New ColorVu cameras

Mac13

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I learned the hard way when I first started dabbling in CCTV. I purchased three DS-2CD-2085FDW-I 2.8 which are 8mp. I first thought the more MP the better. I quickly realized that is not the case at all. I still run the two DS-2CD-2085FDW-I 2.8 as over watch for my front yard and one as a front door camera. I also run 1 DS-2DE4A225IW-DE which I love because of the smart tracking. I also run 1 DS-2CD7A26G0/P-IZHS8 as a LPR. I will be purchasing 2 DS-2CD2H25FWD-IZS in the very near future. If I'm not satisfied with those I will splurge and purchase atleast 2 of the DS-2CD5526G0-IZHS8.

As I said earlier I am pleasantly surprised by the colorvu but not totally happy. I expected a better identification range on it and I dont appreciate faces being white washed out within 10 feet of the camera. I still have to tweak the settings on it so my opinion might change.
Thanks! I’m not sure what all those parts since I’m new to this are but I googled them to find out lol. I was thinking about getting a varifocal since I wasn’t sure what lens I needed and like the ability to adjust it. They seem to be a fair amount more expensive though and I figure I wouldn’t be changing it all the time. How do you like your varifocal cam?

Also,do you have any dark fighter cams now or you are just thinking about getting some if you aren’t happy with the colorvu? Have you tried the dahua starlight?
 

coney27

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Here are two captures from hikconnect from tonight. Camera is in night mode. One picture is with floodlights off and the other is floodlights on. I am standing 20ft away from the camera when these were taken. @bigredfish
 

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coney27

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Thanks! I’m not sure what all those parts since I’m new to this are but I googled them to find out lol. I was thinking about getting a varifocal since I wasn’t sure what lens I needed and like the ability to adjust it. They seem to be a fair amount more expensive though and I figure I wouldn’t be changing it all the time. How do you like your varifocal cam?

Also,do you have any dark fighter cams now or you are just thinking about getting some if you aren’t happy with the colorvu? Have you tried the dahua starlight?
My LPR I suppose is my only branded "dark fighter" cam and I love it as a LPR My ptz is branded as "ultra low light" and I also love it. Just like the colorvu my ptz is in color 24 7. The area I live in is in complete darkness at night so my need for ultra low light or dark fighter camera is a necessity. The other 2 cameras I mentioned earlier shoot in color at very low lux and are banded as dark fighters which is why I will be purchasing them soon. I've only stuck with Hikvision and never tried the starlight but doing my homework on this site and on IPVM.com I feel the Hikvisions out perform Dahua
 

Defcon

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Have you adjusted the led while standing in front of the cam and start at the lowest setting and work your way up to see if a lower setting might work better?

I rigged up one of my LU’s last night. Can’t upload photos for interest due to privacy issues but will tonight make changes and forward my finding to you. I need another location for the other can which won’t cause issues if I upload photos here.

First viewing however, the image at night did look wonderful in colour.
 
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coney27

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Have you adjusted the led while standing in front of the cam and start at the lowest setting and work your way up to see if a lower setting might work better?

I rigged up one of my LU’s last night. Can’t upload photos for interest due to privacy issues but will tonight make changes and forward my finding to you. I need another location for the other can which won’t cause issues if I upload photos here.

First viewing however, the image at night did look wonderful in colour.
I have not adjusted the LED at all. I can try and test it that way to see how it varies.
 

bigredfish

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Here are two captures from hikconnect from tonight. Camera is in night mode. One picture is with floodlights off and the other is floodlights on. I am standing 20ft away from the camera when these were taken. @bigredfish
Thanks, great image with the floods on.. my 5442 looks similar at 20ft, the problems with IR washout appear below 12-15ft.
 

coney27

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Thanks, great image with the floods on.. my 5442 looks similar at 20ft, the problems with IR washout appear below 12-15ft.
I'll test the washout tonight within 15 ft and see how it does
 

Mac13

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Does anyone know if you can trigger the LED lights on this camera to come on when it detects motion? Thanks!
 

Defcon

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No. If I am right, the bullet version has some feature that offers something along those lines, alarm etc
 

cadmunkey

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coney, any update with your findings? Are you happy with this cam now? I am thinking about getting one, cheers.
 

coney27

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I havent had any free time to fool around with the white out effect brought on by the internal led. I am satisfied with the day time picture. Nighttime not so much. I expected the camera to produce clearer color pictures at a distance which I seem not to be getting. Up close, within 20 to 30 ft the camera is sharp. Futher than 30 ft at night, in complete darkness the camera seems to be usless. I still would like to test the camera more comprehensively by changing settings but as I said before I'm pretty busy at the moment. I also use the camera in conjunction with flood lights so it gets the job done for me. Otherwise in complete darkness it's just ok, not great.

If I find some free time I'll post more of my findings. Otherwise this video seems to be a decent judge of the cameras capabilities in ambient light situations.ColorVu test
 

bigredfish

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I wouldn’t expect much past about 30-40ft at night with 4mm lens. This is very similar to a Dahua 3.6 model I have at the front door. The white LEDs are helpful if we forget to turn on the porch light, and it does have better low light image than standard 2MP cams. But its not going to give true daylight performance at night.
 

john-ipvm

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Futher than 30 ft at night, in complete darkness the camera seems to be usless.
We found the same pattern. While the camera(s) are spec'd for 30 meters / 100 feet, the camera has problems in 'complete darkness' at longer ranges. We measured the lux levels at various distances which underscored those challenges:
1571240668716.png
 

Badger1966

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I learned the hard way when I first started dabbling in CCTV. I purchased three DS-2CD-2085FDW-I 2.8 which are 8mp. I first thought the more MP the better. I quickly realized that is not the case at all. I still run the two DS-2CD-2085FDW-I 2.8 as over watch for my front yard and one as a front door camera. I also run 1 DS-2DE4A225IW-DE which I love because of the smart tracking. I also run 1 DS-2CD7A26G0/P-IZHS8 as a LPR. I will be purchasing 2 DS-2CD2H25FWD-IZS in the very near future. If I'm not satisfied with those I will splurge and purchase atleast 2 of the DS-2CD5526G0-IZHS8.

As I said earlier I am pleasantly surprised by the colorvu but not totally happy. I expected a better identification range on it and I dont appreciate faces being white washed out within 10 feet of the camera. I still have to tweak the settings on it so my opinion might change.
Hi. I have an DS-2DE4A225IW-DE and I can not for love nor money figure out how to get the smart tracking to work. Manual says "Enter the Smart Tracking settings interface: Configuration > PTZ > Smart Tracking" but for me that does not exist. I go into configuration and the PTZ option is not there. It's doing my head in. Any help would be super appreciated.

Thank you
 

coney27

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Hi. I have an DS-2DE4A225IW-DE and I can not for love nor money figure out how to get the smart tracking to work. Manual says "Enter the Smart Tracking settings interface: Configuration > PTZ > Smart Tracking" but for me that does not exist. I go into configuration and the PTZ option is not there. It's doing my head in. Any help would be super appreciated.

Thank you
You need to access the camera from its built in webGUI. From there you will find the option for smart tracking under PTZ.
 
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