The HookUp ranks the Empiretech T5842 (Dahua IPC-HDW5842T-ZE) as the best affordable camera if night time performance is the main concern

wittaj

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LOL....unless someone knows what they are doing setting up cameras and has the proper camera setup matching focal length to the area to be covered and has OPTICAL zoomed instead of DIGITAL zoomed....

Jogger at night optically zoomed.jpg
 

mat200

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1) It's good to see the Hookup produce better and more accurate reviews, and good if he is reading more detailed critique here, and on youtube comments, and elsewhere ( reddit has some good threads ).

2) I wish he would add a disclaimer to some of his past videos, that the information on those videos were not as good as the newer videos.


Clearly, each camera setup for image capture needs some tuning to get the best low light results .. and perhaps even daytime results ( depends a lot on contrast and the like ).
 

The Automation Guy

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I agree his videos are getting better. I feel that he has finally grasped the important concepts of CCTV - sensor size, pixel count, focal length, DORI, etc. He could definitely do a better job in talking about these elements in his videos, especially when he compares cameras (for example I've never seen sensor size discussed in a comparison video which is shameful), but I believe he understands them now. Honestly I don't think he had a good grasp of these concepts when he produced his earlier videos.

I am surprised however that he doesn't take a quick second during his video to say something to the effect of, "Pixel size is an important factor that plays a role in how well a camera will perform at night. If you aren't satisfied with the performance of these 4k cameras in low light, be sure to check out my other video where I run through some lower resolution cameras which depending on their sensor size can perform better in low light situations." It would let people know that they don't have to settle for terrible low light performance AND drive people to his other videos which seems like a "no brainer" to me. Of course that would open up the fact that he never talks about sensor size when comparing cameras and their performance, so maybe that is the reason.
 
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wittaj

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I agree that his videos are getting better, no doubt from reading stuff posted here and elsewhere.

But it is also clear his audience is the typical naive consumer that thinks more MP is better and you only need one camera to see everything well.

Many people here have proven, heck I did in this thread, that MP isn't the answer and depending on the use case, a 2MP might be a better performer.

It is all about getting a camera on the proper MP/sensor ratio and the correct focal length for the distance to be covered, along with the spending the time to dial in the settings for the target area.

It is amazing how conditioned people are to just accept the poor night images.

Consumer grade companies (and their affiliated YouTube reviewers) have convinced the average consumer that videos like this are acceptable. Consumers are conditioned to believe that you cannot get good quality night images from surveillance cameras. When was the last time we have seen a YouTube influencer show good nighttime video?

Look at all the countless Nextdoor and FB posts where people are posting crap video and pics and not one person ever says "hey there are cameras that can give you better images". It is just accepted that this is the best that can be done.

The police are shocked when something happens and I can actually provide them video and pictures that are useful. Even they are conditioned to believe that good night video isn't possible.
 

wittaj

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Another person believing 60FPS is what is needed to catch clean night images with no blur...

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All my cameras capture great night images as I posted in this thread. My camera FPS ranges from 8-20FPS, with most of them at 12FPS. Heck, my LPR is at 8FPS and captures nice clean images at night.

It comes down to the correct focal length and parameters.
 

wittaj

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A comment on his previous video:

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Does anyone agree the Ring and Ring-esque manufacturers are producing a "real security camera"....

If Ring did, they wouldn't have waved the white flag and start allowing real cameras into their system...

 

wittaj

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Yup....
If IPVM's claims of Ring being worth more than Axis is true, then why hasn't there been such a large push on making better quality apps for Dahua/Hik?
It's all about the app usability and plug & play.
I think the big reason is the targeted end user.

Ring is intended for the average Joe and Jane, so they put more investment into the app and ease of use and not as much into the cameras.

Dahua/Hik cater to professionals that will probably use something other than the manufacturer app, so they invest more in quality cameras.

Which is why it will be interesting to follow Ring now allowing certain ONVIF cameras into their platform. I think they recognize their cameras are not up to where some people want and instead of going down that road, they will test the waters for the market of better cameras in their platform.
 

Mark_M

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I think the big reason is the targeted end user. Ring is intended for the average Joe and Jane, so they put more investment into the app and ease of use and not as much into the cameras.

Dahua/Hik cater to professionals that will probably use something other than the manufacturer app, so they invest more in quality cameras.
That's the main reason I think too.

But Dahua/Hikvision both have cameras targeted to home user (average joe) group. Including alarms to connect into the system.
On quick search, Dahua do have a separate app for IMOU range.

and there's a lot of home user devices. Even a damn vacuum, I didn't know that! Imou | Enjoy Smart Life
 

Flintstone61

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The Blink system I setup for my Sister in Law, who rents, lacks network speed or App processing or something. Even on comcast xfinity with 87 down and 12-15 Up, with an Arris / Walmart modem/router/4port switch, it seems to have quite a bit of waiting for each move you make on the App. We are using the USB Thumb drive Non-Cloud setup. with a Microcenter 32GB USb 3 flash drive as the storage. The doorbell setup in a very similar way as the Amcrest Ad110. and for a girl with no IT skills at all, she can navigate the App, and figure out who is at the door, or what the bump in the night was downstairs.
 
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