Editor's Note

With the Axis Q1765-LE you truly get an all-in-one outdoor fixed camera that is ready to install right out of the box.  The 2MP (1080p) image is crisp and clean and the management interface is simple and intuitive with many options to adjust video quality.  The IR-cut filter provides a true day/night image and the four high-quality cool running IR LEDs provide up to 30m of IR "light" at night.  These IRs can be set on a schedule, manually or set to be automatic when in low light conditions so you are in control.  Some of my favorite features however are the 18x optical zoom, corridor mode and autofocus.

The 18x optical zoom is great from an installation and management perspective because it allows one camera to be selected and installed almost anywhere while still keeping the appropriate pixel density in the field of view (FOV) to capture the image detail needed to make the video useable.  

Corridor mode is perfect for alley ways, the side of a house or aisles where you have a tall but skinny FOV.  This is a problem because the 1080p (1920 x 1080) image is short and wide but with corridor view you can flip the image (1080 x 1920) so that you can use all pixels to see what you actually need.

Focus-assist or auto-focus is rather self-explanatory and more and more vendors are providing this feature but it is an absolute necessity when installing a high-definition camera.  As an added benefit if you ever have to change the focal length of the lens you can immediately re-focus right from the web interface.

If you are looking for a versatile, outdoor camera that is easy to manage and will provide a clear usable image this would be a great choice.