitor my entire backyard (~.5 acres). The camera website is easy to use and gives you full control, however I use SecuritySpy (~$50) for my Mac which interfaces nicely with this camera. Works well in low light and exceptionally in normal daylight (very crisp and clear pictures). Can't think of any negatives for this unit.

This dome camera worked great, I mounted it in my eaves and was able to see both sides of my house. The resolution is good (although not as good as the BB-HCM735) and even the audio works well. It's fairly easy to set up and I'd definitely recommend it.

Rock solid camera with real outdoor durability. Excellent pan and zoom capabilities. Power over Ethernet works perfectly for single-cable installation, just add a PoE injector or use an Ethernet switch with built-in PoE. I used the Trendnet PoE injector which was well reviewed and had no problems. The camera's pan angle is good enough that mounted directly over my front door, I can pan down far enough to see if there is a UPS package on my doormat. The network connectivity has been rock-solid with zero weirdness.

The installation instructions use rather unclear small drawings that made installation more difficult than it should have been. Much of the installation was counterintuitive and there are a lot of parts involved (bear in mind, I am a very technical/handy person, I would not recommend this for novices). Make sure you test fit everything in order and examine the drawings closely before going up on the ladder.

Daylight performance is great, low light performance is middling, and Panasonic will not answer the support ticket I opened 3 weeks ago asking if the camera is compatible with IR illuminators and if so which IR frequency should be used.

Like most network cameras this model has a built-in web server, built-in motion detection, recording, etc. All of its built-in web capabilities are functional but very Web 1.0 clunky and you are much better using third-party software to manage the camera. I use a Synology NAS which eliminates all of the clunkiness and even provides an iOS application with fingertip pan and zoom control.

Let me start with my security requirements. I want a camera that (1) can record video internally based on a motion trigger and (2) be able to view the captured video remotely.

The camera specs state this is possible but with major tradeoffs.

First problem: If MPEG-4 is the chosen video capture format then once motion is detected only 20 Seconds (max) of video may be captured. This is a joke with with a 4 GB flash card inserted. True, the camera can record sequential files of 20s each. So if 5 minutes of action is to be recorded this results in 15 separate M4 files. Not practical; painful.

Second problem: If JPEG is the chosen recording format, then recording can extend to any length until memory full. This is good. However the JPEG (implied MJPEG since this is the stated capture mode)stored images cannot be played back in real time. Yes, there is a playback mode to review the captured images but playback is jerky and painfully slow (can be 1/10 rt). I experimented with many combos of permitted capture variables and each mode yields an unacceptable playback experience.

Third problem: Panasonic provides software to record a live camera and respond to triggers. The external recording SW runs on a PC that must be on 24x365. This is not practical for residential use.

Of course there are many other camera features that could be commented on but I will leave that to others. I am generally happy with the other features and the ViewNetCam.com remote live viewing is great.

Bottom line, if you want to use the camera to capture motion triggered video and playback, this is not the camera for you. I spent countless hours on the phone with Panasonic support and even they don't appreciate the limitations of this camera. I learned through lots a experimentation with eventual confirmation by Panasonic support.