Blury HFW-4300S Any suggestions?

H

Hoog23

Getting the hang of it
Jun 5, 2014
110
29
I just installed my 3rd 4300S and the image is pretty blury. Video settings are all at default - 1080p (upping it to 3m didnt help either). I made sure the substream was turned off.

Short story is I purchased this on fleabay a couple of weeks ago and bench tested when it arrived and it looked good on the test bench (in my office).

In the image below the tree branch on the right is sort of in focus while the car in the driveway is not.

2.210 Build 2014-1-15

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

2ce3pko.jpg
 
First thing to try is getting the roof line completely out of the shot. That could be throwing off the focus for the rest of the image. If the camera has IR, that roofline will create more problems at night. So, start there and move the view downwards until that roof line is out of the picture. It could be that the camera isn't focused well, and for that you'd need to get inside and try to focus it- how I don't really know. I mean the dome unscrews at the center seam. Hold both halves and twist. But focusing- not sure how or if it can be done.
 
I have the same bullet camera and its infinite focus is perfect; I have the cheaper 2200's nearby and anything further than ~40ft is out of focus and blurry

Ive seen no easy way to adjust the focus on these cameras, would have to take the whole thing apart, the 2200 dont really need to see far but it would be nice to figure out if I can fix it.
 
Thanks guys. Its getting so dark early now that it looks like this is waiting until Saturday. I will first try to lower the mounting location and then relocate the camera to another location if that doesn't work.
 
You may have to open it up and turn the lens slightly. Do this while viewing the camera image though. My distributor opens every camera they sell, updates the firmware, makes sure it works, makes sure its focused, and programs daylight savings. He brags that other sellers do not do this for their customers and has noticed once in awhile, a camera will be out of focus straight from Dahua.
 
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spot on, thats what I figured was needed.. Guess I'll give it a shot and report back before/after..

thanks, its not like you get a manual and taking one apart while under warranty only to find the focus was not adjustable would have sucked.
 
Thanks Vector. I unscrewed the lens cap and can see the lens. I couldn't turn it with my bare hands. Do I have to use a needle nose pliers.
 
From what I know, it should be able to turn by hand. Don't force it if it doesn't want to turn.
 
I think some are glued in? Have you tried what I suggested earlier about adjusting the roof line out of the shot to see if that focuses the shot?
 
Hey guys...just chiming in on this thread as I too would like to solve this. I own about 8 of these (HFW4300s) and they are really nice. But I have the same issue as posted here. I opened up one of the cameras by unscrewing the front lens cap. The lens is clearly meant to be adjustable, but it does not turn at all. Noting the post above that some of the lenses are "glued in" makes me nervous, but still wondering if Hoog23 was able to get past that??? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dahua 4300s Camera Lense.jpg
 
I think I was successful.

You have to first unscrew the board with all of the ir's.

I found a youtube video that I followed

Then loosen that lock ring that you identified (I used a small flat blade screwdriver).

Once the lock ring was loose I could easily turn the lens and bring it in focus (I used a Staples paper box on the other side of my office to aim it).

Then use the screwdriver to tighten the lock ring while holding the lens in the 'perfect' focused position.

I cant upload the 'after' picture as I am at work but will try to do so tonight.

Good Luck!

Edit - After pic.
2jbqixj.jpg



Tuckerdude said:
Hey guys...just chiming in on this thread as I too would like to solve this. I own about 8 of these (HFW4300s) and they are really nice. But I have the same issue as posted here. I opened up one of the cameras by unscrewing the front lens cap. The lens is clearly meant to be adjustable, but it does not turn at all. Noting the post above that some of the lenses are "glued in" makes me nervous, but still wondering if Hoog23 was able to get past that??? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 1557
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Many thanks for the follow up! I will try that tonight....looks easy, and the ironic thing is, I've taken all of my camera's apart so I could spray-paint the housings a dark brown! Why they insist on making these things BRIGHT-WHITE I just don't know. Of course in doing so...I may have inadvertently pushed the lens out of focus without even realizing it.

Incidentally, if anyone wants to try and paint their cameras I can save you some trial and error and suggest you use Krylon Colormaster in their Brushed Metallic line. For my house, I wanted something dark-brown so I chose their "Oil Rubbed Bronze" color. See below for a picture of my install and a shot of the spray-can. Just be sure to sand all the parts before painting as that will make the paint stick much better.

Thanks again for the pointers!!!

Dahua Install.jpg
 
Why didn't you just tape off the front glass and spray away? Why did you take the camera apart?
 
That's a good question! Partly because I'm a glutton for punishment (would be so much easier just to do as you suggest), but also because I really wanted to make it serviceable afterwards and I was worried that if I just sprayed over the places where it unscrewed that I would not be able to open it up after that. It's probably overkill (highly likely), but I prefer doing it this way and have been happy with the results.
 
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