Panasonic BL-C140A 640 x 480 MAX Resolution RJ45 Outdoor Network Camera Panasonic BL-C140A 640 x 480 MAX Resolution RJ45 Outdoor Network Camera

Pros: Size, OK image. Good software. Inexpensive POE solution.

Cons: I have two of these, one gets a half-day of sunlight on the lens, and that lens has turned cloudy. Make sure the lens is protected from sunlight.

Other Thoughts: User and password have onerous restrictions - like you can't use 'admin' as a user name! or letters only for passwords.

Pros: Good interface. Ok image.

Cons: I have two of these. One gets more direct sunlight on its lens and its lens has become foggy. Picture is now almost unusable. Keep the lens out of direct sunlight.

Other Thoughts: One nit; extra restrictions on user names and passwords, length and type of characters make 'admin' or alpha only password unusable. Irratating. Really, how security critical is a webcam?

Pros: Actually designed for outdoors. Solid mounting hardware. Nice GUI over web browser. Works great with my Snology DS211j NAS. PoE up to 100 ft.

Cons: Price is a little high. Night video under flood lights is could be improved.

Pros: Good webcam; POE included; IP based; good daylight performance; rugged through high winds and cold weather

Cons: Not highest resolution (640x480 max); POE is proprietary

Other Thoughts: Running at 14,000 ft. for 5 months in cold and snow as webcam, still going strong. POE is included but proprietary, still not a problem. Make sure you get outdoor Cat5 cable as I didn't and it might make a difference over time. I have another Pany (PTZ with sound- about $250 plus POE inj.) at home and it works great too. THe included software is rudimentary but will e-mail you motion notifications (great). Searched hi and low and this is the best outdoor webcam solution, I believe, for the money. Wireless will need battery replacement so didn't go that route and am concerned about wireless standing up to elements. Setup was funky at first (network conflicts) but home (standard POE-means another $35 for POE injector) was quick and painless.

Pros: Cheap, especially for IP camera; included POE; very easy set-up; good daytime pictures; very good webcam

Cons: Propreitary POE; on screen instructions not great English; poor at night; settings take some "tinkering"..

Other Thoughts: Got this for webcam at work and works very well although unusable at night, but I didn't want night anyway. As noted above, instructions are tough to read but manual is much better. I had to read a lot to figure stuff out. Love the ability to access cam ANYWHERE; e-mailed alerts are great.

Pros: It works and is built pretty solidly. It has its own web interface that you can add additional Panasonic cameras on the same network for a convenient multi-camera utility. It will also capture and store either a series of images or a short video clip (but not both) to some internal memory for retrieval later.

Cons: This camera is NOT fully 802.3af or 802.3at PoE compliant so don't plan on using a PoE switch to power this camera. You'll have to use the supplied power injector that puts power on the ethernet cable.

Also, the camera is quite a bit bigger than I anticipated. The face is about 6" square and about 2.5" deep at the top. It's definitely not discreet.

The low-light pickup on this camera isn't that great, either. I'm not sure if an IR lamp would do any good, but it could be worth a try.

If you have any sort of backlight, the images get blown out pretty easily. It's best if the light is behind the camera and kept at a reasonable level so it doesn't light up a white wall, for instance. For an outdoor-capable camera, this could be difficult to do.

Other Thoughts: For an IP webcam, it's "mostly there." By itself, it'll let you watch the live feed. To do much of anything more, expect to buy some extra software. The images are decent, but controlling light is critical to get anything recognizable - too dark and it's grainy and indistinct, too bright and the image washes out.

Next time, I'm going to pay extra for a better brand and model of camera.

Pros: High quality images, easy to set up, no need for power connection (PoE), works great as a webcam

Cons: Requires some networking knowledge to access over the Internet but nothing too complicated.

Other Thoughts: I mounted the camera under the eve at our rental unit on Anna Maria Island, Florida, ran a 30' Cat 5e cable from the camera through a hole I drilled in the wall of the house and connected the other end to the included PoE injector. The Power over Ethernet (PoE) injector provides power via the Cat 5e cable to the camera. The injector receives power from a power cube that plugs into a standard wall outlet. Also connected to the injector is another Cat 5 cable the other end of which is connected to the router.

Once everything was connected I inserted the included CD into the computer and installed the software. The software worked perfectly with my Windows XP operating system and immediately detected the camera. It could detect more cameras but I only had one which was listed. When I clicked on the listing the image appeared. It couldn't have been easier.

I wish I could post the URL here so you could see how good the images are but Newegg won't allow it.