I am a novice when it comes to PTZ cameras. I have never configured, used or bought one, yet I have a good application for a permanently ceiling mounted remote PTZ camera in the office, so I decide to jump in. After a lot of reading, the SMTAV 30x was my camera pick to start out as it provided a lot of high-end bang for the buck. Initially, I was concerned as the camera wasn't shipped immediately, but it did in fact arrive a day sooner than advertised. So far, I have only tested the camera on the bench and it appears to work as advertised and lives up to the many positive feedbacks, though some reviews were a bit dated. (I took some time to write this as I felt there needed to be a current review.) The manual that comes with it is short, but good enough, but if you need more, you can probably download the PTZOptic 30 manual as they seem very similar. I was able to connect the camera to a non-POE network router and tested it via WIFI on a laptop. Certainly there is a slight delay, but it worked fine using the built-in web services once logged in. I also tested it with OBS, after downloading the PTZOptics plugin, and it worked very well. It worked well with VLC as well via rtsp. Maybe a bit smoother on the native SMTAV application. Regardless where I viewed it, monitor, browser, OBS, VLC, the picture quality was amazing.As a novice, having nothing to compare this SMTAV PTZ camera too, I am impressed with my test to date. The optics are amazingly clear. The native zoom and 2X-8X zoom are amazing. The many configurations options are simple to navigate and modify. Colors are great in light, which is my environment, but probably not the best in low light conditions. Though in a dark room with only the glow of my laptop screen, I turn up the luminance and adjusted the contrast and it was pretty darn good given the low lighting. (So it probably just depends on what / where you are shooting.) You can easily flip the vertical or horizonal and it works great. As well as many more settings. Super easy.Again, I have only tested it in an HDMI and IP environment. I had planned on using 3G-SDI because of the higher resolution capability, but I think the HDMI will be sufficient for my needs. (Maybe I will play with the SDI later, but I really don't have any SDI equipment and I would possibly need to go to HDMI and USB regardless.) My final test, which I hope to conclude soon, is to test the feed over my POE GB-Network streaming on four devices simultaneously. I'll keep my fingers crossed.Overall this is a fun project, and of course, it is all supported by the SMTAV PTZ 30X optical camera. After just a few days of testing, and comparing this product to other 30X PTZ in regards to price, I would give it Thumb-Up! Not sure what your project requires, but I like this camera for my project. Will update later.UPDATE - I have installed the camera in the ceiling at my dental office, in a surgery room, to capture video/images for training purposes. The ceiling mount was pretty straight forward and easy to install in the ceiling and to the cameras. The zoom allow for perfect capture and image quality. I ended up connecting the camera to my Gigabit POE Router, primary for power, but also to view via IP intra-office. I can also use if to Video Conference with colleagues from the OR, via ZOOM, if required. (Though I have not connected a mic - which I never was able to get working in the test environment using the line-in port on the camera.) As there is a slight delay over IP, I decided to use HDMI to USB to view in the surgical room. This was completed using an HDMI to USB Video adapter. In the surgical room using a Win10 PC, this allows me to use the native OS Camera app to take pictures / capture video. I can change image shots using the preset camera options from the remote controller. The delay via HDMI to USB is every so slight, maybe 1/2 sec or less. Since we rely on CT images to be viewed on screen, I didn't want to jump from one video source to another. Using the USB video card allows me to stay in the Win10 environment and toggle from on window to another as needed.Again, let me be clear. The picture to the chair, may 7' given the angle, is very crisp and clear. When zoomed in to capture the head rest, it is super clear and you can count the stitching on the head rest. When sitting in the chair, with it laid back, and capturing teeth images, it is equally crisp, clear and perfect. I did engage the 2X digital so I could get in a bit closer. Again, clear.Intra-office, I can connect to the camera directly via a browser and completely control the camera. I can use VLC to monitor the camera or I can use OBS, with the PTZOptics plugin, to control the camera and record using one or more cameras. It's all pretty darn cool, very clear every where.So overall, I am very please with the Camera and found the whole experience straight forward, even for a video novice! (of course I had to watch an number of YouTube videos to get more up to speed, so for novice there is an investment in time.) Given my short couple of weeks with this camera, I would recommend it to anyone. I am assuming it will go the distance in time as well. Hope this helps you!