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FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Hardware/software/hints and tips/discussion/webcam links etc
Austin
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Austin »

Weird, it works on all my browsers, perhaps I have something installed you don't?

It appears the only thing different is the lens, and that it has 64 IR LEDs instead of 24...

Edit: It appears that the .cgi embed doesn't work with IE, only the other main browsers...
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by nking »

I took a look at the 8904 spec and having an increased angle of 42 degrees is not a bad idea ;)
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by nking »

Hi Austin,

The 8905 is reported to have an angle of view of 22 deg. whereas the 8904 is 42 deg. It is difficult to judge whether this is true or an error in the spec.
Your picture stream is somewhat dominated by the fir trees with very little of the sky visible which makes it more difficult to compare picture quality with Dave’s 8905…. Not knowing how close the trees are to the camera etc. I wonder how you would rate the image of your camera ?

many thanks
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by seabreeze3 »

Here's a YouTube video comparing the F18904W with the F18905W. The 18904W indeed has a wider angle lens. In fact, (using my handy oceanography CDR distance crunching software), from that video when I give the 18905 a 22 degree view angle at the source, the F18904W reading is almost 56 degrees.

The 18905W works well for my purposes as sited. Any wider an angle and most of the additional view would be obstructed by dense forest on either side of the current view. As I am planning a 2nd camera facing west, I am NOT going to go with the 18905W. Since I'll be able to look through a window I will likely go with wireless indoor camera.

----

Ran into an issue of brightness yesterday. The cloud base changed several times during the day altering the light dramatically. Finding an all purpose brightness level has been a bit of a challenge. The UI has 3 settings (50 Hz, 60 Hz and Outdoors) plus brightness and contrast controls. I had the camera set for "Outdoors" with the brightness down from the default setting. Good sky view, good cloud definition, blue sky etc. When the sky became low nimbostratus the picture naturally darkened, however it continued to darken to create an image that looked very much like nighttime - at 1530 in the afternoon when light levels were very much "daytime". I adjusted brightness controls up with no result. It took a reboot of the camera to recover. Since then it has rendered a good image. I'll be watching this with a somewhat jaundiced eye.

----

Has anyone taken a look at this open source camera software from iSpy? Thinking I might give it a look see.
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Austin
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Austin »

nking wrote:Hi Austin,

The 8905 is reported to have an angle of view of 22 deg. whereas the 8904 is 42 deg. It is difficult to judge whether this is true or an error in the spec.
Your picture stream is somewhat dominated by the fir trees with very little of the sky visible which makes it more difficult to compare picture quality with Dave’s 8905…. Not knowing how close the trees are to the camera etc. I wonder how you would rate the image of your camera ?

many thanks
Yeah, I am going to move it this summer to a better location. I can't really say about the image, because it has been so dark here that it has the IR LEDs on all the time thinking it is night, that it just looks blah, I'm hoping for a sunny day so I can see how the color looks, but doesn't look like we are going to have on of those for a while, in fact I might move it to a different location sooner then that just because of that. The tree that is on the right is about 20-30 yards away from the camera... We will have to see.

I'll take some pics tomorrow to show it's view.
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nking
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by nking »

Thanks for the link Dave - I didn't think to check YouTube. You can certainly see the difference. It looks like the 8904 doesn't support WPA2, perhaps Austin can confirm?

Austin - As you say, your picture looks poor because it's so dark and IR is being used - looking forward to seeing your pictures for comparison.

Many thanks for the update.
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Austin »

nking wrote:It looks like the 8904 doesn't support WPA2, perhaps Austin can confirm?
It does, WEP WPA & WPA2.

IR LEDs turned off for a few minutes today, picture was much better.
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Austin »

Image

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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by nking »

Austin,

I have taken a look at your stream and the colours are really poor, are you seeing the same? The image from seabreeze http://www.members.shaw.ca/seabreeze3/html/webcam.html seems to be better, albeit his weather has been rather overcast and wet today.
Austin
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Austin »

Yep, but my IRs have been on the entire time, we even had a nice sunny day with the sun pointed right at the camera. I know that it has a better image because I had it inside before I mounted it outside and it had a nice image. Perhaps I need to find ANOTHER spot?

Or mount a flood light or something to trick it into thinking it is brighter out?
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by nking »

Austin wrote:Or mount a flood light or something to trick it into thinking it is brighter out?
It's a pity that the IR isn't adjustable. You might think that the wider angle lense would capture more light but it does look like you are surrounded by trees where you are.
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Gina »

Austin wrote:my IRs have been on the entire time, we even had a nice sunny day with the sun pointed right at the camera.
That isn't right - I think you must have a faulty unit. The IRs on mine don't come on until it's nearly dark.
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Austin
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Austin »

nking wrote:
Austin wrote:Or mount a flood light or something to trick it into thinking it is brighter out?
It's a pity that the IR isn't adjustable. You might think that the wider angle lense would capture more light but it does look like you are surrounded by trees where you are.
Should have spent the extra $20 :(

Going to try something with it tomorrow, we will see if it affects anything...
Gina wrote:
Austin wrote:my IRs have been on the entire time, we even had a nice sunny day with the sun pointed right at the camera.
That isn't right - I think you must have a faulty unit. The IRs on mine don't come on until it's nearly dark.
What mode do you have yours on?
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by nking »

Austin wrote:Should have spent the extra $20 :(

Going to try something with it tomorrow, we will see if it affects anything...
Do you mean you should have purchased the FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam?
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Re: FOSCAM FI8905W wireless IP cam

Post by Gina »

None of the cameras here have user control of the IR LEDs - they are automatic and come on when it gets dark, but they DO go off when it gets light.
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