We had a similar problem earlier this year. It was caused by an error in the initial FIRST Utilities that was distributed during kickoff. We fixed it by applying the patch (v2.0) that is non-mandetory but fixes an error in the NI camera utility that causes the camera settings to not be retained after reboot of the camera.
The patch was the optional patch announced in the 1/24/2012 Game Team update and is located at:
http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2262
The patch notes claim that it fixes (specifically):
Fixes in 2.0
cRIO Imaging Tool - Timeout error due to various network interface configurations
Setup Axis Camera Tool - Axis 206 camera loses communication after power cycle
We noted that it fixed our problems with the Axis M1011 as well.
I hope that helps.