Dropcam HD - aka my new Reefcam

[h20poloman]

So I knew setting up my new reef tank that I will want it as automated as possible due to a variable work travel schedule. In all honesty I really didn't do a lot of research and depending on your needs you may want something a bit different but based on my room configuration I was looking for a camera that could connect to the wireless internet, have a good streaming capability and easy to set up. I sort of lucked out as during a late night search on amazon.com I came across the dropcam. It has a simple apple product type of feel to it and was one of the easiest things to ever set up. If only reef tank controllers were this easy everyone would probably own one. Price was $149 and set up consisted of taking it out of the box, plugging it into my laptop (compatible with mac or pc) with the supplied usb cable they provide in the box. Once you go through a 3 part set up on your computer you mount the camera and that same usb cable has an outlet adapter that attaches to the usb port end so you can plug it into an electrical outlet. The cord comes with a fairly long cable, I want to say at least about 10-12'. The cam has a plastic piece that you use 3 screws to mount it to secure it to the wall. After that, you can clip the camera right into it and rotate and/or move the camera forward to change the angle how you like. From there you create your own cam link on the dropcam website. So what's the catch? If you want to record/dvr the data you can pay a monthly or yearly fee depending on if you want 7 days or 30 days of data stored. If you just want to stream it live there is no charge to do so. It has a zoom feature but it's pretty much all or nothing, you can't zoom in to different ranges and the pan and tilt is really a manual process with limited range depending on where you mount it. I can change settings from my phone (android and iphone app), view on my phone or anywhere I have internet access. For my purpose, it's exactly what I was looking for at a relatively inexpensive cost.

If you want to see it in action, I currently have it zoomed at about 3' from my tank. Lights come on at 3:30pm and you'll see reflection in the glass till it gets darker out. http://www.dropcam.com/p/PlankerReef

[ChouDawg]

Sweet I finally remembered to check this out at home, kept remembering it at it at work during the day when the lights were off, looks good!

[h20poloman]

Sweet I finally remembered to check this out at home, kept remembering it at it at work during the day when the lights were off, looks good!

Thanks Paul

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Cool. Was looking to get something like this. Thanks

[h20poloman]

Just received an email on this that they have launched the Dropcam Pro for $199

Wider range, increased zoom, sound, and night vision features

https://www.dropcam.com/product?utm_...aign=prolaunch

[Octoman4]

hahah marlin i just looked at your fish tank

[99sf]

Good idea! The dropcam also works very well as a baby monitor; the night sensor is pretty amazing.

[DaveMorris]

I'm looking for one that has a more narrow viewing angle to have on my tank.

[Dugaru]

Nice! I'm totally gonna do this on my new tank. The dropcam setup looks really nice and easy - may throw one on my front door with cloud storage for security camera.

The glare on the tank from the window is pretty bad though - you should throw some blinds or curtains over it for better viewing :-)

[antoneoh]

Does it tell you how many stalkers, me included haha, are watching your tank?

[DaveMorris]

I like the picture that the Dropcam puts out, but I keep wanting to zoom it in.

[jasonp87]

Does it tell you how many stalkers are watching your tank?

I know his lights stay on until at least 11pm. Same with the lights in the room the tank is in I love watching those tangs swim all over the place.

[h20poloman]

I'm looking for one that has a more narrow viewing angle to have on my tank.

Dave...they have an updated pro version, not sure how the zoom is on that one. Mine does have a zoom feature but then you don't get as clear as picture and not as good movement

Nice! I'm totally gonna do this on my new tank. The dropcam setup looks really nice and easy - may throw one on my front door with cloud storage for security camera.

The glare on the tank from the window is pretty bad though - you should throw some blinds or curtains over it for better viewing :-)

I know about the glare but it's not about impressing you stalkers

Does it tell you how many stalkers, me included haha, are watching your tank?

ultimately you could just make it viewable only to yourself with security access if you prefer to not allow people to see it

I like the picture that the Dropcam puts out, but I keep wanting to zoom it in.

has a zoom but see my first response. I used to have it zoomed in so you only saw the tank but the clarity and speed wasn't as good

I know his lights stay on until at least 11pm. Same with the lights in the room the tank is in I love watching those tangs swim all over the place.

The tangs are the only thing you can see these days along with aiptasia. Going to have to remove the yellow tang so I can finally get a CBB to survive.

[DaveMorris]

One down side to putting a public reef cam on your tank...


Clean your glass my friend!

[Funkateer_1]

Snappy shorts haha...

It's like a slightly creepier Pandacam but we get to see Marlin feed his fish lol. Also that radiant wrasse is huge lol