Still struggling with the Dahua and getting the IR "right" on it as even in auto when I walk by I am "blown out" in white.
Having said that, the more I play with these cameras, I am starting to wonder about the 2 Hikvisions I have. I am beginning to think the Dahua's are better in every category. Neither perform in very low light conditions at even 1/120 gain. Having said that, the Dahua seems to offer more tweakability with it's "shutter priority" and "Gain priority" and even auto exposure modes where in color mode, while there is more grain, you can actually make out a person walking by whereas with the Hikvision you get nothing at 1/120, and slower than that you just get a transparent ghost.
Maybe I'm not getting the settings perfect (and obviously am not on either), but unless you have a specific need for a camera that instead of IR has a very bright LED and I think the 5442 has an LED version), or where you have ample light, the Dahua seems to be a better overall choice and more "newb user friendly" with it's auto choices.