AVKANS AI Auto Tracking PTZ Camera, 20X Live Streaming HDMI SDI USB3.0 for Church Worship and Event, Budget Facebook YouTube Livestream Camera (NDI HX2 & NDI HX3)

My organization holds an annual conference which we record for our members. In the past, we relied upon stationary cameras to edit between -- but this also meant that we had limited shots unless someone was stationed at each camera to adjust them. This affordable AVKANS PTZ camera added a welcome boost to our production value, making it easy to get multiple shots from the PTZ while using our secondary stationary camera as a cutaway.I loved how smoothly and quietly the AVKANS PTZ camera operated. Its relatively small form factor also made it very unobtrusive. Being as lightweight as it is, I was able to use a Slow Dolphin camera clamp to mount it from my lighting truss's post at eye height. And the POE (Power Over Ethernet) option is awesome -- you only need one cable to power it and control it! To use the POE option, you'll have to buy a basic POE-capable switch and Cat6 ethernet. Totally worth it to streamline the amount of cables you need for your setup. The image quality was excellent for our purposes.Setting up the PTZ Camera took a little persistence to get set up with the software. There are multiple downloads and some configurations to learn, for which YouTube was a big help, but it was easy to operate after that. Ultimately, I was able to integrate it nicely with OBS Studio by using compatible plugins for the NDI configuration. I also added a small Stream Deck controller ($60) to make it easy for me to switch between the PTZ camera's presets at the push of a button.The AI tracking feature is intriguing, but you must run it via a certain AI Tracking software (the tracking is not native to the camera). I could see the tracking feature working well for a teacher in a classroom -- but not in an environment where you have multiple people entering into the frame as we do at our conferences. If there were an easier way to turn the tracking feature on/off, then maybe we'd use it -- but it wasn't that easy at this point. Instead, we configured the camera to operate at its slowest speed and then used the PTZ plugin controls in OBS Studio to manually reframe the subject (left/right/up/down, or zoom depth) whenever they moved out of the frame's center. This slower speed also meant we could do a smooth pan across the stage or across the audience -- a nice touch. We also employed the camera's Presets for key Zoom/Position shots that we knew we'd want (wide, close-up, etc). Again, the Stream Deck controller made controlling the presets easy with a quick button push, but you can technically accomplish it with the OBS Studio plugin controls or even from the PTZ Camera's remote. Overall, this approach worked very well for us and was easy for a single user to operate. I'd love to add a second PTZ for next year to allow us to take the production to the next level. But I'm very happy with the one we do have.TIP: If you are taking this PTZ Camera to another facility other than your building/office and you're using the POE option, be sure to buy a basic router so you can run it on your own closed network and control your own IP address assignments. I had completely overlooked this when I tested and configured the PTZ Camera at my office and then took it to the hotel event center, where their network reassigned the IP address and was subject to change whenever their network had to reset randomly. That was not fun to discover when in the middle of recording a session! A simple $25-50 router will save you that hassle, and you'll never have to worry about changing your configuration or your IP address expiring/resetting on its own. Having a closed network also means you'd be protected against anyone gaining unwanted access to your camera(s).

The LV20N camera has all the features needed at our houses of worship. NDI is fantastic, along with simultaneous video output to HDMI, USB and SGI, and Power-over-ethernet (POE). Comes with a hand-held PTZ remote, but we would only use that in an emergency. It also comes with a mounting "L" bracket. We use OBS to control the articulation (PTZ) of the camera, and then send the output from OBS to YouTube. With OBS running wirelessly on a laptop, all works as expected.The camera has a audio "Line-in" jack that we connected to our PA system, which was output along with the camera stream.The only trouble we have had is identifying the specific software needed to get everything working with OBS. We found the following combination works well for us:Update the camera firmware:LV20N-V1.0.26-2024.1025.0957.imgInstall Windows software:NDI 6 Tools.exeOBS-Studio-31.0.2-Windows-Installer.exedistroav-6.0.0-windows-x64-Installer.exeobs-ptz-v0.15.4-windows-x64-Installer.exeThanks AVKANS for a great product.(Not sponsored)

Outstanding camera for brightness and sharpness. Very pleased with the performance. Multiple ways to interface and control the camera. No issues with tracking or focus.

So far so GREAT!! I had an issue getting my audio to go into the stream on Facebook through my lapel mic, but Jenny helped me tremendously. The responses were almost immediate, and we were able to resolve the problem in no time. EXCELLENT SUPPORT!!

The camera is used at Zoom meetings. Sitting on a movable tripod, it projects to the laptop with the ongoing Zoom meeting, then to the large 65" monitor in the room and the Zoom audience.With a remote control It can be rotated to aim at a person/speaker in the room.

This was amazingly economical, and the Tech support spent over two hours with me online to help me understand the process. My Tech, David, was amazing, patient, knowledgeable, and spoke great English, as well as knew everything, including shortcuts to help me get the most out of these products. I’ll be buying more of them! We have now purchased 6 cameras and 2 controllers and are about to hug more for another elementary campus.

We've been using this camera for our Live Stream for several months now and it has been great. An updated version of firmware was available, so I contacted Tech Support for help getting it updated. They did a remote session with me, and everything went flawlessly. Very good camera, excellent Tech support.