Home security cameras have become so affordable it seems silly not to employ one or more in protecting your office or residence. Most of these cameras feature narrow fields of view, which limits the area being monitored. To address this issue D-Link has released the Full HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera (DCS-2630L). This camera offers a 180-degree wide eye field of view. By using de-warping technology D-Link flattens out the curved image created by the wide angle lens.

While numerous Wi-Fi cams offered lower resolution video, the DCS-2630L provides Full HD 1080P resolution camera with a 3 MP progressive CMOS sensor. This lens has a 180° horizontal Field of view and the ability to see up to 16 feet in complete darkness using the built in infrared LEDs.

A built-in passive infrared sensor (PIR) offers enhanced motion detection. Using its built-in microphone and speaker It is capable of two-way communication. Sound and motion alerts can be sent via push alerts or via email. Video footage is recorded locally to a micro SD card inserted into the camera.

Unboxing

 

The D-Link Full HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera arrives in a cardboard box within an image of the camera on the front along with an iPhone displaying a captured image from the device. The back of the package lists its capabilities. One side of the box catalogs the cameras features along with minimum requirements while the other displays the box’s contents showing how quick and simple the set up and viewing process works.

 

 

 

Opening the package we find the D-Link camera in the front with an AC power adapter, a bag of mounting hardware, a Quick Install guide along with a Quick Install card in the back of the box.

 

 

The first thing you will notice about the D-Link Full HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera is how solidly it is built. It weighs 0.76 pounds and measures 3.37 x 3.37 x 5.53 inches. The DCS-2630L is composed of metal and plastic with a piano black front face and a matte black finish on the rear.

 

Looking at the front of the camera we find the microphone towards the top with the light sensor found below it just above the camera lens. Surrounding this lens are infrared lights and the PIR sensor.

 

 

A U-shaped Mount holds the camera in place on the heavily weighted plastic and metal base. This mount pivots allowing the camera to tilt forward of backwards but not side-to-side.

 

 

The back of the camera is comprised of a vented area for keeping the camera cool. There is a WPS button and reset button towards the bottom. At the base of the camera body is the micro USB connector for powering the device.

 

 

 

The camera features a 1/3 inch 3MP Progressive CMOS sensor with viewing angles of (H) 182°, (V) 112° and (D) 182°. It has 8X digital zoom, a focal length of 1.72mm, an aperture of F2.0 with a built in microphone and speaker.

The D-Link Full HD Ultra-Wide View Wi-Fi Camera offers resolution of 1920 X 1080 at up to 30 FPs, 1280 x 720 at up to 30 FPs, 640 x 352 at up to 30 FPs and 320 x 176 at up to 30 FPs.

The image features of DCS-2630L includes adjustable image size, quality, frame rate and bit rate as well as adjustable brightness, saturation, contrast, sharpness and hue. The camera is also capable of night vision viewing via the built in infrared LEDs and Infrared Cut Removable ICR filter module.

For networking the camera uses 802.11ac/n/g wireless capability with WEP/WPA/WPA2 encryption.

The camera is designed to work with Microsoft operating systems starting from Windows XP going up to Windows 8 as of the writing of this review as well as Mac OS X 10.6 and above. For capturing video the camera has a micro SD card slot that supports up to 128 GB capacities.

Remote access to the camera can be performed via web browser or using the mydlink lite app on iOS, Android and Windows phones.