5 MegaGixel 1/1.8" low light destroyer for $90-AVOID LONGSE JUNK

[pozzello]

flawless, except where it sux...

 

[yobigd20]

what's the easiest way to buy the longse cams like LRDC60S500? I emailed amanda@longse.com but never heard anything back.

 

[klasipca]

flawless, except where it sux...

You can't have everything when on budget. I would much rather deal with firmware quirks and having poe on wire then shitty night image quality in Hikvision/Dahua. In that regard Longse has worked flawlessly.

 

[pozzello]

easiest would be on aliexpress. click & wait, for the most part.
costs a bit more, tho, than the alibaba "contract for a few samples" mechanism...

 

[Q™]

what's the easiest way to buy the longse cams like LRDC60S500? I emailed amanda@longse.com but never heard anything back.

I purchased two (2) from these over over two (2) separate transactions and both transactions were completed without incident...

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/H-265-POE-IP-camera-IR-dome-5MP-HD-lens-super-low-stream-ONVIF-2-0/32597133089.html

 

[Q™]

...I would much rather deal with firmware quirks and having poe on wire then shitty night image quality in Hikvision/Dahua...

Klasipca makes a good point. I am satisfied with the images pushed to my Blue Iris installations, especially the night images.

 

[pozzello]

"I am satisfied with the images pushed to my Blue Iris installations"

and I'm not. Yes, they can be made to work, and many folks may well be happy with them, but they are just not that great.

I paid ~$236 delivered for 2 (thru Eddy@longse,) and have yet to see any improvement in night-time image quality that
makes it worth the extra cost compared to 3/4/5 MP Hik's (2x 2355's for $194,) especially given all the caveats these come with.

My opinion may change if/when I get up the nerve to crack open a brand new cam to adjust the focus,
but I might just decide these aren't worth the hassle and sell 'em off. I'm on the fence...

 

[nayr]

I would rather install adequate lighting than deal with shit firmware and onwire PoE, for all the raves about this camera I've still yet to see any actual motion video samples from it at night.. I can get just about any camera to give a great still image at night if I have access to shutter and gain settings, even full color at 2am that looks close to daytime quality with just a bit of snow on the ground.. but that dont mean its the least bit usable for security purposes.

thanks @pozzello for a worthy opinion, Ive been looking for a reason to get one of these.. dodged a bullet, cheers.. can get shitty firmware cameras with better low light sensors for less than these if you are willing to sacrifice.

 

[klasipca]

"I am satisfied with the images pushed to my Blue Iris installations"

and I'm not. Yes, they can be made to work, and many folks may well be happy with them, but they are just not that great.

I paid ~$236 delivered for 2 (thru Eddy@longse,) and have yet to see any improvement in night-time image quality that
makes it worth the extra cost compared to 3/4/5 MP Hik's (2x 2355's for $194,) especially given all the caveats these come with.

My opinion may change if/when I get up the nerve to crack open a brand new cam to adjust the focus,
but I might just decide these aren't worth the hassle and sell 'em off. I'm on the fence...

It's possible they messed something up in the newer builds since another user complained about image quality which looks identical to Hikvision. The camera should outperform Hikvision 3/4/5, Dahua 3/4/5 or basically any cam using crappy 1/3 sensor. So yeah, I would advise to hold of buying this cam now since something isn't right. Perhaps they are putting some lower quality sensor due to IMX178 shortage?


Sent a message to Eddy about this:
​

I am sending this on behalf of the ipcamtalk users who recently purchased cameras from you with IMX178 sensor and image quality has not be up to the standards of the original IMX178 which I have received. Has something changed in the production of this sensor which results in lower image quality. It makes it difficult to recommend this camera now that these issues have surfaced and I hope you can provide some clarity to the situation.

 

[Rice]

I've also had quite a few issues with this camera...
From day one, when it got dark, the ir leds would come on, but would continuously cycle on and off.
After a lot of emails to and fro to Eddy and their "technician" using team viewer to access the camera, they finally agreed with me that it was likely to be thr led driver board that was at fault. Their answer was for me to pay for the postage of the complete unit back to them for repair, or, if I were to order 100 of them they would include a free driver board in the order... After standing the cost of the unit + import tax + TNT charge for getting it through customs quickly... I didn't bother.
The camera is currently running with the LEDs disconnected, though the light sensor is still connected as to signal to the camera when to switch to night mode. Luckily there is enough night light around here so that the camera is still useable.
It also looks like the focus of my camera isn't as it should be.
At what distance would you say you should be able to read a number plate?
I'll have to look into adjusting the focus at some point.

Also, the firmware...
A number of issues here...
Changeing the image setting, then going back to the original settings will not return you to where you started! Why not?? Even doing a factory reset will not recover the original image, nor will a firmware flash. The best way, though a pain, is to use the reset button on the PCB inside the camera.
I guess I should of known better, as I said in a previous post, I had a camera badged and sold by a company called ZXTECH, a 1.3mp dome. This had the same herospeed firmware and had the same software issues as above.

Also, I have a simple time server running on the PC that I've got the cheap cameras NTS services pointing to. These work great as I can just enter the IP address of the server. This keeps all the cameras times in sync. With this camera, you can only select from a list of Internet NTS web sites. I tried to redirect it to my server by placing a diversion in the HOST file on the PC, but it didn't work.

I'm sure that, given the hardware, if they sort out the firmware this could be a very good camera!

if anyone is looking to bin their camera, I may be interested in buying the ir LEDs and driver board

Rice​

 

[klasipca]

IR cycling, my first post "Video Auto setting causes IR Cut filter turn on/off frequently. I am using LDR Auto instead." Perhaps it's related to your issue

As far as image tuning, I've said in the beginning this will cause lots of pain so it's best to run at default. You don't need to open to reset inside the camera, just reload the firmware again and it will clear out those changes.

Focus: you can twist open the camera (if you have the turret), remove glue from the lens thread and adjust focus easily.

Don't hold your breath that they will fix firmware.

 

[Rice]

IR cycling, my first post "Video Auto setting causes IR Cut filter turn on/off frequently. I am using LDR Auto instead." Perhaps it's related to your issue

As far as image tuning, I've said in the beginning this will cause lots of pain so it's best to run at default. You don't need to open to reset inside the camera, just reload the firmware again and it will clear out those changes.

Focus: you can twist open the camera (if you have the turret), remove glue from the lens thread and adjust focus easily.

Don't hold your breath that they will fix firmware.

The camera is set to LDR (light dependent resistor), but the LEDs continue to cycle. I actually think the driver board is shutting down due to thermal reasons..it gets seriously hot, shuts down, cools down then restarts. The result is the LEDs when they first switch on will work OK for approximately 30 seconds, then they go into a 2 seconds on 2 seconds off cycle. I also tried the other settings for the IR cut filter. No different. I also disconnected the cable from the LED driver board to the camera PCB so the only connections to the driver board was 12v, the LEDs and the LDR, so there is nothing else involved in the control of the LEDs....same result.

You are right about the image settings and I did note it from your post. It is just a very basic problem which you would though would be a simple firmware fix??!?

With my camera, after altering the image settings and the image looking awful, you would think that the factory reset would put things right again. As you say, it doesn't. In fact, the factory reset doesn't seem to alter that much. The IP address is also unaltered.

I think I have had 1 occasion where I tried to reset the image by using the firmware update (using the built in web server) and it didn't work. I ended up using the reset button on the camera PCB, though I've had to reset it that many times I could be wrong.

Also, updating the firmware still does not reset all the variables. For example, the IP address and bit rate setting do not return back to the default values.

Rice​

 

[Q™]

...can get shitty firmware cameras with better low light sensors for less than these if you are willing to sacrifice.

Please be specific, which crappy firmware cameras with better low light sensors for less are these?

 

[Del Boy]

Please be specific, which crappy firmware cameras with better low light sensors for less are these?

Well depending who you ask... Sricam has a GREAT image. (only kidding for anyone reading this and thinking Sricam is great, it's not, it's rubbish)

 

[nayr]

Re: 5 MegaGixel 1/1.8" low light destroyer for $90

@Q2U, this one.. for example: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-2-8-IMX291-Sensor-2MP-Outdoor-IP-Camera-With-POE-1080P-Onvif-P2P-Cloud-B/32562157691.html

- - - Updated - - -

IMX178 is 425mV, IMX291 is 1300mV

 

[klasipca]

Re: 5 MegaGixel 1/1.8" low light destroyer for $90

@Q2U, this one.. for example: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-2-8-IMX291-Sensor-2MP-Outdoor-IP-Camera-With-POE-1080P-Onvif-P2P-Cloud-B/32562157691.html

- - - Updated - - -

IMX178 is 425mV, IMX291 is 1300mV

The sensitivity rating is worthless. I have both imx 322 and 124 cams both have higher sensitivity rating 500+ but they are not better then imx 178. Also 5 MP resolution is much better.

 

[Del Boy]

Re: 5 MegaGixel 1/1.8" low light destroyer for $90

The sensitivity rating is worthless. I have both imx 322 and 124 cams both have higher sensitivity rating 500+ but they are not better then imx 178. Also 5 MP resolution is much better.

I don't think the Longse IMX178 is that amazing during the day. What do you think? I mean compared to a decent IMX322.

 

[klasipca]

During a day it's about the same, although imx322 has better colors

 

[Del Boy]

OK, thank you. I thought I was going crazy.

 

[klasipca]

Also, updating the firmware still does not reset all the variables. For example, the IP address and bit rate setting do not return back to the default values.

Rice​

None of the cameras reset your settings when reloading firmware so this is expected, however there are some image value that do get reset.