Panasonic Remote Video Monitoring Webcam and Pet Cam BL-C10A

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [4.12mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.2 x 3.5 inches ; 7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002GS4Z0
• Item model number: BL-C10A
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 15, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer

See There When You Can't Be There
These cameras can be viewed and controlled from a standard web browser, video display, or even a compatible cell phone or PDA. Place them in your home, office, vacation home or almost anywhere else that you'd like to keep an eye on things, with no PC required on location! They are easy to install and operate and require no additional software for the PC that you're viewing them on. Each camera also comes with a free Web addrwss, which can track the camera automatically. All you need is a regular Web browser to view them on your PC, as all of the other required software, including control software (TCP/UDP) and e-mail software (SMTP), is already inside the camera.

Now You Can Watch Your Pets!
Always feel close to your animals, whether at work or on vacation. Did the walker show up as promised? Is the dog sleeping on the sofa? Is the cat scratching your new leather chair? You'll know instantly with this webcam.

Just Plug It In and Play
This network camera is truly easy to install and use in most cases. With industry standard automatic configuration (UPnP), the camera and your router or PC will automatically decide the best settings allowing you to access your camera without any complicated setup. Once connected, using a simple web browser, just enter in your free, permanent web address which comes with the camera and you can see and move the camera! It's that simple.

Control the Camera Remotely
Using a standard web browser, video display, or even a compatible cell phone or PDA, you can control the movement of the camera. There is 120º of Pan (left & right) movement and 90º of Tilt (up & down) movement available. You can also assign a "Home Position" that allows you to return the camera to a pre-designated shooting position. Up to eight shooting positions can be registered in advance, so you can aim the camera exactly where you want it. You can also click on the part of the image you want to see, and automatically bring that part to the center of the screen.

When You Need a Little Privacy
With the built in Privacy mode, your privacy is protected by simply pressing a button. An indicator on the front of the camera turns red, and you know at a glance that the camera is now only accessible by you. The camera can also be set up to show a green light when the camera is being accessed.

Sensor Recording and Email Alerts
With the built-in heat sensor, the camera can be set to record and/or notify you by email when someone enters the room. It can even automatically move to a preset location when triggered, just in case someone was viewing a different part of the room.

Product Description

See there when you can't be there! Panasonic BL-C10 is the newest and most compact Network Camera! Product features: Stylish & compact; Human Detection Sensor - if it detects someone, it notifies you by e-mail; Color Night View mode - view images even in low light; Privacy mode ensures your privacy; Setup is easy with UPnP - even a beginner can setup the camera thanks to UPnP support; Camera control - even when away from home, you can change the direction of the camera lens: Pan/Tilt; Viewing the camera via mobile phone; Multi-camera feature; Image buffer feature; Viewnetcam service; Built-in web server.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Camera, Excellent Value., November 3, 2004

By 

K. Wagenheim (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic Remote Video Monitoring Webcam and Pet Cam BL-C10A (Personal Computers)

I purchased this network camera to keep an eye on our cats while we were vacationing and just to check in on the house. I was very pleased by the quality and ease of use the camera has.

Setting up the camera was very easy and I had no problems.

The camera's clarity is incredible for its price range, considering that it also pans and scans (with great range of motion).

Speaking to clarity, when the camera moves in any direction, the motors makes a little noise... Not obnoxious or anything, but curious cats had to come check it out each time we moved it while away. Using the snapshot ability on the camera, we got some of the best pictures of the 'kids' we've gotten from any camera when we were there in person.

The camera worked flawlessly - what a great way to ease your mind if you have good internet access where the camera is and where you'll be.

Highly recommended... I'm writing this review because I'm back to order another for different part of the house. :-)

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not too shabby..., September 2, 2004

By 

Plank (West Monroe, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic Remote Video Monitoring Webcam and Pet Cam BL-C10A (Personal Computers)

I am not an expert on webcams but I have done a lot of research. My main computer is a Windows XP machine but I wanted to view webcam images on my Mac Powerbook and cell phone. First of all, the price is right, about half the cost of a Toshiba camera I was thinking about. Set up was automatic with my Linksys router. Image quality is good and has several settings. It has some nice features that are easy to use. You have to play with the confusing buffer/transfer/email settings for a while so you don't get overloaded with email. Motion is often blurry. For Mac users, Safari and IE will not work on your free Panasonic web page. Firefox will. On my i500 Palm Smartphone, WebPro browser doesn't work but Blazer will. It works great with Snappermail too. So far, I am happy with my purchase even though it doesn't have sound, wireless, or weather resistance.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works great with Mac OS, December 17, 2006

By 

B. Moraes (Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic Remote Video Monitoring Webcam and Pet Cam BL-C10A (Personal Computers)

This review was originally posted by JC for the Wireless version of this camera. I'm adapting here his suggestions for the wired version.

Don't be fooled by the documentation that states "Windows Required". It will work fine on your Mac OS X. Here are step-by-step instructions for setting it up using a Mac (don't worry, the steps go by quickly!):

1) Plug-in camera to AC and hold down the "reset" pin with a pen. My computer would not recognize the camera until I physically reset it.
2) Connect the camera via Cross Over Ethernet cable to you Mac.
3) Temporarily give your Mac the manual IP address 192.168.0.5 and subnet 255.255.255.0 in the Network Prefs.
4) Connect to the camera using Safari at address 192.168.0.253 - you should be able to see the settings page now. Choose username and preferences, but say "No" when it asks if you want to "access from the internet". This will make it try to find your router (which is not on the network) so don't do it.
5) Enter 192.168.0.253 in Safari once again and it should take you to the Network Camera page. You should have access to the camera controls after you click the "Single" tab at the top of the page. But we're not done yet.
6) Click the Setup tab on right side of the tabbed toobar.
7) Click Static IP to load the static ip address page for the camera
8) Uncheck the "Enable" checkbox at the top. This is for Windows setup.
9) Enter an IP address in your wireless network. My network is 192.168.2.x so I gave my camera 192.168.2.253.
10) Enter your router's address in the Default Gateway field. Example: 192.168.2.1. If you don't do this, your camera will not be accessible from outside your wireless network!
11) Enter your ISP DNS server address, otherwise you won't be able to send automatic e-mails when trigger events occur nor use the viewnetcam service from Panasonic
12) Click Save.
13) Disconnect the ethernet cable from your computer and connect the camera to the router using a REGULAR network card (not the same cross over).
14) Unplug the camera power, replug camera power (to restart it)
15) The camera should now go through it's blinking light procedure and if all is well you'll get a solid green light.
16) Go to your Network Prefs and set your computer back to connecting to the internet
17) You should now be able to access your camera at the address 192.168.2.253
18) Your router blocks traffic from the internet to your camera so you cannot view the camera from outside your network. To access your camera from the internet you'll neet to open a port on your router that maps to your camera. This can be done by setting up a "Virtual Server" (aka port forwarding) on the router. See your router's instructions for mapping a virtual server to your camera's IP and port.
19) Configure the remaining settings (date & time, email triggers, etc)

Happy viewing...