Anyone tried this? HDView Starlight Color Night Vision, 2.8-12mm, Sony Starvis

[Shadeth]

OK, so I'll be honest here, I was looking around to see if there was any camera with 2MP starlight with 1/2.8" sensor that was comparable to EmpireTech IPC-HDW2231R-ZS, but less expensive! I have one of the IPC-HDW2231R-ZS, and it works great, but I am looking to add two more cameras and was looking at my options before buying. I found this one looking around Amazon, and it seems to be decent, according to the specs at least... good sensor size, 2 MP, turret form factor, etc. It is $84.99 at the time of this posting, just noting that since Amazon prices can fluctuate.

Amazon.com : HDView Starlight Color Night Vision IP Network Camera PoE, SD Card Slot, DWDR, 4X Optical Zoom 2.8-12mm Motorized Lens 3-Axis, Sony Starvis, Infrared Megapixel Eyeball Dome : Camera & Photo

Amazon.com : HDView Starlight Color Night Vision IP Network Camera PoE, SD Card Slot, DWDR, 4X Optical Zoom 2.8-12mm Motorized Lens 3-Axis, Sony Starvis, Infrared Megapixel Eyeball Dome : Camera & Photo

www.amazon.com

Any reason why I should NOT buy it? Keeping in mind, 2MP is fine with me, do not need more.
Anyone have experience with it? Is this some other camera rebranded, and if so what is it?

 

[wittaj]

I did the same thing LOL and looked at that one as well. Didn't buy because it isn't returnable, doesn't support ONVIF so probably only works with HDView equipment, it appears that the focus and zoom are manual on the camera.

I do think it would fit someone's needs, but if it isn't compatible with Blue Iris or another brand NVR, probably won't have many fans of it on this site?

 

[djernie]

Looks like dahua, hikvision. It says motorized varifocal. But one user said the downside is, it's manual focus. You should buy and let us know it works. It could serve as an overview camera for someone.

 

[Shadeth]

I did the same thing LOL and looked at that one as well. Didn't buy because it isn't returnable, doesn't support ONVIF so probably only works with HDView equipment, it appears that the focus and zoom are manual on the camera.

I do think it would fit someone's needs, but if it isn't compatible with Blue Iris or another brand NVR, probably won't have many fans of it on this site?

Oh WOW, OK yeah... I am using Blue Iris, so if it doesn't work with that, it would be useless for me. Thanks for pointing that out, I knew an extra set of eyes on this would help! The manual focus and zoom are OK since once I get it set up that won't change, but it needs to work with my software for sure.

One of the questions says it does support RSTP stream though, and seller says yes, so maybe it would work with Blue Iris?

 

[wittaj]

@Shadeth - yeah if it works with BI I would be game for it. The manual focus doesn't bother me either for where I plan to put one, but was looking for a cheaper option as well since this location would be exposed more than I would like. I may get a cheaper Amcrest as I know that would work.

 

[Shadeth]

@Shadeth - yeah if it works with BI I would be game for it. The manual focus doesn't bother me either for where I plan to put one, but was looking for a cheaper option as well since this location would be exposed more than I would like. I may get a cheaper Amcrest as I know that would work.

Yeah, I've seen some decent Amcrest turret options, but they're usually 6MP or 4K and I want less resolution so I don't bog down my processor too much. Unless you can set them up to output less resolution? I'm not sure if that gives the same fidelity and performance as a native 2MP camera though?

 

[Shadeth]

@Shadeth - yeah if it works with BI I would be game for it. The manual focus doesn't bother me either for where I plan to put one, but was looking for a cheaper option as well since this location would be exposed more than I would like. I may get a cheaper Amcrest as I know that would work.

OK, seller says it will work with Blue Iris, so I'm going to just go ahead and get one and I'll report back in a few days how it works!

 

[wittaj]

OK, seller says it will work with Blue Iris, so I'm going to just go ahead and get one and I'll report back in a few days how it works!

That would be sweet! Keep us posted!

 

[wittaj]

OK, seller says it will work with Blue Iris, so I'm going to just go ahead and get one and I'll report back in a few days how it works!

It has been a few days LOL - curious on your thoughts?

 

[Shadeth]

It has been a few days LOL - curious on your thoughts?

I got it but haven't had a chance to actually test it yet. Looking at it I'm like wondering, does this thing even have any IR lights? I will find it that and more this weekend.

 

[wittaj]

I got it but haven't had a chance to actually test it yet. Looking at it I'm like wondering, does this thing even have any IR lights? I will find it that and more this weekend.

I assume they are hidden in that black ring, but I plan on keeping it color, so as long as it works with Blue Iris!

 

[Shadeth]

OK, so here is what is up with this camera, from my initial tests!

First of all, obviously it looks different than Dahua cameras, but I can say I am pretty sure it isn't Dahua, the UI is something totally different. I do not have enough experience with cameras to say what else it might be if it is rebranded.
It came with a mini CD, but I did not feel like installing the software so I went through the browser to connect... EXCEPT the default IP is 192.168.226.201
That is a problem since my subnet is 192.168.1 so I couldn't even connect to it once I plugged it into my POE switch! Had to jump through some hoops and set my PC's network to match this 192.168.226.* subnet before I could even get access into it's login and menu, but to their credit they did include a piece of paper with instructions on how to do accomplish this. It was just a pain in the ass I didn't have to deal with on my 5 other IP cameras which were all 192.168.1.* based by default. So, after doing that, first thing I did was change the default password and then change it to my subnet, then change all my computer's network crap back to auto detect.

So, it does work with Blue Iris, no problem setting it up as any other camera once I changed the IP to something on my network. I only tested it inside, but the video was clear and nice looking and it does have color in very low light, however if it is really dark it will go to B&W and turn on two IR lights which are hidden in that black ring. The camera body and the housing is all metal and feels well made. The video and overall build is good.

BUT... My one main concern now is that it seems to run too hot. It felt hot to the touch so I measured it with an IR thermometer and I measured it around 110-113F and that is inside a closet that is 69 degrees I was measuring the actual camera ball, not how how the whole casing is. I live in Texas and it get 100 F high easy outside here in the middle of summer during the days. Sooooooo.... that makes me wonder just how hot this might get on a hot day outside?!?! I am concerned this thing might well "fry" itself from getting too hot. If you live in a northern cold area it might be fine, but here, I'm legit worried! Maybe if I put it somewhere in the shade it'll be OK, but I had intended to put it in a sunny location, so I am rethinking that.

 

[wittaj]

@Shadeth - thanks for the review! Other than the temp thing, sounds like it could be a worthy candidate for a lower cost starlight option for a non-critical area?

 

[Shadeth]

You're welcome, I'll update this again with some screen images once I've installed it outside. Not sure if I'll get around to installing it this weekend or not.

But here are some close up images of the camera itself and the potential temperature issue I measured. The specs on the listing say operating temperature -20 degrees centigrade to 50 degrees Centigrade. That would be 122 F high end which is hotter than it gets here. So IDK, it might be ok outside if those specs are accurate. But I was surprised how hot the body was getting. I'm pretty sure none of my other cameras got nearly that hot when I was testing them inside before I moved them outside.

The true test of this camera will be to see if it can survive the summer months. If it can, then I think I will call it very good, we will see in time.

 

[wittaj]

@Shadeth - forgot to ask - is it manual zoom/focus on the camera itself or thru the GUI and/or BI?

 

[Shadeth]

@Shadeth - forgot to ask - is it manual zoom/focus on the camera itself or thru the GUI and/or BI?

OK, so I installed this thing today outside on my front porch. The zoom can be controlled by Blue Iris, and when you zoom in and out, it also auto focuses after the zoom is done. There is also some little door on the camera body you can open to adjust the zoom and focus manually according to the instructions but I didn't need to do that.

The biggest unpleasant surprise for me is that it is totally INCOMPATIBLE with the normal Junction Boxes I use!!! Like.... the holes would not line up at all, so to get it to work I rigged it on there with one screw for testing, and this could hold since it is hanging and it screwed into a top screw but this is really janky and not something I'd ever do if it was hanging off a soffit or ceiling since that would be too much stress on the one screw, but right now mounted to the wall it is kind of hanging off that one screw ok-ish. If you wanted to buy this camera, I'd make sure to have a junction box that is compatiable with it, unless mounting directly to a surface.

Daylight image is good as expected, later once I gather some night images I can post those to compare it with a Dahua I had in this location (same location slightly adjusted angle).

 

[Shadeth]

Ok, so here are the images of how it looks installed along with the image of how it doesn't have screw holes that line up with the junction boxes I have been using for Dahua cameras.

One bit of good news is that it does not seem to be running hot at all right now... So I might speculate that the excess heat I observed in my closet was caused by the infrared lights. So that should only happen at night time when there isn't direct sun hitting it so this camera might actually be okay in a location that has sun hitting it.

 

[sebastiantombs]

A question and a comment.

Does this camera have audio capabilities? It lloks like it may have a mic hole on the face but it's hard to be sure.

Next time you mount a camera like that, leave a small gap in the caulk at the very bottom, 1/4" will do, to let any moisture that may get in have a patch to get out.

 

[StratRider]

Two thoughts:
I like the camo job on your pipe - a few grey spots where the mortar is in between the bricks and it would be invisible.
I wonder if your initial setup and subnet issue wouldn't have happened if you used their install disk. I clone my machine every night instead of backup, so I get around any virus issue easily.

 

[Shadeth]

Does this camera have audio capabilities? It lloks like it may have a mic hole on the face but it's hard to be sure.

Next time you mount a camera like that, leave a small gap in the caulk at the very bottom, 1/4" will do, to let any moisture that may get in have a patch to get out.

I can say that there is no Audio at all on this camera, no audio listed in product specs, or present in it's default menu settings.

I can drill a small hole in that caulk at the bottom, good idea. Want to keep it small though, we have these stupid wasps and mud daubbers around here that love to get into tight spots and make messy nests, in fact the space between the camera body and the lower area of the mount is of concern, but if this camera gets hot at night it would probably discourage them in any case. I'm going to have to see if it uses IR at night or not and how hot it gets.