Reolink RP-PCV8MZ IP camera 8 MP 4K, 2.7–13.5 mm 5× zoom, IK10, PoE

A resolution of 3840 × 2160 equals 4K, or eight megapixels. That many pixels means you can zoom into faces and other details in a recording afterwards without the image turning to blur right away. H.265 compression keeps files smaller than H.264, so a microSD card or a video recorder holds a longer archive.

The focal length adjusts from 2.7 mm to 13.5 mm, giving a five-times optical zoom. At the short end the camera covers a wide area such as a car park or yard; at the long end it brings a distant gate or door up close. Unlike digital zoom, optical zoom does not lose resolution. The F1.6 aperture lets plenty of light reach the sensor even at dusk.

Infrared illumination lights up the scene in darkness at distances of up to 30 metres, so the area around a house, a driveway or a storage yard stays under watch at night too. IR light is practically invisible to the human eye, so the camera does not dazzle passers-by or give away its position with visible light.

IK10 is the highest impact-resistance class: the dome housing withstands heavy blows, so the camera can be mounted within reach, for example above an entrance, in a stairwell or in a car park. IP67 means full protection against dust and resistance to temporary immersion in water, so rain, snow and dust do it no harm.

PoE means the camera draws power through the same network cable that carries its video. You need no socket or separate power supply at the camera, just a PoE switch or a video recorder with PoE ports. Footage can also be recorded straight to a microSD card of up to 512 GB inside the camera, which is useful as backup recording.

Private houses, apartment buildings, stores or company premises where the camera may be within reach and needs an impact-resistant housing; sites where one camera has to cover both a wide area and a distant entrance; and installers building PoE-based surveillance who want 4K video.