2MP Outdoor PTZ POE + IP Camera Pan Tilt Zoom (Optical 25x Motorized) Camera Security Speed Dome, CMOS Image Sensor, 328ft Night Vision, POE+ (802.3at) F1.6, IP66, IP2M-863EW-AI-V3

Amcrest IP2M-863EW-AI PTZ camera is another home run product. It is a Power over Ethernet (POE+) device which means you only run a single CAT5 cable to it for power and data, however, this connection must originate with a POE+ Switch or Power Injector. The “+” means it requires the higher power (802. 3at) of the POE standard, generally because of the additional requirements of the motors and IR in a PTZ camera. The supplied 12 volt power adapter is intended for initial configuration. The 25x optical zoom is incredible and quickly focuses on the subject. Night vision, like all their current offerings, provides clear images in total darkness. This is a very well built camera, made of high grade metal in both the housing and mounting arm. As such, it’s heavy at 6.6 pounds, so be sure to select a sturdy mounting location. The “Amcrest Pro” app on your phone allows viewing and some configuration settings. Many of the Amcrest camera products use a Chrome plugin, however this did not work. Full configuration is accomplished by logging into the website at the cameras IP address and entering your username and password. Here you’re able to upgrade firmware, manage user logins, create PTZ presets. The camera also supports the ONVIF standards which means it is compatible with Blue Iris DVR software (as well as others). Once the presets are created, you can select them through Amcrest Pro or Blue Iris. The PTZ speed and accuracy is incredible. The camera supports up to 256GB Micro SD card for recording. I am using Blue Iris and did not add the SD card. Perhaps a bit on the larger side for mounting on your house, this PTZ camera would be perfect for business solution where you want people to know there is security surveillance. I highly recommend this product.

This camera offers clear video quality and smooth performance through the app. Installation was simple and did not take much time. I had a small configuration issue and contacted support, where Luke assisted me. He was knowledgeable and resolved the issue quickly. Overall, a good purchase.

I am fairly disappointed with this purchase. This IP2M-863EW camera was sold as new. It was new, sealed in the box but was manufactured in 2019. The user manual was printed in 2018. There have been no recent firmware updates. It appears Amcrest has discontinued the product. There are several nice things. The optical zoom is amazing. The PTZ is smooth and responsive. The image is clear. The product build seems to be solid. Lots of strong metal. It's a big camera, at least twice as large and twice as heavy as similar residential outdoor cameras. It does require PoE+ and needs 30w of power or use the provided AC 3A power supply. I have had some problems where I changed the RTSP port value and was denied HTTP access. I had to factory reset several times to get back into the settings. I wound up leaving them alone and changing what I needed in the UPnP settings. The main reason I am disappointed is that it was very pricey for a 4 year old design with no recent firmware updates. I also read a review that the camera may overheat in hot weather and stop working. That reviewer was in Texas. We'll see what happens in the Northeast. Another problem I encountered is that I expected the camera to support an ordinary external electret condenser mic. This camera only has a line input for audio. It is not a mic input like most cameras. It does not provide the voltage to operate an electret mic. What is the purpose of a line input on a PoE camera when the audio input device needs to be externally powered? I decided to keep the camera because my old one was problematic and I have several other Amcrest models. I also decided to scrap my plans for buying any more of this model. For the steep cost I expected a newer model and active support. My fault for not doing my homework.

Let me start by saying don’t even bother trying to get this to work on Safari. It doesn’t work. Spent an hour with tech support before finding that out. They kept trying to blame my POE injector and when I removed it I still had the same issue. Google chrome worked in 2 minutes. Also, if you’re having problems adding it to the Amcrest View Pro app on an iPhone, delete the app and reinstall it. Wasted another hour and a half fighting with the app and trying to understand what tech support was suggesting. Had I known this at the very beginning it woulda saved A LOT of time. Once I was able to get it connected then I did the install. Very nice and sturdy arm. Came with cement compression bolts but no lag screws for wood so that was a trip to Home Depot. All in all, after hitting those time wasters, now the next one will go so much faster because the ease of use and camera quality are amazing once it’s up and running.

Initial look and feel: This camera is extremely well built, heavy metal. While unpackaging, I decided to add an SD card which I am glad I did. Inside were some silica gel packets. Had I not opened the back panel, I would have not known this. It also looks like due to heat during travel, the wires protective casing melted a bit to the silica bags. I really appreciate the fall out proof screws on the removable panel. Inserting the SD card was easy as well everything went back together well. Installation: The stand off arm is well built out of metal as well. The only supplied mounting hardware was for concrete so I bout some lag bolts as I wanted to mount it to a wood area. The safety connection between the standoff arm and the camera was three chain connectors (manual states it could be these or a wire). There was an issue where the bracket side on the camera’s hole was too small to fit the chain connectors so I had to drill it out a bit. Connection: Connecting to the camera once on the network was very quick and simple. Adjustments like IP, time, etc. were simple and easy to find. After getting its new IP, formatting the SD card and all other adjustments I brought it into my Blue Iris. This too was rather quick and displayed almost instantly. I also utilized the sub stream for my motion and the main stream for recording. Settings: Basic settings were easy to configure. Setting up PTZ presets was easy but remember to click the save icon each time you add one or else you risk losing them. The speed of the PTZ movement was fantastic to have such a variance from slow to fast. Building preset locations and putting together the tour takes some initial time investment to understand but once understood, moves quickly. Overall: I really enjoy this camera. I’ve wanted a PTZ for some time and being able to have such a fast, smooth PTZ added to my system is incredible. It integrates with Blue Iris really well. Things I really liked: • Video quality Night vision (No supplemental needed) • Solid construction (Metal) • POE SD Card slot • PTZ can move crazy fast and still be smooth • Tons of settings to play with and fine tune Things I wish were a bit different: • For any of the AI functionality, you must use IE for the plugins • Wish it would have come with motion tracking feature • Didn’t find the AI options to be very helpful as it was difficult to really get it to work right • Does not have microphone built in

Really nice camera with some cool features. The clarity is amazing as is the zoom level. Having POE is also a plus. My only gripe is with the Amcrest web program and it wanting to install an add on into Chrome. DON’T DO IT! It was working just fine with the “required add on” and when I installed it, the camera would no longer stream. It took a while to find where it installed itself so I can delete all the files associated with it. The only annoyance now is the fact that is constantly reminds me to put the add on back on, which I won’t do again.

After unboxing the camera it was a little daunting to see the amount of mounting material it came with but it was actually pretty straight forward. Configuration and operation with the NVR was a breeze (plug and play). The hardware is top notch with excellent night vision and a long range zoom. A few things to note. the software that controls the camera is a touch slow on its responses but Im not certain its the camera itself. The "AI" human detection needs some work, it detects all objects as human and this would be nice to refine. False triggers are not helpful. Overall its a great camera for the price!

Camera far exceeded expected performance. Notably, the clarity of the picture & speed of PTZ motion. And the distance and brightness of the night vision. Very happy with the quality. Issues: The included chain between the camera and the wall bracket does NOT fit in the hole provided in the camera's bracket. I had to drill a larger hole in that bracket for the chain's link to fit through it. The documentation for How to Use Face Detection is missing online. But I was able to figure it out based on other camera models' similar documentation. The Help Center button, when clicked on, didn't usually have the same Help for options on the page I was viewing.