Product Description
- Connects wirelessly through 802.11b or G Wireless port
- Tilt/Scan tools for moving the camera vertically, with Pan/Scan tools for horizontal motion
- Pan and tilt, center the image automatically or choose from 8 preset positions
- Compact design with hideable lens, for added comfort and privacy
- Automatically upload images to an FTP server or Web page -- images can be viewed by 30 users at once
Place the Panasonic BL-C30A Wireless Network Camera on a WLAN in your home or office and view it from a remote location - anywhere. Just go to your permanent assigned site!
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 address, 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.
This camera can communicate wirelessly with standard 802.11b or 802.11g wireless devices, allowing the flexibility to install and operate the camera without running network wires, and utilizing SSID filtering and powerful 40/64/128 bit WEP encryption helps to protect your wireless network from illegal intrusion.
Just plug-n-play with auto configuration. 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.
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.
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 you2. The camera can also be set up to show a green light when the camera is being accessed.
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Nice camera for the price. Works great on a Mac
I compared the feature sets of a number of cameras and only the Panasonic had the wireless + pan/tilt for under $300. Video quality is good with decent lighting, but expect to see "Christmas light" pixels in poor lighting. As some of the other reviewers have said, 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) Make sure camera switch is set to "wired".
3) Connect the camera via Ethernet cable to you Mac.
4) Temporarily give your Mac the manual IP address 192.168.0.5 and subnet 255.255.255.0 in the Network Prefs.
5) Connect to the camera using Safari at address 192.168.0.253 - you should be able to see the settings page now.
6) Click through the setup but say "No" when it asks if you want to "go on the internet". This will make it try to find your router (which is not on the network) so don't do it.
7) 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.
8) Click the Setup tab on right side of the tabbed toobar.
9) Click Static IP to load the static ip address page for the camera
10) Uncheck the "Enable" checkbox at the top. This is for Windows setup.
11) Enter an IP address in your wireless network. My network is 192.168.2.x so I gave my camera 192.168.2.253.
12) 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!
13) Click the Wireless tab on the left navigation bar of the camera page.
14) For SSID enter the exact name of your network. This is the name you gave your wireless router when you set it up. It appears under the Airport signal strength menu with a checkbox next to it.
15) If you have security (and you should!), enter you WEP Key. Be sure to make the right selection for your wep key (ASCII, HEX, etc).
16) Click Save.
17) Edit other settings such as Date and Time
18) Disconnect the ethernet cable from the camera.
19) Flip the camera switch from Wired to Wireless
20) Unplug the camera power, replug camera power (to restart it)
21) The camera should now go through it's blinking light procedure and if all is well you'll get a solid green light.
22) Go to your Network Prefs and set your computer back to using your wireless router.
23) You should now be able to access your camera at the address 192.168.2.253 wirelessly now.
24) 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.
Happy viewing...