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tdurhamjr  
#1 Posted : Tuesday, September 1, 2015 11:52:54 AM(UTC)
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I know this has come up before in talks but I wanted to ask if anyone has specifically used any PTZ camera systems in church sanctuary setup? We currently have 2 very old cameras with an old sometimes working controller. I am going to get us switched over to vMix for our media/presentation software and we want to get 2 or 3 new PTZ cameras. For projectors we are using rear projector screens that are 4x3 but we will just switch over to 720 or 1080 output. We will use vMix to start streaming the services as well.

Any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated!

Tim
GeorgeR  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, September 1, 2015 8:46:44 PM(UTC)
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tdurhamjr wrote:
I know this has come up before in talks but I wanted to ask if anyone has specifically used any PTZ camera systems in church sanctuary setup? We currently have 2 very old cameras with an old sometimes working controller. I am going to get us switched over to vMix for our media/presentation software and we want to get 2 or 3 new PTZ cameras. For projectors we are using rear projector screens that are 4x3 but we will just switch over to 720 or 1080 output. We will use vMix to start streaming the services as well.

Any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated!

Tim


Tim,

You might checkout this post made to vMix a while back by @kkr and check out his setup.

http://forums.vmix.com.au/default.aspx?g=posts&t=1557

~George

sinc747  
#3 Posted : Wednesday, September 2, 2015 5:29:51 PM(UTC)
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Tim,

I just reviewed a really neat HD PTZ on my show last week. Here's the link:


Here's a quick overview...

Very smooth operation. Handheld remote is easy to define presets. Connection was a breeze. vMix found the camera easily.

12x Optical Zoom
up to 64 presets per camera
1080/720/480 resolutions
Simultaneous SDI/HDMI/LAN/composite or USB3/HDMI/LAN/composite outputs
Serial (RS232) control or handheld remote or IP control
- serial controller sold separately ($299)
72 degree field of view
Wall or ceiling mount
3-year warranty

Price is $1599 for SDI version and $1699 for USB3 version.

There is also a 20x cam with similar options for slightly more.

If you want to chat about these, feel free to give me a call. My website is on my forum profile. I bundle these cams with custom streaming PC's for churches. With vMix, of course. ;)

- Tom

Speegs  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, September 2, 2015 7:06:46 PM(UTC)
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sinc747 wrote:
Tim,

I just reviewed a really neat HD PTZ on my show last week. Here's the link:


Here's a quick overview...

Very smooth operation. Handheld remote is easy to define presets. Connection was a breeze. vMix found the camera easily.

12x Optical Zoom
up to 64 presets per camera
1080/720/480 resolutions
Simultaneous SDI/HDMI/LAN/composite or USB3/HDMI/LAN/composite outputs
Serial (RS232) control or handheld remote or IP control
- serial controller sold separately ($299)
72 degree field of view
Wall or ceiling mount
3-year warranty

Price is $1599 for SDI version and $1699 for USB3 version.

There is also a 20x cam with similar options for slightly more.

If you want to chat about these, feel free to give me a call. My website is on my forum profile. I bundle these cams with custom streaming PC's for churches. With vMix, of course. ;)

- Tom



I have the 20x zoom version that looks almost the same. Works great so far I've only had it for 2 months. I have a SDI, HDMI & IP model without USB3.

Possibly where they come from: http://www.valuehd.com.cn/

From what I can tell this place makes them for "many" other companies who sometimes put their own name on them and maybe modify them a little. So I've seen the same cameras with the same specs pop up with the same menus and an almost identical manual but different brand names on them.

As always everything made in China :) You can do better than that price Tom mentioned, but I expect the re-seller must buy them like an OEM computer and value add. If what they add is better support and warranty returns might be worth paying extra even if the hardware is almost identical.

The manuals I've seen market them as a conferencing camera.

See these interesting Youtube videos:

https://www.youtube.com/...UCrW1QeYkvh1VC_sDdVgIX6w

They have many hook up to once controller and also I noticed they also used VMix in some of the testing. Not sure who Judy Peng is, but she appears to put some PTZs through some nice tests :)

The VMix Specific howto:



I was skeptical about the picture quality but I have a Canon XA25 and put it side by side. Lets just say I'm not skeptical anymore and impressed since the PTZ is cheaper than an XA25 and I'm sure the XA25 has better optics and manual control over the optics. However on "auto" it was not massively better in the conditions I tried the comparison. In fact they Zoom almost the same the 20x PTZ and an XA25.

The RS485 controllers you can buy are handy (I have one, better than the remote and the cable can go for ages like SDI). I have tested the camera, but I'm yet to use it in production as I'm in my slow time of the year.
ask  
#5 Posted : Wednesday, September 2, 2015 9:58:05 PM(UTC)
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Speegs, where did you source these cameras in OZ? Andrew
sinc747  
#6 Posted : Wednesday, September 2, 2015 10:13:04 PM(UTC)
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Speegs wrote:

Possibly where they come from: http://www.valuehd.com.cn/

From what I can tell this place makes them for "many" other companies who sometimes put their own name on them and maybe modify them a little. So I've seen the same cameras with the same specs pop up with the same menus and an almost identical manual but different brand names on them.

As always everything made in China :) You can do better than that price Tom mentioned, but I expect the re-seller must buy them like an OEM computer and value add. If what they add is better support and warranty returns might be worth paying extra even if the hardware is almost identical.


Yes, Speegs, I suspect they are imported from China. I have seen them in the US under more than one brand name. The difference is the local (USA) distributor who has the cameras in stock in quality and provides a three-year warranty. Doing business directly with China is a task, to say the least.

And, I can have a camera in your hands tomorrow, at least here in the US. :)
Speegs  
#7 Posted : Thursday, September 3, 2015 3:51:43 AM(UTC)
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sinc747 wrote:

Yes, Speegs, I suspect they are imported from China. I have seen them in the US under more than one brand name. The difference is the local (USA) distributor who has the cameras in stock in quality and provides a three-year warranty. Doing business directly with China is a task, to say the least.

And, I can have a camera in your hands tomorrow, at least here in the US. :)


I guess there is a market for an importer in Australia. I just imported one myself and yup took some risks doing so that I hope I never regret (I'm possibly on my own if I have a problem). It's not a primary camera for my productions. It's to get some awesome shots from a fantastic but awkward location.
Speegs  
#8 Posted : Thursday, September 3, 2015 7:00:29 AM(UTC)
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ask wrote:
Speegs, where did you source these cameras in OZ? Andrew


I didn't source it from OZ, but I did have it delivered to OZ.

Getting almost pro results from stuff without the full "pro" price tag interests me. It seems everyone wants to pay less but do more and if you can pull it off I say why not :) Sometimes I regret that.

I've seen a few of Tom's videos he seems to be directing people in that direction (along with StudioTech which I miss, was definitely aimed at those with larger budgets).

Tom's review is accurate and I can say my short experience with a PTZ matches what he said. So most of all I want to say I can confirm it's a good match for a typical VMix user.

Use it the way the job requires it. It ticks a lot of boxes for me (the model I have, Tom's one was not the same main difference is the Zoom and angle of the lens).

1. A decent full HD picture (2MP)
2. SDI, HDMI and IP (I don't use IP for Camera Inputs because of the extra latency, but it worked just fine if you can handle 300ms extra delay)
3. RS485 control is really nice, but not needed if you use presets mostly
4. Is pretty fast, but I recommend attaching to something solid to avoid wobbles when the head stops suddenly
5. Long cable runs, no problem, SDI + RS485 + Joystick = lots of cable with no converters, awesome way to control the camera far better than IR Remote for accuracy
6. Short cable runs, no problem, HDMI + IR Remote = Easy, Quick setup time
7. Cheap long cable runs, no problem if you can live with IP Video and Control via the webpage
8. Lots of options to control the picture in the camera itself, flip, mirror, iris controls, colour, handles low light quite well
9. Can take a little while to refocus and adjust light after sudden movements if on auto focus, nothing excessive
10. Control over PTZ speed, much easier on a 3 axis Joystick vs the IR Remote, Entirely possible to follow someone around with the Joystick + a little practice
Ittaidv  
#9 Posted : Thursday, September 3, 2015 8:51:12 AM(UTC)
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I've seen some decent footage from KATO PTZ camera's. You can import them from China, directly from the supplier. I'm sure many of them are being sold everyhwere in the world under different brandnames. I never dared to dbuy this, since business with Chinese is not simple, but they start at 800$ FOB and look very decent for the price :)
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