Kodak V20 180º WiFi HD Camera

This Kodak surveillance camera has two features that, we think, make it worth the cost. First, it connects via Wi-Fi and does all the cool tricks that come with that like motion-triggered notifications. Second, it’s got a panoramic 180-degree lens, which is way wider than the 75- or 80-degree lenses that other cameras brag about. Here’s a still one of our merchandisers was kind (or naive) enough to share from the inside of his home:

As you can see, the camera has a “de-warping” feature that allows for this wide viewing angle without much of a fish-eye effect. – bad if your trying to create a Kubrick-style masterpiece but good for monitoring your home. As you can also see, our merchandiser has a very cute dog.

So this wide-angle lens that doesn’t look like a wide-angle lens is clearly the selling point of this camera. Yet in the video that accompanies this camera’s Amazon page, Kodak chose to highlight another feature: the Wide Dynamic Range or WDR. This feature allows for consistent video quality even in shots with very different lighting. You know when you try to take a picture indoors and a brightly lit window ruins it? WDR fixes that.

So far so good, right?

To illustrate how this works, Kodak shows this woman setting up her camera in a home that’s just like yours or ours — aggressively modern and featuring enormous floor-to-ceiling windows:

(Sorry about the big “play” buttons you can’t press on these screengrabs. It’s extremely frustrating even to us.)

OK, fine, they wanted the house to look “aspirational” rather than “relatable.” That’s understandable.

They then show how easy the camera is to set up:

Looks great. So what’s she planning to keep tabs on? Is she worried about intruders? Wants to keep an eye on her dog while she’s at work? Nope:

She wants to watch this old man putter around in his robe.

What?

The setting is perfect for demonstrating what WDR does, we’ll give them that:

But why is she watching this old man? Maybe he’s an Airbnb guest and she wants to make sure he’s not up to anything untoward, but that’s creepy (and probably criminal). Maybe she’s his caretaker and wants to make sure he doesn’t wander off in a demented haze, but that’s a very depressing example to use as the first demonstration of this product.

If you choose to buy this yourself you should do it for the Wi-Fi features and crazy wide viewing angle. The WDR is a plus, for sure, but not the most important feature. And we won’t judge you no matter how you use, but … don’t be a creep.

Features

  • Keep tabs on every happening with the ridiculously wide 180-degree view, which is more than twice as wide as most
  • Get notified with motion-activated alerts (the sensitivity of which can be tweaked so your phone doesn’t buzz every time the dog yawns)
  • Huh, haven’t seen this before - it can improve your home’s WiFi range with the built-in WiFi extender
  • Also on the new-to-us front, you can disconnect this from the plug, plug it into a power bank, and now you’ve got a portable camera
  • Oh yeah, and it has IR night vision and 2-way audio. Lots of features, this thing
  • Lifetime 1-day cloud storage sounds like an oxymoron but means you can always access the last 24 hours of activity
  • There’s a whole IFTTT channel for automating various things like turning on recording when you walk out or keeping a spreadsheet log of movements
  • It’s, nicely, fairly small - around 4 inches tall and a couple inches wide
  • Model: CFH-V20 (How come electronics include their models in the name of the product itself when almost nothing else does? Can you imagine buying a Ralph Lauren V20 Shirt or a Craftsman V20 Hammer?)

Specifications

Specs

  • Model: CFH-V20
  • Condition: New
  • Network Interface: 802.11b/g/n WLAN with 2x2 MIMO
  • Antenna: Internal
  • Network Security: WEP (40-bit, 128-bit)/WPA (TKIP, AES)/WPA2 (TKIP, AES)
  • RF/Wireless: ISM Band 2.4 GHz
  • Image Sensor: 3.15 MP 1/3 Inch CMOS Sensor
  • Lens Focal Length: 1.75 mm, F2.5
  • Viewing Angle: 180° x 100° (Horizontal x Vertical
  • IR Operating Mode: Always OFF, Always ON or AUTO
  • Infrared (IR) Night Vision: Two IR LEDs, 850nm 5 Meter
  • Illumination Distance
  • IR Cut-off Filter: Dual Mode Switching for DAY/NIGHT Viewing
  • Ambient Light Sensor: RoHS Compliant 560nm Luminance Detector
  • Video Codec: H.264
  • Resolution: Dual stream, 1280x720, 640x360
  • Frame Rate: Up to 30 Frames Per Second
  • Still Image Capture: 720p Still Capture
  • Audio Codecs: G.711, AAC, PCM, OPUS, 16KHz Mono
  • Audio IN: Built-in Microphone, -38dB +2dB
  • Audio OUT: Yes, Built-in Speaker
  • Power input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz
  • Operating Temperature: 32°F — 104°F (0°C to 40°C), Humidity: 0-90%
  • Works with the iSecurity+ app (iOS and Android)

What’s in the Box?

1x Camera and base
1x USB power cable
1x Power adapter plug

Pictures

Camera
Junk
Back
Plug
Watching
Fuck it why not
Box

Price Comparison

$149.99 List, $138.95 at Amazon

Warranty

90 days

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