Bosch MIC Camera Series Experiences?

Spot one and you could win a pressure washer!

#1, sorry for not responding. 

The MIC series is popular within its high end niche but it's not a model that is used in the mass market. That is mainly due to its high price point and feature sets that are critical in certain very demanding applications but overkill to normal commercial or industrial use.

I'll send this discussion out tomorrow to see what more people can add. I'll also ask Bosch to provide some feedback.

To clarify the MIC IP series consists of two families: the MIC 7000i which provides a single ultra-low-light day/night starlight optical imager, and the MIC 9000i which combines both the starlight optical and a thermal imager in one rugged housing, providing high quality images in any lighting condition or even in situations where there is zero light.

What makes MIC different than standard PTZ dome type cameras is its ruggedness and closed-loop positioning system. The solid metal bodies of the MIC IP 7000i and MIC IP  9000i can withstand severe weather conditions. That includes high winds, rain, fog, dust and 100% humidity (UL Type 6P and IP68), temperatures from -40°C to +65°C, extreme vibrations (IEC60068) and high impacts (IK10). The superior metallurgy and finish of the MIC IP cameras provide outstanding protection against corrosion and are fully compliant with the ASTM B117 (2000 hour salt spray) standard. The ruggedized metal drivetrain and closed loop positioning system ensures the camera maintains positional accuracy even in the event the camera is moved by external forces such as vibration or wind.

The new MIC 7000i and 9000i cameras also utilize H.265 and Bosch’s latest intelligent bandwidth management technologies to significantly reduce bit rates. The new MIC IP 7000i and MIC 9000i feature the latest generation of Bosch’s edge-based video analytics and intelligent tracking algorithms. The camera can even detect objects when camera is moving.

Typical use applications for MIC cameras include traffic monitoring (highways/bridges/tunnels), critical infrastructure (power gen/water treatment/pipelines), homeland security (perimeter protection/borders), marine (ports/harbors/coastal), and industrial environments (non-hazardous areas).    

We will begin accepting orders for the MIC 9000i (MIC-9502-Z30) in a few weeks and the product is planned for release in December. We can put anyone interested in getting more information in touch with one of our local Bosch dealers.

By the way the reason for the #SpotTheMICCamera campaign was support our presence at the ITS World Congress show in Montreal (Oct 30 – Nov 2). There are 100s of MIC cameras deployed all of the city, so finding one won’t be a problem.

Funny to see this - I've driven through Montreal and seen dozens of them watching the highways and bridges across the city. They are certainly not hidden!

We did a demo of a MIC7000-IP for a client about 18-months ago.  Very impressed with the product and it's capabilities.  We've continued to recommend and quote these however at the higher price point, it is a limited market.

On a side note:  We have noticed several appearing along San Diego, CA freeways in the past 12-months.

We have extensive experience with the MIC7230 starlight as well as the older MIC612 dual sensor model. This is our go to lineup for hazardous industrial, federal high security projects, and applications where low profile or high end aesthetics are key. Extremely low failure rates, excellent video quality, tilt forward design, and integrated wiper, and additional lighting package are all high points for us.

Our side by side testing out on the Columbia River here in Washington shows the MIC to be superior in picture quality (at all zoom levels), image stability, and defog performance to high end models from Panasonic, Canon, and Sony.

Nothing beats them for aesthetics either. Pole top installations are super slick and the canted feature means it can see the base of its own pole. Zero blind-spots! You can get them in white, black, or grey from the factory which is a handy option. We machine a custom powder coated pole-top adapter that slips over a fence or other type pole that we can secure the camera to. The finished product is low profile and rugged.

The lighting package is worth the additional money IMO. They may look small, but the light output is very impressive. Also, integrating both the wiper and lights into Milestone was a breeze. The end users can simply click on and off either IR or white spotlights, and trigger the wiper with a mouse click or hotkey. Makes for an impressive showing for sure.

The older MIC612's were bullet proof (reliably speaking), but were analog and needed a ridiculously huge power supply/encoder module that made installations challenging. That was our only real complaint after 4 or 5 years experience with the MIC lineup.

Thank you everyone for the excellent feedback and reviews.