Reolink 5MP Wireless Security IP Camera - PTZ Dome Camera | 4X Optical Zoom | 360° Pan&90° Tilt | 2.4/5Ghz Dual Band WiFi | 190ft Night Vision | 32GB Micro SD Card, RLC-423WS

This camera produces unbelievable image quality in both daylight, and total darkness.PRO: Easy to use remote "Cloud" app...CON: Easy to use remote "Cloud: app. I hate the cloud, with EVERY manufacturer trying to shoe-horn its customers into some sort of "pay-us-forever" scheme, with "premium" features contrived to part you from your money, and just wait until their servers are hacked, placing your data into the hands of some unsavory characters. You can get the same "remote" viewing services with a private DVR/NVR and your home router, leaving control of your security up to you.PRO: The WiFi is excellent, allowing this camera to be installed with a power cable only...CON: The image quality over WiFi is exceptional, but there is a significant amount of delay, and "choppy" video when the receiving WiFi device is at the edge of the camera's WiFi signal range...CON: The fewer WiFi signals bleeding RF all over your property, the better. More WiFi devices always means more interference, and problems with other connected devices. The more WiFi you add, the bigger the problems, and this camera is another source of RF "pollution"...CON: WiFi Security. Yeah, they all say that the security levels are adequate, but are they really? If you use the WiFi features of this camera, PLEASE take the time to change the default user ID/Password, or you may find your camera doing part-time duty mining Bit Coin for a stranger, or worse. Better yet, don't use the WiFi, use PoE.PRO: PoE capability makes wiring easy...CON: ...But this camera does not ship with a PoE "802.3af" injector, which is a power-brick that inserts between the camera and the router to provide both power and data over a single Cat5/Cat6 Ethernet cable.PRO: This camera ships with a 12-Volt power adapter...CON: ...But the power adapter cord isn't long enough to wire the camera any distance without an extension cable.PRO: PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) allows you to point the camera at your subject and zoom-in for detail. Sending PTZ commands are easily controlled from the mobile device app.CON: PTZ - Unlike "coax-wired" security cameras which usually have a separate cable for controlling Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Focus, IR, and Aperture over serial RS-485, which also requires an expensive "joystick console", this camera must receive its PTZ commands over its WiFi or Ethernet data connection, so it must be controlled by the device application installed on a PC or mobile device. This is a "CON" because it will be difficult to employ PTZ functions using a 'manufacturer-independent" installation.

I bought my first camera as the WIRELESS version direct from source, and waited 3 weeks for shipping from China,so I was glad to see it on Amazon because i just had to get another one! I own 11 Foscams and used to be a fan, despite all their shortcomings until now. Their main advantage was low price, but they are crippled by the world's worst software interface,(silly of them not to hire someone to rewrite it-but hey it's their loss). THIS camera has an excellent software interface, PC or Mac -specific Reolink Client, Android or iPhone-specific clients which work very well! It can also be accessed with a generic web browser if need be. The hardware is super sturdy and IP66 rated (no dust or water intrusion-though cannot be immersed) The optical clarity is awesome, even at 4x optical zoom, and the auto-focus works well. It can spin 360º (continuous) around the horizontal axis, looks down 90º but vertically up to 0º level only, so mount it HIGH, or use a thin shim under the bottom of the mounting plate, if you need upward tilt. (At horizontal, you can still see upward a good bit even fully zoomed.) The dual-antenna wireless design has excellent reception/transmission at reasonable distances and through dense intervening structure, and works well at 250' obstruction-free. At maximum definition, 3072x1728, 20fps, 8192kbps, there is a bit of lag in the controls at 250', so I use the presets (of which there are 64 available) and which DO hold the zoom level you choose. I'm not really a fan of the SD-card being internal and not replaceable except by disassembly, but you can't have an external slot and be IP66, which is more important to me because I plan to use it outdoors in a location with 30 mph AVERAGE winds.OK so overall I rate 4 1/2 stars as I wish there was 5º-10º upward tilt from horizontal, and I wish SD card was accessible via a water-tight external panel, and the external mic is not included but there is literally nothing better out there at this price-point!

**UPDATE** after contacting Reolink support with the problem stated below they suggested the camera was not getting enough power and when the IR lights turned on it draws even more power which the camera was not getting so it shut down and rebooted. They suggested trying a different power supply. With a possible source of the problem I did some research and it seems this Can also be caused by a power cord that’s too long which causes power loss to the camera. I had used a 30ft 2.1x5.5mm 12v DC extension so I swapped it for a shorter heavier guage extension and used a better 12 v DC power supply that I had and it has fixed the issue. Camera has excellent night vision range and does not wash out faces as badly as other cameras I have used.Setup was fairly easy and and camera seemed to be working okay in daylight but once it got dark then the fun began. Camera was set to auto and As soon as the camera went into night mode it would stay on for about 30 seconds then it would reboot . Checked settings , upgraded firmware and even tried reset and still have the same problem camera just constantly rebooting in an endless loop. Sun comes up next day and camera works fine. Must be defective so I guess back it goes