32 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
MOTORISEDSECURITYCAMERASused to
be all the rage but recently they’ve been
replaced with cheaper fixed-lens models. It’s
interestingto see the DCS-8515LH, which is
comparatively cheap and givesafull viewof
your room, thanksto its motorised body.
ONTHETURN
Controlled through the clunkybut functional
mydlink app,the DCS-8515LH takesacouple
of minutesto set up and get connectedto
your network. Once addedto the app ,the first
thingtheDCS-8515LHdoesistakeapanoramic
photoofy our room, moving the camera
through its entire 340° horizontal range.
The photoisu sed to let you tap the exact
spot that you wantto move the camerato.
It’s agood idea in theory,although the image
that appears in the app is exceptionally wide
and not very tall, so it can be hardto work
out what you’re looking at.
This photoalso doesn’t take in height,even
with the camera ableto move 105° vertically.
If you wantto look up you haveto to uch the
live-view image and swipe your finger on the
screen.Youcan also move sideto side with
this feature,but it requiresalot of swiping.
Where you place your camera is important.
Placing our DCS-8515LH onashelf at waist
height, wefound it couldn’t see the floor with
the lens at its lowest position, but it could look
all the wayuptothe ceiling.
Given that more
interesting things are likelyto
happen on the floor,placing
the camera lower down (or
wall- or ceiling-mounting it)
makes more sense.The field
of view is also quitenarrow,
with the camera not showing
much at each position,
requiring youto use pan and
tilt to see more.
In additionto moving your
camera manually,you can
save upto fo ur preset
locations that get their own
thumbnail image,and ahome
positionforthe camera.
These make it easierto move
the DCS-8515LH around and
jump to the important areas
in your house.
Youcan set the camerato
return to the home position
automatically after 60
secondsof no activity,which
D-LINK DCS-8515LH Pan&Tilt
★★★★★
£87•From http://www.safe.co. uk
VERDICT
Youcanscanaroundaroomto seewhat’sgoingon,
butafixed-lenscameraismorepracticalforsecurity
SMARTSECURITYCAMERA
we recommend doing; without this, you
can leave the camera at an odd angle
and miss important movement from
the camera’s motion detection system.
When the DCS-8515LH detects
motion, it pings you an alert.By default,
the camera detects motion anywhere in
its fieldof view,but you can use the
Active Area settingto choose which
parts of the image will pick up motion.
Be careful with this setting. If you move
the camera, theActive Area movestoo,
which maymean that you’re no longer
monitoring partsof the image that are
important.Forexample,you ma ynol onger be
coveringadoorway. Again, it’sagood reason
to have the autohome feature turned on.
HARDACTTOFOLLOW
Alternatively,you can turn on AutoTracking,
where the camera willfollow amoving subject
around. It’s neat, but the danger here is that
any motion detectedby the camera starts a
recording, so you get more recordings. With
fixed cameras, it’sfareasier,asy ou just select
the areas you wantto monitor.
Youcan’t schedule when the camera can
and can’t record, although you can manually
put the camera intoprivacy mode using the
option buried in the camera’s settings. This
slides ashutter over the camera so you know
it’s not monitoring.
There’samicroSD card
slot on the camera, which
you can useforstoring
locally recorded video clips,
and the DCS-8515LH also
supports cloud recording.
Youget one dayofv ideo
history forfree forupto
three cameras, and can
upgrade if you want more
video: seven-dayhistory is
£2.29 per monthforupto
three cameras (or £22 per
year), and Premium gives
you 14-dayhistory forupto
five camerasfor£4.49 per
month (£44 per year).
Youcan’t set the camerato
record to both the SD card
and the cloud at the same
time,which is ashame.
The app provides a
very basic interfacefor
accessing video clips, with
just alist available with
thumbnailsof each clip nextto them.
There tend to be lots of clips, too, as motion
events invariably trigger multiple recordings.
Footage can be downloadedto your phone
so that you can saveevidence.
DARK MATTER
With a720p resolution only,the DCS-8515LH’s
video lacks the detailof Full HD cameras.
The camera struggles somewhat with bright
windows, and can compensatebym aking the
main imagealittle dark. Even so,you can spot
facial details and individuals easily enough.
At night, the camera turns on its IR LEDs,
which light uparoom but softenthe image,
slightly blurringfacial details. This is an issue
that affects all IR cameras, however.
There are SkillsforAmazon Alexa and
Google Assistant so that you can view the
video feed on asmart display; however,you
can’t control the camera’s pan and tilt
functions from these devices.
Having motorised pan and tiltfeels like a
good thing, but the reality is that itoften
proves to be alimitation. Withacamera that
moves, setting up activity zones is hard, as
the view can change affecting these zones.
In addition, although the DCS-8515LH can
provideafull horizontal viewof your room,
the narrow fieldof view means that you have
to pan and tiltto see more.
As aresult, the fixed Nest Cam Indoor
will be more practical, and you getabetter
app and smarter cloud recording–including
only getting notifications whenaperson is
spotted–thrown intothe mix.
David Ludlow
⬆The app to control the DCS-8515LH
cam is functional at best
VIDEORESOLUTION720p•CLOUDSTORAGEYes(oneday
free,subscrip tionsavailable)•NETWORKING802.11n•
WARRANTYOneyearRTB•PARTCO DEDCS-8515LH
SPECIFICATIONS
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thumbnailsof each clip nextto them.
There tend to be lots of clips, too, as motion
