I purchased this camera several months ago and I have returned to Security Camera King to by some additional components so while I was here I thought I would complete a review. This is a good quality camera that records excellent video, has an OSD, and comes with some very useful features. It does have the wide dynamic range feature so lighting problems are more easily dealt with than a camera that does not. I use the RS485 connection with my DVR and the OSD control works just fine. I would recommend this camera to others if you are looking for an economic box camera for an analog system. I fitted mine with a 5 - 100 varifocal auto iris lens and it works great. Now that I have seen how well the zoom works, I'm contemplating purchasing a good PTZ camera.

This camera is listed in two places in Security Camera King's on-line security camera catalog. It's listed under box cameras and it is also listed under license plate capture cameras. I am writing this review based on its performance as a license plate capture camera. There is no doubt that I agree with most of the other customers that this camera is a relatively inexpensive box camera with a good resolution, wide dynamic range, dual voltage and other beneficial features. I also thought it was a "steal" for the price as a license plate capture camera. I'm not saying it won't work, but I had to do a lot of adjusting in mounting and with the On Screen Display settings to get the camera to function properly as an efficient license plate capture camera at least for my purpose. It does have this Head Light Compensation feature the can mask the head lights and bright taillights of cars to aid in capturing the plate, but the camera has to be set up just right in order for the feature to work well. It's not a bad camera, but I think I would consider it a "Cheap" alternative to a good license plate capture camera. In other words, if you want a good license plate capture camera, Security Camera King offers better alternatives, even though cost more, I think they would be worth it.

I purchased two of these Security Camera King BC-EL630 box cameras about one year ago. The cameras are rather simple in design, but they produce an extremely good video capture. I may have the notion to "tweak" the settings on my cameras from time to time so I definitely made sure to install an RS485 wire pair to the ports on the cameras and DVRs to control the O Screen Display (OSD) menu from the location of the DVR. This camera has the wide dynamic range feature and it does help to improve or eliminate a lot of "taxing" lighting situations that can occur. However, I just recently returned to order a couple more cameras as additions to my system and I must admit, I didn't purchase this camera. Security Camera King now has a new offering, their 700 TVL BC-EF700 and I figured for only $10 more I would give it a try since it has 700TVL resolution versus 630 TVL resolution. This camera is still a very nice camera. As soon as I have worked with my newest purchase long enough I'll return to review it too.

As an installer I see all types, makes, and models of security cameras but when it comes down to the average "down to earth" camera, I guess I'm partial to box cameras. I'm not exactly sure why, I just like them more so then bullets, domes, etc. Perhaps it's because they seem to have a better picture quality. Anyway, this particular Security Camera King box camera the 630 TVL High resolution Wide Dynamic Range Dual voltage model was chosen to be used by a customer of mine recently. Actually, they purchased four of these cameras and I can see why. The camera captures 630 TVL color resolution and 700TVL black and white resolution video. It has an On Screen Display (OSD) that offers a lot of options and features including wide dynamic range, privacy masking, white balance, 3D-digital noise reduction, and many others. It has a great light sensitivity for night time capture with the Sens Up feature on it can record 700 TVL black and white resolution in lighting conditions as low as 0.0002 LUX. To be honest, I did recommend this camera because in addition to all of these features and what I think is a very reasonable price, the camera is dual voltage. This particular install required extremely long power supply cable runs so I wanted to use something that would run on AC. The install went easily with no difficulties and the customer is very satisfied.

This is a pretty good box camera at this price. Good picture quality, clear, sharp, and color reproduction is good. 630 TVL resolution isn't bad either. I especially like the RS485 connection so I can run the OSD at the DVR. Make sure you get a good quality Security Camera King lens!

This box camera is an economical alternative for an otherwise expensive highly specialized license plate camera, if you can get it to work for you. First of all let me state up front that this camera is not a specially designed license plate capture camera. It does have one specific feature that helps for this purpose and it is called the "Head Light Compensation" or HLC feature. Other than that, its a normal, average box camera. Of course I guess this could be argued either way as "average" security cameras (not specifically designed for license plate capture) are used all the time for that purpose. In order to make this work for you, you may need to experiment with several factors to optimize the license plate capture experience. First of all keep in mind that this camera has a color resolution of 630 TVL. If all the plates that you are going to capture are in the same relative area (back mounted plates on cars only for example) then you can probably get by with this camera. If you have a variety of vehicles ranging from small economy vehicles to trucks then it may be a little more difficult. Try to mount this camera at the same general level as the license plate. If possible, narrow your view down using the varifocal lens you purchase for the camera (you may be able to eliminate a lot of head light glare doing thins for example). There is nothing in the design of this camera to prevent light from rebounding from the plate to the camera so you may want to experiment with angle location versus head-on, and so forth. If cars are moving up to speed and you try to capture the plates with this camera it's likely that you'll fail, this works better for cars at an entrance or a gate. Finally, I think you'll find the privacy masking, wide dynamic range, head light compensation, and shutter settings to be the biggest help. Anyway, if you need a more reliable method for license capture, consider another camera.

Security Camera King's BC-EL630 box camera is a great, economical box camera! I was a little hesitant when I purchased these because I thought that a box camera selling at a retail price of $99.95 wouldn't produce a very good monitor display or video recording. I have to admit, I was wrong on both accounts. The camera does a good job of capturing 630 TVL resolution color video at 30 frames per second. For an analog camera, this carries quite of bit of detail with its videos and its not even a full 700 TVL in resolution! I had no problems with this installation and set of these cameras. Two were used indoors and only required mounting, which was easy. Two more were mounted outdoors and we purchased outdoor housings for them and then mounted them to the exterior of our building. Once again, that was fairly easy too. For a low priced box camera there are a lot of features on this camera. First you can't beat a good varifocal lens. That why I like box cameras better than most other types, especially domes because you get the added convenience of using a varifocal lens that you get to determine the focal length of. We added this camera on to an already existing system and they are great for that too, because they can work on 12 VDC or 24 VAC. The camera has an RS485 connection so you may want to run an extra pair of wires with the video cable/power run so you can connect the other end of the air to your DVR. The RS485 gives you remote access to the camera's On Screen Display menus (OSD) remotely from the point of the DVR. Some of the features include wide dynamic range which works very well to compensate for back lighting and foreshadows that can occur, 3D digital noise reduction which is helpful especially when taking very low light shots to eliminate the "sparkles," white balance, gain control, and Sens Up which extends the true day/night capability of the camera. With Sens up turn on, you can bump the low light sensitivity all the way up (or I guess I should say down to be correct) to 0.0002! It's a great camera for the price and we have had absolutely no problem with the ones we use indoors as well as the ones we use outdoors. I would definitely suggest these to a friend or co-worker.

As a 630 TVL High Resolution Wide Dynamic Range Dual Voltage Security Camera I would rate this Security Camera King Product with five stars, but as a dynamic license plate capture camera I have to back off that rating a bit and go with four stars. Although his camera has an electronic feature called Head Light Compensation or HLC, I can't say as if the camera was designed specifically and entirely for license plate capture use. On the other hand, chose the right lens and the correct mounting location and this camera can make a very inexpensive license plate capture tool for stopped or very slow traveling vehicles. The camera resolution is 630 TVL color and 700 TVL black and white. With Sens Up on, the camera has a low light sensitivity rating of only .0002 which is pretty darn good. In addition to the head light compensation function, the camera has many other features that can be adjusted from its On Screen Display menu including, wide dynamic range, 3D digital noise reduction, privacy masking and many others.

This camera works pretty well. Although it produces a color resolution of 630 TVL it also produces a black and white resolution of 700 TVL. We generally just keep ours on black and white. We use the 6 - 60 mm varifocal Security Camera King lens and works quite well. The on screen display (OSD) helps in adjusting the settings you need to make to fit your situation. The wide dynamic range does a pretty good job of eliminating dark shadows and white outs from the sun.

I bought four of these to go with my 8 channel Ultimate system I recently purchased from Security Camera King. These cameras with their wide dynamic range and varifocal lenses are far better than the basic vandal domes that come with the system. Not only is the resolution a little higher (630 TVL instead of 600 TVL) but the On Screen Display menu system allows you to adjust several features that help the camera adapt to your situation, especially the wide dynamic range. It even has RS485 wire connections so you can operate the OSD remotely from your DVR.