FDT 720P HD WiFi Bullet IP Camera (1.0 Megapixel) Outdoor Wireless Security Camera FD7902 (White) - IP66 Weatherproof, Plug & Play & Nightvision

I paid full price for this FDT 720P IP camera and was not asked to write a review by anyone. The following review was written as my own set of notes for configuring and recalling the capabilities of this product. We installed this camera on my Louisiana forestland for live remote viewing purposes of the property and wildlife.The FDT 720P WIFI camera FD7902 arrived in a rather large retail box with the camera resting in a bed of thick foam padding. A 12 VDC power supply, a driver CD (that I never used), network cable and mount came with the camera. My own testing has shown that this camera will function using a car battery at 14.1 VDC and a standard CCTV power plug.VIDEO QUALITY:Very good video and optic quality with the FTD FD7902 camera. The video stream is 720P or 1280 x 720 with settings to adjust the Bit Rate, Frame Rate and Quality. You can reduce the video resolution to 640 x 480 using only the web interface.SETUP:Activating the FDT View app for the Apple iPhone or iPad is the single most important activity you will need to master if you wish to use the FDT 720P WIFI camera. You must have 2.4Ghz WIFI internet access with password to use this with your phone. You will need to first plug this camera into that WIFI internet router using an Ethernet cable and only turn on the camera afterwards to ensure it will get a DHCP address. Now using a computer or laptop connected to the same WIFI router, locate the camera and login via a web browser. Using the WIFI menu item, scan for the WIFI router , select it and input the security password. Once the settings are completed, disconnect the Ethernet cable from the camera and power cycle it. Upon completion of power cycle, the camera should be available on the WIFI router network and you can complete the setup using the FDT View app. I completed these steps using a ZTE Falcon T-Mobile WIFI access point and only using the WIFI router as a way to access the camera’s web interface to complete the WIFI scan.FTP SERVER RECORDING FEATURES:We installed this camera at the forest land and used a WD 2TB My Passport Wireless Pro Portable External Hard Drive WDBP2P0020BBK-NESN to record snapshots or jpg images using the FTP server function. The image resolution is 1280x720. After days of image recordings, the maximum observed image size is 160Kb. The camera creates a folder for the current day on the FTP server and fills it with jpg snapshots.We were unable to activate video clip recording. We had frequent issues with getting the camera to record snapshots after it was power cycled or rebooted. Camera tested had Soft Version V7.3.0.2.6OUTDOOR PREPARATIONS:Weatherizing the outdoor FD7902 WIFI camera is another critical step for anyone that wants to place this product outdoors in harsh environmental conditions. I use a combination of Gardner Bender Liquid Electrical Tape and clear silicone to seal this camera from water. After I am certain that the WIFI antenna is working, I coat the black cable and antenna with Liquid Electrical tape. No bare metal should be visible. Use three coats if necessary. Finally, I carefully apply clear silicone over the front housing, black rubber gasket and around the glass lenses on the front of the camera.HOW STABLE OR RELIABLE IS THE FDT FD7902 CAMERA?To test stability, I placed this camera in front of a Nintendo DS running Electroplankton game while monitoring offsite. The camera was able to stream the 720P video and record snapshots to an external FTP server for over 120 hours without any issues.PROS:#1 FDT View app and FD7902 camera work very well together#2 Excellent camera mounting equipment provided#3 Has very good image quality and fine tuning capabilities#4 Passed my 96 hour uptime test#5 Dynamic IP services for mobile access are free#6 Runs on marine or car battery power using CCTV plugsCONS (some of these are explicit statements of the obvious designed to help potential buyers):#1 Does not record to a memory card inside camera#2 Is not fully weatherized, requires effort to make reliable long term#3 Does not have a pan, tilt or zoom capability#4 The camera does not retain recording settings after reboot or power cycleCONCLUSION:As videographer that owns many outdoor camera systems, I give the FDT 720P FD7902 WIFI camera a four star rating for performing its limited functions very well. You should buy this camera if you need to view live video from your Apple iPhone while away from the monitored viewing area. You should buy this camera if you need a camera placed in harsh outdoor conditions that most other products could not handle. Only needing one power wire and even running off a car or boat battery makes this product full fill a vital need for me. Finally, the $60 price tag for all these features makes the FDT 720P camera a true bargain, in my opinion.-----------------------------------------------UPDATE 9/15/2016:After working with FDT tech support via email for the past two weeks, I can confirm that they are not interested in offering a solution to iPhone users for downloading recorded video in the FDT View app.Here is just one of the emails I received, notice that my email signature indicates that I have an iPhone not an Android phone: Albert Ferman (FDT)Sep 13, 4:25 PM CSTHi Reuben,Please try going to file explorer on the phone and try to move or delete the file. You can also send it from here. I have tried it from my end and was able to do it on the android phone.Please let me know if you have any more questions.Thanks & have a great day,Regards,Albert FermanMonday - Friday 9.30 A.M. - 3.30 P.M. CSTHelp Desk SpecialistReuben GatReuben GathrightSep 10, 7:58 PM CSTI have recorded video on my phone under gallery but cannot save the file or send the file to someone. I cannot delete the videos either------------------------------UPDATE 7/14/2017: Powered the camera up again on 7/8/2017 after two months of no power due to a battery issue and not being able to deliver a new one in the wet Louisiana forest. Initially, the video was fogged out (white) for over two hours but then it slowly cleared up. I can only assume that the internal CCD of the camera was full of moisture and needed the heat from electronics to clear it up. All offsite email snapshot settings were remembered and it immediately began sending communications.Added two more photos to this review which show feral hogs captured in the pen that this FDT camera monitors. The animals were reported to authorities using a valid game license and actions were taken that comply with state laws.I still recommend this as a low cost option for outdoor camera that works with a cellphone. Please ensure you seal up all seams with silicone!

This camera was relatively easy to set up, and the price for an outdoor camera, was quite good. But, does not have the amenities that you will get from the more expensive cameras. My first impression of this camera was not all that good. Taking it out of the shipping box, I was disappointed to find a crushed OEM box, despite the shipping box being in pristine condition. Opening the OEM box, I found the mounting bracket, and screws in sealed plastic bags, but NO bag on the camera. I considered returning it then and there as I thought that this may have been a returned item that had been shipped to me.Set up was realitvely easy. i plugged it into my router and then ran through the manual set up through the router adding my wireless password, etc. I still had some difficulty getting it up and running, so I tried using the phone set-up instead, and this worked very well. I found later that a recent router Firmware Update was causing the set up issues with the camera.I had bought the camera to keep track of a recently installed pool in the backyard, so it was going to be mounted on the back corner of my garage. One thing that I do not like about this camera is the mounting bracket. It cannot be mounted on top of the camera as some can, and it is not all that adjustable. It is overly long so the camera, despite being mounted on the wall of the garage, hangs out from under the eaves. I have a camera on the front of the garage that does not and is somewhat more protected from the weather than this one will be.Another drawback is the lack of micro sd card slot which most of my other (more expensive) cameras have. this is not a huge problem, however since I have the NAS recording capability and set up with that was not issue at all.I use Tiny Cam Monitor Pro for all my cameras. Set up on this was not a problem once I configured it as a certain Foscam model. The video feed is very clear. The video "picture" appears to be narrower than the actual landscape and but I think this is a problem with how I have it configured in TCMPro because in the FDT View app it appears normal.The WiFi signal on this camera is great. It is the furthest from my router and yet seems the fastest to load in TCMPro. Would I buy this camera again? Yes, I would recommend it unless you want on-board recording to micro sd card. Granted, I have only had it up and running a few days, and time may cause me to change my mind on that, but for now, the camera is a good buy.I have not been given a discount or any incentive for this review.