I am sorry for wasting a post here, but I am having a heck of a time having the best outdoor cameras for around my house. I have Blue Iris that i use for all of my indoor cameras and I love it. I bought Nest cameras for the outside of my house, but I want to move all of my recordings to my Blue Iris server.

I want all the functionality of my Nest IQ Outdoor cameras, plus PTZ, and to have them work with my Blue Iris. I tried to compile a list of everything that was important to me, and I was hoping that I could get some help from the community. I do not know a lot about cameras, so I am only going off of research that I have done, but I just cannot seem to find a camera that has all the features I want. I am a big fan of the Amcrest cameras, but I don't see that they have an outdoor camera that can do audio over the network without add-ons.

built-in 2 way audio over WiFi/Network
POE (I do want them to have the option for WiFi or POE)
PTZ
Outdoor
Good night vision with at least 150ft quality
1080p at least
good FOV, at least 120

Finding decent cams can be daunting. I personally have a couple of Amcrest cameras, and they are okay, but as you stated I don't think the outdoor cams have audio. I also purchased a couple of Dahua cameras I bought from EmpireTech Andy, and those are decnt as well... with audio. The issue is potentially support. You will get no OEM support and no firmware updates from Dahua... all of that is from Andy. I've had good luck, but I've not had to return anything either.

That brings me to today, where I am also looking for a reputable brand, with support and updates, here in the US. Finding authorized retailers that will deal with the regular folks has been tough, but then I discovered that B&H Photo is an authorized Hikvision dealer. HIK cams have a good reputation, are a lot like the Dahua's, and their support looks decent too. Also, many of their outdoor cams have audio streams. I've placed an order for 2 outdoor dome cams and expect them next week. I have bought a lot from B&H and they are trustworthy. I recommend you stay away from Amazon when looking for cams (other than Amcrest or Reolink). Most 3rd party sellers are going to be selling you knock-offs that you can't update, and who knows what they are doing if you connect them to your network without LAN segregation. Expect to pay a lot for outdoor PTZ of any quality... best to buy an extra fixed IMHO.

Good luck!

-Bill

GBillR wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 11:14 pm Expect to pay a lot for outdoor PTZ of any quality... best to buy an extra fixed IMHO.
-Bill

Why is this the case? I was noticing this as well. It is around 2-400 dollars more for a ptz outdoor camera.

Extra mechanics cost extra. Similar to varifocal costing extra, only now with pan and tilt motors.

GBillR wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:47 pm Extra mechanics cost extra. Similar to varifocal costing extra, only now with pan and tilt motors.

Of course! I understand that extra things cost extra. But there are plenty of PTZ cameras out there that are inexpensive. I ended up just going with this the SD6W-5MP-HX, and it will arrive in about a week. It doesn't have POE, and the viewing angle is only like 96.2 degrees, but it was the closest to what I needed, I think... I'll find out when it arrives. If it is fantastic, i'll update the thread to let everyone know. My primary goal is to find a new singular outdoor camera that I can use for all around my outdoor needs, and get rid of my Nest cameras. I am unsure a 96.2 degree viewing angle will do it for me, but for the price I could potentially just get a couple extra!

I can easily say that the SD6W-5MP-HX is a great camera. Took about 15 minutes longer to setup than my Amcrest cameras, but once in place, I was very impressed. It's functioned quite well for us and I can recommend it to anyone looking for a good outdoor camera.

Thanks for the follow up review! It's always nice to have real input on cameras as we're all in the same boat. A screenshot or two would be nice if you can share

Matts1984 wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 1:10 pm Thanks for the follow up review! It's always nice to have real input on cameras as we're all in the same boat. A screenshot or two would be nice if you can share

It may seem a bit over protective, but I have some personal issues posting screenshots of my security system stuff. I am sorry about that!