Another 820a Reolink purchase regret post, what are the alternatives?

[garglemoth]

So I'm another victim of the hookups videos. I have a long self-hosting background and recently bought a house so I decided to splurge on a lot of home automation devices... and man oh man, after binging youtube videos from all over i stumbled on the hookups channel and he sold me, hook line and sinker, on his best blue iris cam setup.. the dreaded reolinks (820a). Even after watching his "before you buy reolink" vids it's essentially a non-apology and justification for his highly misleading glowing recommendation. So, After DAYS of troubleshooting, updating firmware, changing iframes, trying every proposed mainstream/substream config for a joint main/sub single camera or a dedicated main camera and sub camera for the same physical camera.. nothing produces even remotely satisfying results.

After getting that off my chest, i'm done trying to troubleshoot. I read here far too late that reolink is essentially a meme with garbage BI integration, so i'm returning them and starting over.

What are the recommendations for amazing BI integration, preferably 4k/8MP POE cameras in the $80-200 range per camera? Basically what i thought the 820A were going to be and most certainly are not. I see a lot of debate on night vision specs and the legibility of the image here and I don't know enough to realize the practical implications of it, but could i overcome any limitations in that just by combo'ing IR motion lights near the camera?

Honestly thank you for reading my rant and thank you for all, if any, recommendations you take the time out of your day to give a poor sap like myself who just wasted his 4 day weekend dealing with reolinks BS!

 

[user8963]

you can write a review for others on your reolink cameras here:

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Executive Summary: DO NOT be a sheep. Ask what a reviewer can be missing, ask if a reviewer is using hype words to sell the cheapest product. Test your cameras and kits right away. Just do a bench test. Test real world conditions. Test moving suspects. Test at night, test at day. Use a test rig...

ipcamtalk.com

(will help others)

if you do not need IR light, you can buy the new 4k full color camera

4k:

Worlds First Review - Dahua - IPC-Color4K-X / DH-IPC-HFW5849T1-ASE-LED - Full Color 4K Camera

Intro I’m excited to be doing another Worlds First Review. this time as I mentioned in the full color thread, I’ve been testing the new Dahua full color 4K camera. This was provided courtesy of @EMPIRETECANDY for a fair, honest, no holds barred, unbiased review. I’ll attempt to answer any and...

ipcamtalk.com

or maybe this one (brand new)

Worlds First Review - Dahua DH-IPC-HDW5842T-ZE-S2 / IPC-T5842T-ZE - 8MP / 4K Vari-Focal Turret

Intro I’m pleased to announce we have another worlds first review to kick off, this time on the new IPC-T5842T-ZE (@EMPIRETECANDY / Andy’s model number). This camera picks up where the 5831 left off and is a natural, potential step up from those already utilizing the legendary 5442. Lets jump...

ipcamtalk.com

other cams (dont look too much on MP):

5442 - series...
i would go on varifocal as a beginner , but if you already know which focal lenght you need, you can also buy 3.6mm or 6mm.. i would avoid 2.8mm .. only if you need it (really small areas/rooms)

Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua)

IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal from @EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret Varifocal Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $200.00...

ipcamtalk.com

Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+

All, thanks to Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY ) we have a new 4MP AI camera for testing. This camera has been provided by Andy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This camera is using the OEM model number of IPC-B5442-ZE which is the equivalent of the Dahua IPC-HFW5442-ZE for reference. The IPC-B...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[wittaj]

Sorry to hear yet another victim...Too bad you didn't find this site first.

It is simple LOL do not chase MP - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy a 4K (8MP) camera on anything smaller than a 1/1.2" sensor. Unfortunately, most 4k cams are on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will kick its butt all night long as the 4k will need 4 times the light than the 2MP... 4k will do very poor at night unless you have stadium quality lighting (well a lot of lighting LOL). Starlight, ColorVu, Full Color, etc. are simply marketing terms, so don't be sold on those names.

While we are at it, let's make sure you get the right camera...

To identify someone with the wide-angle 2.8mm lens that most people opt for, someone would have to be within 13 feet of the camera, but realistically within 10 feet after you dial it in to your settings.



My neighbor was bragging to me how he only needed his four 2.8mm fixed lens 4k cams to see his entire property and the street and his whole backyard. His car was sitting in the driveway practically touching the garage door and his video quality was useless to ID the perp not even 10 feet away. Meanwhile my 2MP varifocal optically zoomed in to the public sidewalk provided the money shot to the police to get my neighbors all their stuff back. Nobody else had video that could provide anything useful, other than what time this motion blur ghost was at their car.

Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.

• 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
• 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
• 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
• 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
• 49225 PTZ - great auto-track PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.

You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A wide angle 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who.

One camera cannot be the be all, see all. Each one is selected for covering a specific area. Most of us here have different brands and types, from fixed cams, to varifocals, to PTZs, each one selected for it's primary purpose and to utilize the strength of that particular camera.

So you will need to identify the distance the camera would be from the activities you want to IDENTIFY on and purchase the correct camera for that distance as an optical zoom.

Main keys are you can't locate the camera too high (not on the 2nd story or above 7 feet high unless it is for overview and not Identification purposes) or chase MP and you need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who. Also, do not chase marketing phrases like ColorVu and Starlight and Full Color and the like - all cameras need light - simple physics...

If you want to see things far away, you need optical zoom, digital zoom only works in the movies and TV...And the optical zoom is done real time - for a varifocal it is a set it and forget it. You cannot go to recorded video and optically zoom in later, at that point it is digital zoom, and the sensors on these cameras are so small which is why digital zoom doesn't work very well after the fact.

A trusted vendor here is Andy @EMPIRETECANDY that sells Dahua OEM cameras.

The 5442 series cameras fall within your price range.

The only 8MP cam we would recommend is outside of your price range. But like I said, do not chase MP. My 2MP is still beating my neighbor's 4K cameras...

Here is a link to Andy's Amazon store.

Amazon.com

 

[wittaj]

@macster2075 - you deleted your post about wanting Reolinks and all of our advice to you, so take a look at this new thread today about the camera you were looking to buy (or already purchased)...

 

[wittaj]

A general rule of thumb is take any IR rating distance a camera specs and cut it in at least half.

Their "claims" are based on ideal situations and the camera shutter slowed way down and gain cranked way up.

Yeah I can see someone at 120 feet in that setup, but it will be motion blur/ghost city which is then useless.

Once you dial in the parameters to your field of view, then you realize that the claims are way off.

 

[TonyR]

@garglemoth , Welcome to IPCT !

 

[mat200]

So I'm another victim of the hookups videos. I have a long self-hosting background and recently bought a house so I decided to splurge on a lot of home automation devices... and man oh man, after binging youtube videos from all over i stumbled on the hookups channel and he sold me, hook line and sinker, on his best blue iris cam setup.. the dreaded reolinks (820a). Even after watching his "before you buy reolink" vids it's essentially a non-apology and justification for his highly misleading glowing recommendation. So, After DAYS of troubleshooting, updating firmware, changing iframes, trying every proposed mainstream/substream config for a joint main/sub single camera or a dedicated main camera and sub camera for the same physical camera.. nothing produces even remotely satisfying results.

After getting that off my chest, i'm done trying to troubleshoot. I read here far too late that reolink is essentially a meme with garbage BI integration, so i'm returning them and starting over.

What are the recommendations for amazing BI integration, preferably 4k/8MP POE cameras in the $80-200 range per camera? Basically what i thought the 820A were going to be and most certainly are not. I see a lot of debate on night vision specs and the legibility of the image here and I don't know enough to realize the practical implications of it, but could i overcome any limitations in that just by combo'ing IR motion lights near the camera?

Honestly thank you for reading my rant and thank you for all, if any, recommendations you take the time out of your day to give a poor sap like myself who just wasted his 4 day weekend dealing with reolinks BS!

Welcome @garglemoth

1st - the most important thing is to have your cat5e/6 runs to good locations.
2nd - you got here at a good time..

Do check out Andy's post on Black Friday deals .. if you're ok with refurbished cameras, looks like some deals there.
My recommendation, pick up at least one good 4MP varifocal model with a larger sensor to play with.

Christmas Sales 2021

Hey Guys 2021 all The Promotions ends. But you still can contact us for purchasing with bulk good price. Send me any query via email kingsecuity2014@163.com Amazon Shop...

ipcamtalk.com

In general, I have done a quick check - and looks like very few larger sensor model cameras are available to most consumers this Black Friday season. ( prior to the Pandemic there were cameras in lorex kits with 8MP 1/1.18" sensors from Lorex and Costco, as well as Montevue and others .. this year, seeing a lot of models with significantly smaller sensors .. )

Amcrest could have some deals ( also a Dahua OEM ), do check - last check of their catalog showed some cameras with larger sensors.

If you are on a tight budget, you can just pick up a couple of cameras to cover your most critical views.

If you have enough funds, I really like everyone who comes to my front door to pass through at least 2 camera FOV zones within ID distance ( see the DORI section of the cliff notes ), and I like 2 cameras covering my driveway by the garage door.

 

[spacem]

I was in the same position, though it was the Reolink 810A which I picked up - camera filmed a blurry unidentifiable mess when a thief called one night and he was less than 6m away. I've replaced with Hikvision DS-2CD2047G2-LU (Bullet version of Hikvision DS-2CD2347G2-LU ) And happy with the results. Dual core so good features and the color vu+ is impressive. I didn't want IR or LED lights, so this camera suited me perfectly. It films in colour in very low levels of light - it almost looks like daytime on the recording. The resolution is a little low so less impressive than the Reolink if say you're looking at a fixed image during day light, but if you 're on a budget you're not going to find 4k and a very large sensor so you need to compromise somewhere. What's important to me is that it records an identifiable image day and night without IR and LED - and that's what it does. EDIT: Just to point out, it does have LED's if you want them, but due to the large sensor size you can disable them in settings and still get good results if you have sufficient ambient light.

 

[garglemoth]

Wow. i just want to say i'm blown away by the passion and conviction of this community. I dropped by hoping to get a name or two of a product and you guys delivered so much more than that!
Even glossing these posts i'm realizing how oblivious i was to so many factors. There's a lot more to learn and i'm just now coming to terms with the fact that there isn't a one sized fits all camera like i naively thought by watching those videos. Phew.


So when i google the model numbers provided by @wittajIget Loryta brand, and i've read that they're related to dahua? Something like they're the same insides just rebranded for cheaper, is there any truth to that?

 

[wittaj]

Andy's cameras are Dahua and Hikvision OEM equipment sold under the names Loryta and Empiretech.

Some of my cameras I have bought from Andy from his Amazon and AliExpress store come as Dahua cams in Dahua boxes with Dahua logos, and some are not logo'd - I think it depends on how many cameras Andy buys if he gets them with the Dahua Logo or not. But regardless, they are Dahua units. If you get a unit that has Dahua on it, then the camera GUI will say Dahua; otherwise it will simply say IP Camera but looks identical except without the logo. Some of his cameras may come with EmpireTech stamped on them as well.

As long you you by from the vendor EmpireTech or Loryta on Amazon (or AliExpress), they are Andy cams and Dahua or Hikvision OEM.

His cameras and NVRs are international models and many of them are not available through Dahua and Hikvision authorized dealers, but his cameras and NVRs are usually better than what you can find from an authorized dealer. You select the country at camera initialization.

You can update the firmware on Andy's cameras and NVRs from the Dahua and Hikvision website, thus proving they are real Dahua and Hikvision. But you will find that the firmware we get from him is actually better and more recent than what is on the Dahua website because many members here provide feedback to Andy and then Dahua makes modifications to the firmware and sends back to him and then he sends out to his customers. These have been great improvements that Dahua doesn't even update their firmware and add to their website. So many of us are running a newer firmware than those that purchase Dahua cameras through professional installers. Smart IR on the 5442 series is one such improvement. Autotracking on the 49225 PTZ is another. We got the next version of AI SMD 3.0 prior to anyone else as well.

Look at the threads here where members are actually testing firmware and improving it for Dahua - find a Dahua dealer with that type of relationship that Andy has with Dahua - I don't think you will find it. Look at the Dahua 4k camera on the 1/1.2" sensor as an example - Dahua provided that to Andy for sale before Dahua even made it available and look at all the improvements being made to the firmware from input from customers right here on this site. And the kicker is, we are not Dahua's target market - it is the professional installers...

You do have to be careful with some rebranded cameras purchased from other vendors as they are cameras that are for the Chinese region but have been hacked into English but then are not able to be updated or they will brick. Buying from a reputable source is key to make sure that doesn't happen.