AVKANSNDI Camera, 20X Optical AI Auto Tracking PTZ Camera with Simultaneous HDMI/3G-SDI/IP Streaming for Church Video Production School Events Worship(NDI Approved by Newtek Officially)

This NDI camera is a game changer for us given the features and price point. Unless your streaming situation allows for an operator physically controlling a high quality camcorder/dslr on a tripod, this NDI PTZ should be at the top of your list.Our church currently uses a Canon HF G21 with a bescor pan tilt mount that is captured using an Elgato Camlink and brought into OBS. I have two separate remotes to control the zoom and the pan/tilt mount as a result of this setup.As our streaming usage has grown over the years, I've wanted to address three areas of improvement:1. Have the video directly accessible on the network by multiple devices with low latency since we also broadcast the video locally with our in house audio. Putting the video on the network so it can be accessed by other devices is critical from a redundancy perspective so that our backup computers can stream if needed2. Save zoom and pan settings for three fixed locations we constantly use. Throughout the service we switch between three different areas. Our operators have to use the remotes to pan and zoom while running the other AV systems. Having preset settings that can be controlled at the push of a button would simplify things for the operator3. Improve low light quality. While I really wanted to go to a larger sensor device with removable lens, we don't have the man power or the space for someone to be at a camera throughout the service. Plus, we are a traditional worship and are not putting on pseudo concerts.The Avkans NDI camera checks all three boxes. NDI setup was straightforward for me. OBS was able to find the NDI stream once I put it on the network. In full disclosure, I am proficient with managing networks and have configured other NDI encoders and devices so I didn't find any of this particularly difficult.I purchased a huddlecam to use with the camera and it was plug and play. Saving zoom/pan/tilt presets worked right out of the box as did the manual joystick control. The motor is quiet and the pan tilt smoothness is comparable to our Bescor.Surprisingly, even though the sensor size of the Avkans (1/2.7") and the Canon G21 (1/2.84") are similar, and both lens are f1.8-2.8, the Avkans image is brighter and handles low light better. The image is also sharper despite the post-adjustments we do in OBS for the Canon.The cost of the Avkans camera is roughly equivalent to our current setup and is easily half the cost of other comparable PTZs. When you consider the fact that it not only replaces all of our existing functionality but adds NDI AND simplifies things for the operator, I wish we could've had this from the very beginning and used the extra money towards better lighting.Lastly, I did reach out to support when I was mounting the camera as I accidentally damaged the device. They were extremely responsive and worked with me to resolve the issue quickly. A lot of times warranty on products from overseas is useless but in this case the Avkans team aims to please.

I was specifically in the market for an NDI compatible PTZ camera that supports POE and didn't break the bank (since this was for a small church). This camera checks off those boxes and it also has HDMI and SDI outputs. When compared to other similarly spec'd PTZ cameras that are NDI capable and have optical zoom... this particular brand is a fantastic value. I was nervous to buy something that wasn't from one of the major PTZ manufacturers but I'm happy I went with this Minrray camera in the end. It looks and performs great!One of the awesome things about an NDI-PTZ-POE camera is that you only need one cable (CAT5 or 6) to power the device, view its stream, and control it's zoom/panning.This was also my first time with an NDI camera so there was a slight learning curve. Like all IP-based devices, it requires some knowledge of networking concepts to configure it. The camera ships with a static IP address (that's listed in the manual). In order to access it for the first time, you'll need to connect the camera directly to your computer's Ethernet port (or to a switch on the same network). You'll then need to temporarily set your computer's IPv4 settings to match the subnet of the camera. (One tip, here... disable WiFi on your computer first so Windows doesn't automatically switch to the network adapter that has an active internet connection... if you're directly connecting the camera to your computer's Ethernet port for configuration). Once you've set the IP settings to match the camera's subnet (as specified in manual), you can enter the camera's static IP address into your browser's address bar. That will take you into the camera's configuration page where you can adjust a number of settings. From there, you can change the static IP address to be on same subnet as all the other devices that on your network (if the camera's default subnet was different than your own network). Then, you can put your computer's IPv4 settings back into auto-mode and reconnect to your normal LAN.One other tip regarding the camera's browser-based settings. When you initially log into the camera's WebUI, you may find that it's in Chinese language by default. If you're hasty like me, you may have missed the language toggle on the login screen that allows you to switch the default to English. Once you're logged in, that language toggle isn't present. You'll need to log out and toggle it to English before logging back in.I tested this camera with vMix and a beta version of ManyCam (that now supports NDI cameras). I was initially having an issue with the NDI connection freezing when the camera's feed was sitting inactive in vMix's scene tray (ie, the camera feed wasn't actively set to either the Preview or Program output). It was occurring after about 30 minutes of inactivity. However, the issue may very well be with something in my home network setup (I use power-line Ethernet adapters to extend my network). Once I setup the camera in it's permanent location (on the wall of a church sanctuary with a dedicated LAN), I didn't experience this problem again. I also installed the "NDI Tools" software package (from NewTek) at one point and perhaps that added an addition driver that helped.With vMix, you're able to control the PTZ movement of this camera directly from within the application (with the appropriate version of vMix). However, I was more comfortable with ManyCam so I used that when setting up the camera for the Church's live stream. (Again, the beta version of ManyCam currently needs to be used in order to use NDI). When using ManyCam, I was still able to use the camera's browser-based preview page to control the PTZ functions and set pre-defined zooms/pan shots.With this less expensive camera, I was also pleasantly surprised by their support. I found a contact page on Minrray's website (minriglory) and "Mike" was quick to respond to my questions (Friday evening [EST] into Saturday!). He even went so far as to reach out to his contact at NewTek to help answer a question. I wasn't expecting such responsiveness from a camera manufacturer in this lower price range.Unlike one of the other reviewers, I didn't experience any problems with any NDI licensing errors. I suspect that might have something to do with software that was being used.(This review is regarding the Minrray 20X-NDI Camera)

We bought this camera for church streaming use. We had already purchased and were using a PTZOptics 30x NDI Camera and were very happy with the performance.The PTZOptics camera was pretty much plug and play. we set it up initially using hdmi and a capture card. Great video quality. Great zoom, very smooth panning and zooming.We wanted a second angle but also to save some money as they are expensive. Enter this camera. It had great reviews so we took a chance to save $1000.The Minrray camera was similar to set up and had a very good picture quality. I must admit it was not as good at the PTZOPTICS side by side. I was able to make adjustments to it to make it closer but it wasn’t that easy. I’m not a camera expert. The one big difference was the smoothness of operation when panning and zooming. The minrray has kind of chugging motion to it. Most of the time you won’t see it and when set to the slowest speed it doesn’t do it. I also find the autofocus is not as fast or reliable as the more expensive camera. Maybe they can fix this in an update. We figured it was still worth keeping it and ordered the PTZOPTICS controller and saved money.