Dahua 3MP 3.6MM Mini Pan/Tilt Video (ipc-hdb4300f-pt)

[nayr]

Figured I'd put it in its own thread, here is a sample daytime video I took.. I'll do a night video when the new light is installed.

HDB4300F-PT w/3.6mm Lens. Dont forget to view @ 1440p

WDR is enabled in this video or else the image is way over exposed.. The location at the beginning/end is my normal fixed point and will be displayed on a monitor in the entry way.

My opinion:

+ Small Size and Vandal Dome make it a great camera thats up in your face without being tacky.
+ Pan & Tilt make it a great door camera (Like a Peephole camera that can look in blind spots), Zoom is digital and only works downwards but is perfect for looking at packages left at the door.
+ 3MP Image Quality is Excellent and with some Security Lighting it works well at night.
+ 360 degree+ rotation; despite what the documentation says.
- Audio Feature is unusable as it is; seems there is room for some volume boost in the software.
- Presets are unusable, they drift around and are forgotten.
- Digital Zoom wont tilt to the edges of the image.
- Wont restore previous view after rebooting/power cycling.

Overall its a great camera with a good picture for the price; be aware of its limitations but I suspect keeping it this small while making it as feature rich and accurate as a full size PTZ would drive the price up to or past that of full PTZ prices.​

 

[Shockwave199]

Pretty dang sweet. It needs the audio boosted and accurate presets and there you go. Of course running a tour of those presets would be nice, but even if it just did audio and presets right it would be enough. I think it's damn innovative actually. Thanks for the video!

 

[nayr]

finished up the install today; I had stolen the ethernet in the garage for my OpenSprinkler on a temporary basis.

Decided to move it over to the edge of the doorway cutout; it can pan to see the front window much better now and its a better angle overall and it was easier to tuck the connector back.

New motion light was installed; Night time image quality is good, not great.. a lil ghosty/blurry at a distance but it goes away when you get closer.. I'll try to take a new video tonight; lastnight youtube rejected the file.

 

[Shockwave199]

Yeah dav files haven't been uploading well to YT lately I've noticed. Back to avi conversion. So moving it dropped the picture quality a bit? I see what you mean about tucking in the connector. You gotta love siding for quick ways out like that.

 

[nayr]

moving it had no change in picture quality...

here is night time video showing it struggling in the dark but its still good enough to ID anyone at the door; I was hoping for a better picture throughout but finding a tiny front door camera with great night isint easy.. I might cave in and get the Hikvision IR Mini Dome for this location but I dunno.


Google seemed to have some encoding issues in this video, the tearing was not in the original film.

 

[Shockwave199]

Hmmm, kinda large smoke ya have there- gonna hog all that? :nuts:

You could see if lowering noise reduction or adjusting exposure settings gets rid of ghosting. But with this location, it seems that daytime is where it's at. Day picture is great. Night time I figure you'd leave it set at that default position of some front door and driveway. So actually you want to see what results you get when you approach the cars from the sidewalk. See how your motion light is reacting upon approach and adjust sensitivity. You won't likely be moving the camera around all that much in the middle of the night, so just get the best static shot you can out of your home position. Judge it from that for night time. If it doesn't do enough for you, maybe consider something else. The camera does hella good in daylight- no issues there.

 

[nayr]

sorry just vapor; no smoke

to get rid of the ghosting you basically have to set exposure so high the image is black even with the lighting... what little you can see isint blurry.

 

[Shockwave199]

Meh, I gave up all smoke. 2010 was my year, although sometimes I wish I had a little of one kind still around. A little brandy helps that one!

 

[nayr]

I gave up analogue cigs for the digital ones almost a year ago; I could probably kick the ecig very easy now if I wanted... if I wanted heh, but at this point I see vaping Nicotine as no more unhealthy than a good coffee... addictive? sure; so is everything thats stimulating.

the other stuff; well I dont talk about that on internet due to my career is basically the internet... I am more of a Whiskey guy my self, like other things its good medicine

I am seriously contemplating moving this camera to the kids room and grabbing the Hik DS-2CD2532-I(S) for the front door.. I really loved the idea of being to look at the ground for packages (I get a TON of packages) but im thinking instead of just putting a trunk on the front porch for packages. Wire up a contact switch to a Dahua NVR to push video to my mobiles when a package comes. As long as a Dahua NVR can record 24/7 the Hik camera and push video from it I wont need any of the other features to play nice.. Would also be required for SmartPSS to play live video from a Hik, anyone know about that?

 

[icerabbit]

I've thought about a bin or trunk for packages to keep them out of street view and weathet at my previous residence. Of course you are the specialist to wire a contact sensor and camera in there to verify who is delivering the package and which package is in the trunk

But couldn't you do two inexpensive " static" cams?
One kind of aimed vertical down from overhead for package / floor viewing. Another regular for the forward view.

 

[nayr]

I am really trying to keep the cameras discrete; the best solution would be just put a 4300S bullet up front like I have on the back; I am thrilled with its performance day/night but while I find it acceptable on the back of the house I think it would be glaring obvious to foot traffic from the street... I may just end up going this route, we cant always get what we want with the requirements set forth.. I wont be thrilled with the obvious bullet vs this very discrete "UFO"

Two cameras would definitely not be discrete and if I had a package trunk and the same angle I would already catch anyone on camera coming up to the trunk.. and with a sensor switch I would have confirmation that they opened the trunk and tag it approprately. Alot of the motivation stems from waiting all day for a package only to find its been sitting at my door for hours because the currier came when I was on the John... or when I am out of town I can notify the house sitter that a package came and the'll swing by after work instead of waiting a few days til the next time he comes over to check on the fish.

I have yet to catch a single person looking into any of my cameras directly; there places very strategically so most people will never notice them... thats the way I like it; cameras make honest people uncomfortable and it changes people's behavior around them... I want to have neighbors/friends/family over and them all to remain completely oblivious to my very high security measures Ive put in place... Ive already reprimanded my wife for openly talking about my cameras to the neighbors; we used the PTZ to watch a squirrel nest that blew out of a tree in a neighbors yard.. then she tells em how we saw the Mother squirrel save the babies on camera.. now they know the camera can watch there back yard and Im sure that makes them feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[Shockwave199]

Friends and family will know and get used to it. I don't have cameras indoors, so no one gets weirded out. It's surpring how even small domes don't get noticed. We know they're there and therefore we think others know immediately. Not nearly the case. A little indescretness goes a long way for the wrong people actually looking for them. You should consider the dahua 3mp turret dome. I'm settling on that for almost all my cameras.

http://www.amazon.com/Dahua-ECO-SAVVY-IPC-HDW4300S-Megapixel-Surveillance/dp/B00K6YO29A/ref=sr_1_6?m=A3KIJVG30FVWY0&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1409521670&sr=1-6

 

[nayr]

yeah that might work better than the bullet, specs seem identical..

domes are all over the place and were designed to be discrete and not look like a camera.. I think people are used to them and ignore them; its a MIGHT be on video thing because you rarely know where its looking from a distance and thats more acceptable.

Bullet cameras on the other hand scream YOUR ON VIDEO; Ive had some houses and apartments in real bad neighborhoods and even tiny cheap Harbor Freight bullet cameras were spotted by everyone coming to the door... which was the point.. Now I am in a better neighborhood and I like to invest more time in keeping the security a little less visible so it dont seem like we live in a bad neighborhood where everyone has everything, even chairs chained down.

Unless your very clever professional criminals will always spot a camera.. to a smart thief my house looks like fort knox.. but my neighbors/friends dont see it the same way.

My doors are reenforced, ground level windows have security & privacy film, gates locked and built in a way that cant be taken apart, all windows/doors/gates wired, motion lights and cameras with no blind spots, basement windows bared up, service boxes locked up, anything that can Walk away is chained to an anchor cemented in the ground but it was all done well and none of it stands out... and thats just parameter security.

 

[Shockwave199]

WOW! Well, nothing wrong with all that. That place I linked to is where I got my NVR. They're in Arizona, maybe closer to you.

 

[icerabbit]

Good job on secruring things and prevention.

I was just thinking about two mini domes. I like things to be discete myself ... which is why my first camera is next to invisble. I just need to move forward and do the same with a few more. And if there were some bracket like the idea that was highlighted from vector, that'd be my default install.

 

[pal251]

I'm late to the party but where did you get that camera nayr

 

[nayr]

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2014-hot-sale-cmos-security-camera-new-type-mini-pt-dome-3mp-dahua-water-proof-full/1974971848.html

 

[pal251]

How quick was shipping? I'm just worried about getting stiffed if I ordered a few of them.

You want to sell yours haha

 

[avi6581]

Sorry.. Bit of a newb here, but assuming this would not be sensitive to ir, and hence the ir illumination for other cameras or illuminator a nearby wouldn't help it's low light performance ?

everyone loves a ptz!! .. But in a domestic environment, they're really just a toy. This is inexpensive enough that I could use it as just that. I have plenty of fixed cam coverage as well, but I wouldn't mind having this to play with.

If they could maybe get fixed presets to be stable that would be better, but willing to give it a go even with all the cons you have pointed out nayr.

 

[nayr]

this camera is entirely blind to IR lighting.