Amcrest 5MP Turret POE Camera, UltraHD Outdoor IP Camera POE with Mic/Audio, 5-Megapixel Security Surveillance Cameras, 98ft NightVision, 132° FOV, MicroSD (256GB), (IP5M-T1179EW-AI-V3)

The media could not be loaded. Great camera! Easy Install and setup! Great picture quality! I bought the Amcrest 5MP UltraHD (IP5M-T1179EW-28MM) and I am extremely impressed with the performance of this Amcrest camera considering that it cost less than $50. There was a recent theft in my neighborhood and some kids ringing doorbells and running off at night (frightening my wife when I’m at work). My existing cameras captured a very poor and brief image of the criminal’s vehicle so I decided it was time to up my game. I really liked how I can use this one camera without committing to a large multiple camera NVR system and installation. There are so many different ways to view the live feed and recordings even when I am out of the house and get an alert/snapshot.Unboxing: My initial impression is that the camera is extremely well built, and it seems quite durable. The plastic housing is hard. The lens angle adjusts easily along multiple axis, and stays exactly where I point it. There are instructions in the box, a mounting template with hardware and plenty of guidance on the Amcrest site. The connections and the cover for the reset and MicroSD card slot are well protected and sealed up tight. I have no concerns about water getting inside.Mounting/Wiring: Even though it can be mounted fine without it, I opted to mount it on an Amcrest AMCPFB203W wall mount bracket. I have brick and new vinyl siding so running a ton of wires with large connectors was not something I wanted to do. I put the connectors inside the wall mount, and connected the mount to a wooden corner bracket I made and stained to blend in with the brick. I then attached it all with one screw/molly. I mounted it near a gutter so I could hide the cable behind and along the downspout. I ran the cable along the foundation under some decorative rocks, into the house near the dryer vent and connected it to my network. I really appreciate the flexibility that the ONVIF/RTSP compatible cameras allows for installation and operation.PoE is AWESOME!: The camera can be connected/powered using Power over Ethernet (PoE) with a PoE injector or switch, or regular Ethernet with a separate power cord. With PoE, I was able drill one tiny hole for the Cat6 cable and then crimp the RJ45 Ethernet connector on myself and have power and data all in one network cable. You shouldn’t have to turn your home into Swiss cheese in order to feel safe and secure. PoE allows you to install cameras without destroying your home! I highly suggest getting a crimping tool for anyone running Ethernet cables. The RJ45 connector requires at least a 5/8 inch (16mm) hole. If you can put your own connector on after you run the wire through something, you can drill less than a ¼ inch (6mm) hole. You can get a spool of cable and make your cables any length you want. Since it is always powered with PoE, it can capture recorded video before the motion starts and I don't have to get on the ladder to change batteries like I do with my other cameras.Setup: The camera can be auto detected by most software. There is also a QR code or serial number (be aware that the QR and S/N are on the tag attached to the cord and not the camera body itself). The Amcrest View Pro software was simple to configure on my android phone. I also tried a demo version of Blue Iris I installed on a Windows 10 PC. It also works with my Synology NAS home cloud server using Surveillance Station software providing tons of capacity for file storage. I was able to set the camera to alert on motion easily. At first, I was getting some motion activated recordings due to wind in the trees and squirrels, but it was simple to set the motion detection to ignore some areas of the frame and minimize false alarms. There are tons of features included in the software that I’m still trying out.Picture quality: This camera has incredible picture quality for such a low price point. I can zoom in on people walking and driving by without losing much quality at all. My Arlo Pro 2 cameras are only 2MP so this 5MP camera really blows them away with the increased the range, clarity and definition. I usually have some ambient light from the streetlights and the neighbors, but the night vision illuminator lights up dark areas in front of my home for about 100 feet. My spouse was really impressed with how clear the picture is.Audio: The microphone is incredible. I have audio triggered recordings turned off because there is highway noise behind me. Even with the highway noise behind me, the mic can often pick up the voices of people talking as they walk down the street.Flexibility: I really love how versatile this inexpensive camera is. I can put up to a 256GB MicroSD card in it to store the recordings or connect it to my Windows 10 PC, or even to my Synology NAS personal cloud server. I can access the camera through the web, through the Amcrest app on my phone, through Blue Iris or my Synology Surveillance Station software. I’m also not locked into any proprietary camera system because it is compatible with multiple platforms or no platform at all. All you need is the camera, a way to connect it to your network, and then you can use the app.Overall: I am thrilled with this purchase (I am a computer/electronics/gadget/smart home enthusiast). This camera is absolutely phenomenal especially considering this price point. I’m already considering where I can place and connect additional cameras. The next time there is a thief in the neighborhood, I’ll be able to pull up a clear image of the people/vehicle when it drives by or be alerted if someone comes near my home. I highly recommend this camera.

This camera checks a lot of boxes for anyone building out a surveillance setup. Installation is straightforward, and the included software makes it easy to clone settings across multiple units which is a huge time-saver if you're deploying several at once.Image quality is excellent, with crisp detail and reliable performance in both hot and cold weather. The turret design is a standout, it avoids the common lens reflection issues you often get with dome cameras, especially outdoors. Unless you're pointing it directly at the sun, visibility stays sharp and clear.Coverage is wide and consistent, and integration is smooth whether you're using Blue Iris or UniFi Protect. Blue Iris handles motion-triggered recording well, while UniFi Protect defaults to continuous recording. Either way, it’s just a standard RTSP stream, so setup is quick and flexible.Bottom line:If you're looking for a camera that balances performance, durability, and easy integration into existing NVR systems, this one delivers. Just be mindful of placement to avoid direct sun glare, and you're good to go.

I have seven Amcrest cameras now, but this is the first turret camera that I've purchased from the brand.Having been through a number of different brands, I have found that I prefer Amcrest for various reasons. I want to support American companies, and I find that the quality of Amcrest is better than others while the price is directly comparable.Amcrest cameras tend to have excellent build quality. They are solid, weatherproof (for the outdoor cameras), and they work well. The turret mount makes a lot of sense, and is easy to use to mount and dismount. The network cords are very well protected with an o-ring and connector system. The web management interface is fully featured and intuitive. I love the fact that many of their cameras also have the microSD slot for onboard recording and storage. This works well for use-cases without internet or other local storage and as a backup storage method.For my configuration, I also tested the Amcrest PoE injector, which takes a regular network input and outputs network + power in order to power a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) device such as this camera. This is useful for mounting cameras far away from available power receptacles. PoE will normally have a max range of 100 meters/300 feet in ideal conditions.This camera (IP5M-T1179E) has firmware much like the others I own. A password change is forced on first login. I had the device powered through the Amcrest PoE injector and directly into my router and it was automatically assigned a DHCP address. I changed it to a static IP in my camera subnet, and then re-logged in once it was complete. Then I tried to update the firmware. On the setup > system > upgrade page, there is a check version button which is for the cloud upgrade. That button has always done nothing, and it performed no differently this time. I tried in in several browsers. The camera has no firmware listed on the Amcrest support site at this time, so I assume that it is up to date. The firmware is about 8 months old at this time. I did find the firmware a few days later and discovered that the firmware site has a slightly finnicky search tool.Then I added my non-admin user account so I can connect my recording program and mobile device using credentials that don't have the ability to change settings.Then I begin at the top of the settings and work my way down to change things such as the video overlays, email alerts, ensure that extraneous features are off, turn on HTTPS console access, enable the sending of snapshots via email during motion detection, and set the device to auto-reboot weekly.After setup, I run a packet capture on the device to see who it is trying to connect to. This device was trying to connect to amcrestview.com which is hosted on Amazon. I found no other external connection attempts.All of the IP cameras I have owned called home in some way. This is true of cameras that have no cloud features. The Chinese cameras tend to reach out to China, which I don't like. There are many, many of examples of IoT devices being hacked and sending all your data somewhere and spying on the unsuspecting. I protect against this by ensuring that my IoT devices cannot connect outbound to the internet and by using Geo-IP to blacklist addresses hosted in most foreign countries. Amcrest devices periodically connect to the Amazon cloud. I'm not a fan of that either, but it's what you have to do if you want the cloud features such as mobile app for remote management and viewing. There are ways to get remote management and viewing without using their cloud, but it requires network configuration that most people can't accomplish.I love the ability to store recordings on SD, NAS, and FTP. Between those and the email snapshots, there are plenty of methods to alert and store events. Amcrest devices will also connect with various software packages and recording platforms using standard protocols such as ONVIF and RSTP. I use RSTP (real time streaming protocol) with iSpyConnect on a spare PC to monitor and record events. This gives me the ability to monitor, view, zoom, and capture the video and audio streams.I like this camera. It fits right into my environment and is a really nice quality.Here is my improvement wish-list:-I wish it were 4k, but for the price, it is just what I needed.-I wish the email password field could be pasted into as I use long, complex passwords in password managers.-The Firmware upgrade "Check version" button is unclear. I would expect the software to check and report then upgrade the firmware, but this does not work for me and never has.-Email/SMTP configuration: changing the authentication method to TLS defaults to port 465 (which is accurate) but I have to use port 465 and SSL in order for my email to function. I discovered this after trying everything else, but this may be a point of confusion for others and it may be said that the email functionality "doesn't work" with TLS. It does work, but it may not be standard.