Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

[nayr]

As I understand, this camera is auto varifocal, right? Just zoom in/out to your preference then it auto-focuses and your done then install, am I correct?

Never tackled a varifocal before so forgive me for asking.

its a motorized varifocal, if you dont see the motorized in the specs then its a manual varifocal.. motorized you can zoom/focus via software remotely, manual requires someone to physically turn the lens barrel to zoom/focus.

Motorized is the way to go; Manual Varifocal Cameras are extremely touchy and a total PITA to dial-in.. and then anytime you mess with the camera you have to start all over again.

 

[hmjgriffon]

its a motorized varifocal, if you dont see the motorized in the specs then its a manual varifocal.. motorized you can zoom/focus via software remotely, manual requires someone to physically turn the lens barrel to zoom/focus.

Motorized is the way to go; Manual Varifocal Cameras are extremely touchy and a total PITA to dial-in.. and then anytime you mess with the camera you have to start all over again.

Yup, setting focal length is easy, trying to move the damn thing in fine enough adjustments to get it focused, and then figure out if the picture is sharp or not sucks. I did pretty good by printing out a piece of paper that looked like an eye chart with lines of letters that got smaller and smaller, and I had also found another picture of different shapes and stuff, I used serif fonts, then just propped up the sheet and made my tweaks staring at a laptop screen until it looked as sharp as I could get it. I think I did pretty well but who wants to do that when you can have it do it auto magically.

 

[Tic]

Bought a Canon 60D when it first came out...until now only had 150+ on it...all taped up with black electrical tape for xtra protection against the elements -- still looks brand spanking new. I also have my dad's F1 and PhotoBoy so pretty much I'm Canon for life.

 

[nbstl68]

I have a midspan because im rocking a 48p switch and getting a switch this size w/PoE is not a reasonable cost.. its best to run one big floor switch if possible....

I picked up a Cisco (Linksys) SRW248G4P 48-port 10 100 POE switch with 4-Gigabit ports off eBay for $60 bucks shipped.
There are several out there all the time.
I was a little intimidated at first as I've never owned or used any kind of switch much less a commercial grade model.
So far it's been super simple and everything I connected to it just worked when I plugged it in with no additional configuration.
Although it looks like there are a lot of configurations you can mess with in the GUI interface like QOS and security settings if you know what you're doing.

These things are super expensive when they are new; like several thousand dollars.
I guess businesses just dump them once they have hit their EOS date.

So if warranty, support or service is a concern, a used EOL\OES switch may not be for you.
I figured at $60 bucks, who cares.

The other concern some have mentioned here is that the bigger the switch the louder it can be so unless you may need a quiet space for it.

Right now, using my ultra fine tuned decibel meter, (aka android phone app, ha-ha) it reads mid 80's sitting next to it, low 90's with the phone app right against the case. I keep it on a shelf in the unfinished basement and I can hardly hear it through the wall.

I have about a dozen devices connected but only 4 using POE at the moment...It may be possible that fan noise could ramp up as more power is demanded from it...not sure how that works.

 

[tigerwillow1]

I did the same thing with a 28 port Cisco switch. The only problem was the fan noise. I spent a bunch of hours swapping in quieter fans and cutting the out perforated grill that the fans push the exhaust air through. I do have less airflow, and maybe could run into trouble if I maxed out the POE power, which I won't get even close to. The room it's in doesn't get very hot either.

I'm planning on setting up VLANs so the cameras can't get through to the WAN router.

 

[tehach]

Just to throw in a shout out to Andy at Empire Tec for great service, received a 5231R, some HFW1320S, and an NVR4208 yesterday. Very quickly shipped with outstanding service from Andy.

 

[Dropnbassonu]

I got my camera last night, and let me say this....it's AWESOME!!! I'm an avid hobbyist photographer so I can attest to the camera side of things. The networking and computer stuff I'm decent with, but alot of this stuff y'all are talking about goes wayyyyy over my head. I'll compare shots from my Costco Q See 3mp bullet setup tonight. From my understanding they are basically rebranded Dahua 4300 3mp mini bullets. But these are on a whole different level of amazing for so many reasons....The Costco setup was only $600, so I got a solid deal on 6 cameras and an NVR but I'm considering returning all of it and buying 5 more of these and an NVR just because they're that good.

 

[nayr]

I need GigE, my dlink is very quiet and low power. The midspan is pretty quiet too at my loads.. much quieter than my old 48p Cisco

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[doretau]

My order of 6 Dahua and a NVR is set to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait. A quick question, can I quickly test each cam (prior to mounting) using just standard CAT5E cables?

 

[TechBill]

My order of 6 Dahua and a NVR is set to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait. A quick question, can I quickly test each cam (prior to mounting) using just standard CAT5E cables?

You can install it with a CAT 5E cable too

Bill

 

[doretau]

You can install it with a CAT 5E cable too

Bill

Thanks Bill. Thought I read somewhere that to properly install PoE cams to use CAT6 full copper wires instead of the cheap stuff. Are there any specific settings for each cam I should make sure to do before mounting them?

 

[hmjgriffon]

I got my camera last night, and let me say this....it's AWESOME!!! I'm an avid hobbyist photographer so I can attest to the camera side of things. The networking and computer stuff I'm decent with, but alot of this stuff y'all are talking about goes wayyyyy over my head. I'll compare shots from my Costco Q See 3mp bullet setup tonight. From my understanding they are basically rebranded Dahua 4300 3mp mini bullets. But these are on a whole different level of amazing for so many reasons....The Costco setup was only $600, so I got a solid deal on 6 cameras and an NVR but I'm considering returning all of it and buying 5 more of these and an NVR just because they're that good.

You got me excited, mine should be here by end of day tomorrow, cannot waaaiiiiit.

 

[hmjgriffon]

Thanks Bill. Thought I read somewhere that to properly install PoE cams to use CAT6 full copper wires instead of the cheap stuff. Are there any specific settings for each cam I should make sure to do before mounting them?

Cat5e is perfectly fine unless you plan to run POE more than 100 meters, 5e even supports gigabit ethernet HOWEVER, if you are buying new cable, there is no reason to buy 5e over 6. 6 will more future proof your setup. I have a big spool and lots of 5e that I have had and am using but if I buy anymore cable, it will be 6, or whatever they are up to when I need more cable lol.

 

[Tic]

Dang. Andy's shipment from Hong Kong beats Monoprice (CA) by four days!!! Shame...shame...this means I have the rest of the week to play with the cams. Oh well, what else can I do.

 

[Dropnbassonu]

I'll try to contain my excitement for this low light BEAST. This freaking thing can see in the dark, without the IR's. Frankly, I'm in disbelief how Dahua was able to pull this off. Attached are some pictures from this camera at full zoom where I plan to keep it, this camera to match the FOV and settings of my current camera (Q See Dahua 3mp mini bullet), just mentioned current 3mp camera view, and pictures with the most equivalent actual stills camera I have (Sony RX100iii) to match current darkness and view from the 5231. I didn't want to bust out the dslr b/c that wouldn't be fair, but my RX100iii has a 1" sensor and is one of the best, albeit expensive, point and shoots around. Sorry if that's alot to digest, but soon it'll make sense.

A little background, I realize I could go a bit slower on my shutter in order to drop the gain but the cars in the neighborhood are on the accelerator as they pass my house so I need to keep it at 1/60 at a minimum to get decent identifiable vehicles.

Without further ado.....

The scene, as seen from my RX100 and as close as to the current brightness of the street. Sorry I didn't have my ladder so I tried to recreate the FOV as best as possible.
EXIF: 1/30s, f/2.8, ISO 3200

Dahua 5231 current view fully zoomed in...
Shutter - 1/100, Gain 0-90, NR 40

RX100iii trying to match the 5231 for scene brightness. Had to go to 1/20, f/2.8, ISO 6400.

RX100 matching the 1/100 shutter speed, I had to go to ISO 12800 to get anywhere close to the same exposure. No noise reduction.

Current 3mp Q See Dahua mini bullet fixed lens at 3.6mm from same location
1/50, Gain 0-95, Noise Reduction 50, HLC 5

Dahua 5231 matching the same settings as above, hahahhahahahahhahah

5231 zoomed all the way out....

It's amazing what this thing is capable of. I realize I don't have much to base my opinion off of since I've only just gotten into security cameras, but damn if this thing isn't awesome..

 

[nayr]

 

[flynreelow]

Great pictures... would love some some day and night video samples....

 

[Dropnbassonu]

Great pictures... would love some some day and night video samples....

Sure thing. I'm planning on changing locations for this though b/c the angle is way too sharp to have much time to capture a car. I'm planning on having it shoot up the street more to give myself some more leeway with footage. I'll have to sacrifice distance but I think it'll be a good trade off.

 

[flynreelow]

Sure thing. I'm planning on changing locations for this though b/c the angle is way too sharp to have much time to capture a car. I'm planning on having it shoot up the street more to give myself some more leeway with footage. I'll have to sacrifice distance but I think it'll be a good trade off.

Let us know..

just got mine a day or too ago, and doing some testing indoors...

 

[mik]

So wish there were more in stock...