Panasonic Network Camera and Pet Cam (BLC1A) | 
| Brand: Panasonic
Category: CE
List Price: $96.99
Buy New: $68.99
You Save: $28.00 (29%)
New (58) Used (2) Refurbished (3)
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 796
Color: White
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 12 x 9 x 5
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: BL-C1A
Model: BL-C1A
UPC: 037988845040
EAN: 0037988845040
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Color Video | | • | JPEG image compression & video streaming | | • | Video Resolutions - 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 160 x 120 | | • | Frame Rates (Max.) - 7.5 fps @ 640 x 480; 15 fps @ 320 x 240; 15 fps @ 160 x 120 | | • | Authentication - ID/Password authentication (Administrator / General Users - up to 50) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Package Contents:
Panasonic BL-C1A Wired Network Camera, bracket, power supply, mounting hardware, CD-ROM, software and instructions. The Panasonic BL-C1A Wired Network Camera handles your digital photography needs at a price that won't hurt your wallet! This color surveillance camera allows remote video monitoring of a home or business. Remote home and business surveillance just got a lot more affordable. Receive an e-mail image when the home security camera detects motion--you'll always know what's going on at home or at your business. The 10X digital zoom and color night viewing makes sure you don't miss a detail. It's easy to install, easy to operate and requires no additional software for viewing on your PC. Indoor use only. Server Features:
Image Buffer--About 250 frames (320 x 240, standard image quality). Image transfer via e-mail (SMTP) or FTP. View snapshots and control them from a compatible cellular phone Supports up to 12 cameras IPv4 Multi-Language Interface - English, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Japanese Camera Features - 1/4 320,000 pixel CMOS image sensor 10 digital zoom Viewing Angle - 53 horizontal, 41 vertical Auto exposure Aperture - F2.8 Illumination - 10 - 10,000 lux (normal), 4-10,000 lux (night view) Motion Sensor with Email Alert Auto & manual White Balance Network Connection - RJ45 Ethernet (10Base-T/100Base-X) System Requirements - Windows 98SE, 2000, ME and XP; Internet Explorer 6.0 or later Camera Dimensions(WxHxD) - 3-3/8 x 3-3/8 x 1 Weight - 0.22 lbs Networking Protocols - HTTP, FTP, SMTP, TCP, UDP, IP, DHCP, DNS, ARP, ICMP, and POP3 before SMTP
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 My BLC1A review after 2+ years use... November 23, 2008
We use these in our retail store. We need motion detection for nighttime and snapshots during the open hours, the ability to push the images offsite quickly, and the ability to snag live snapshots from our web server via our blackberry phones, and connect directly via the internet.
This camera does it all at a really good price, especially if you look at other commercial solutions. Not a single problem with the stability of the camera, after 2+ years!!! The power supplies last about 2 years it seems, I have 3 cameras and I've replaced 2 supplies in the past month (no big deal, they are $15 at Fryes.)
They are small and not noticed by customers, since our walls are white. I have noticed other businesses are using them also (the local hooters!).
I used the provided software on an XP machine to give them an initial IP address and password, from there on, it's all via their web interface. Getting live snapshots is simply a matter of finding the right URL to use, and with some digging on Panasonic's site, you'll find a CGI/Developer manual that spells it all out, technically, but very thorough. The FTP (outbound from camera) setup seemed a bit tough at first but a bit of playing and I got it working.
Can't fault the camera or Panasonic. This is a really good value, and if youre a bit technical, you may really find this camera lets you do a lot of complex stuff like notification and web site integration for cheap!
Panasonic dropped their web service I think. I dont use it anyhow. And the IE requirement is only for the ActiveX control, which allows a pseudo zoom/pan feature anyhow. Other browsers work fine.
Get em before Panasonic decides to drop them for the next 'improved' model! It's about time for that to happen, they have been out on the market for a while.
-=RB
Panasonic Pet CAm BLC1A October 17, 2008
I thought the camera worked great. The set up was not difficult but be aware you will need to purchase a router and a cat 5 cable if you do not have one.
WORKS BETTER THAN EXPECTED October 15, 2008
This is an EASY cheap way to check in on your baby/sitter. FORGET it if your a mac user. I have two macs and 1 PC on my network, after an hour reading the Mac directions here I gave up. Took 5 minutes to set it up with the cd on the PC. After set up YES you can see it online, log in online anywhere to see it, even tried on an iphone. The night time feature is not so hot so I set up a small 15 watt light in the baby's room and it was a-ok :) I purchased a 2nd camera and it does not want to go live online, have to give panasonic a call to see what's what. The free service they give is awesome for going live online but I'm not sure if you can use it with multiple cameras. I have to say it was worth every penny when you look at what some of these cameras can cost.
Good, small package with some limitations August 31, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I recently had something damaged ($$$$) in my apartment and both cleaning lady and Super denied involvement, so I figured that at least going forward I should be smart about my stuff. I was looking for a "small" surveillance solution ("small" in size, effort, running cost, intrusion, and wallet), and so far, the Panasonic seems to fit my bill. Details:
HARDWARE:
This device has a somewhat odd shape which, together with the bright white enclosure makes it stand out a little too much for my taste, especially if you planned to discretely put it on a bookshelf. Inside the (easily openable) enclosure, you'll find a single square motherboard where the actual camera is soldered onto. Bummer for those DIY-ers who perhaps hoped to separate the cam from the board in order to conceal it in a stuffed animal or something. The camera has a power led which to my surprise is software- controllable: it can be on, off, or on while recording.
The camera sensor itself is very tiny. From the picture it looks like you'll get 1/2" worth of camera, but most of it is ornaments (like space to prominently print "digital zoom network camera") and the CCD is no bigger than in a cheap cellphone. With that small a sensor, I would have hoped that Panasonic forewent the color filter and make the camera black&white, which would have increased sharpness and light sensitivity, but clearly engineering folded to the marketing department here. Also, the field of view seems quite narrow to me - surveillance should be as wide- angled as possible, even at the expense of detail. Finally, the resolution of the sensor is low (640x480), yet the digital noise is high. I'm subtracting 1 star for not putting in a better or more specialized camera.
SOFTWARE:
This product comes with some PC software, but frankly I haven't touched it after reading a the other reviews here. You can set up the camera entirely with a web browser once you figured out the address. As for making the surveillance available on the net, it is no different than exposing a web server using dyndns.org.
The in-camera software is better than I expected. I addition to some camera preferences like brightness, etc. you can set days/hours of
operation, and register other cameras so you can view them all on one screen. On the actual life view screen you can specify the refresh interval or "motion" to save on bandwith when you're monitoring remotely. In addition to live viewing, the unit can also buffer or transfer pictures. This works as follows: you have five "triggers", which can be configured independantly. For each trigger, you can specify hours of operation, how it's triggered (interval or motion), how many pictures to process, how long to wait to retrigger and whether to save them to internal memory, or transfer them via email or ftp. I find this concept very versatile yet understandable. The internal buffer is very small though, holds barely 90 pictures in lowres(!).
On the minus side regarding the software, the translation is sometimes challenging, especially in important sections. For example, there are two sliders on the motion detection tab, the explanation reading: "Threshold: Adjust the threshold. If the threshold is set low, this software sensitively detects changes. Sensitivity: If you set sensitivity high, amplitude of motion detection bar gets jumpy.". I assume these sliders are meant to configure the camera so it doesn't take your small pet for an intruder, but good luck figuring those out! Also, you cannot define any dead zones for motion detection. However, the firmware is upgradeable, so perhaps these things will improve.
This would be a 5-star device if it wasn't for the weak and narrow- angled camera. The only two ways to go up from here though are to either shell out four times as many dollares for an Axis megapixel camera or buy a good webcam for the same price as this panasonic and then use surveillance software on an always-on PC.
Worth the money! August 24, 2008
This camera works really well. I have been using the D-Link 900 series cameras for years but this camera is a breath of fresh air. It's very easy to setup. It will stream video to just about any web browser. It will also stream motion video to the iPhone!
Night video is very clear for a camera in this price range. It will pickup any object in very low light conditions. Much better than the D-Link cameras.
The buffering feature is awesome. You can set the camera to take one snapshot every minute giving you the ability to view a time lapse video of the past 4 hours (320X240) or 2 hours (640X480). Have it point outside and it makes a very cool video of clouds changing shapes.
Excellent camera and well worth the price.
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