Buylog - 2015 20X Optical Zoom IR 150M High Speed Dome Full HD1080P Auto Tracking

[SyconsciousAu]

So I pulled the Trigger on this Camera Today

http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/caQHA11m.

Got the Camera itself for US$320 which includes shipping by DHL. Also bought a Corner Bracket and Junction Box. Paid by Paypal and paid a 4% surcharge for the fees.

Dealt with Jack Chan at CCTV IP Camera on Ali Express.

The store generally, and the product specifically, have pretty good feedback.

The store also does the "Huisun" mini PTZ.

I know a lot of posters are looking for info on these cameras, and trustworthy stores to buy them from, so I thought I would start a buy log to document my experience with this seller, and ultimately with the camera.

Day 1 - 13 Jan 2016 - Paid with Pay Pal
Day 2 - 14 Jan 2016 - Receive email saying camera has been sent and a tracking number will be provided in three days.
Day 6 - 18 Jan 2016 - Still no tracking number. Coming tomorrow apparently.
Day 7 - 19 Jan 2016 - Tracking number provided late in the day.
Day 9 - 21 Jan 2016 - DHL tracking reports the parcel has been picked up, processed, and has left Hong Kong
Day 10 - 22 Jan 2016 - Delivered to my door but I missed the delivery guy. DOH!

10 Days from payment to delivery is pretty good.

The Packaging and Un-boxing.


The box the camera was packed in was wrapped in clear plastic and then copious amounts of tape were put over that. Small box is the additional corner bracket and junction box.



The box took a bit of a beating in transit.



The corner bracket and junction box were well packed in bubble wrap bags




Both the corner bracket and Junction box are of metal construction. Corner bracket looks like 3mm steel plate with bolts welded on for attaching your camera. Junction box is cast aluminium.

Bit of a word of warning in relation to the junction box. It comes with a pair of PVC cable glands which screw into threads in the bottom of the junction box. The glands are imperial, 3/4" by the look of them, which is great news if you happen to live in a metric country where your conduit is in mm. 20mm connectors are a little too big. 16mm go inside the threads but need to be held in with the locking rings.

They came with four copies of Dynabolts which look stainless steel, four allen head stainless steel bolts, four stainless steel flat washers and four stainless steel spring washers. My only gripe here is that you need four bolts to attach the camera to the junction box and another four to attach it to the bracket. I'm short four bolts.




Main box was well padded, contained a warning sticker, wall bracket, four amp 12V power supply, wall bracket and safety cable, and the dome itself.




All the bits went together fairly easily and I have mounted it on a stand I made up whilst I test it.

Click for night time testing videos


Update 26 January 2016 -

So it turns out that either this camera does not have an IR Cut Filter, or it is broken. Im leaning towards the former. the listing was pretty clear that it was supposed to.


I noticed that I could still the the IR when the camera was in day mode. I thought perhaps having the IR on forced it into night mode so to check I turned the IR off, put the camera in day mode and used an external illuminator to determine if the camera can still see IR. As you can see it can. I've contacted the seller "Jack" and his response wan't very helpful. (Update: Sorted. We came to an arrangement to compensate for the difference between stated and actual capability.)



That is a list of the major differences I have confirmed to date between the specifications listed, and what I can determine from the camera.

Specification	Claimed in Listing	Actual on Received Camera
Model	IMP-HD785-FZ	Unknown – Model number not present in firmware
White Balance	Auto / Manual / One Touch WB / ATW	Auto/MWB
White Balance	Auto/Manual/ATW/Indoor/Outdoor/Daylight lamp/Sodium lamp	Auto/MWB
Day & Night	IR Cut Filter	Electronic Day Night
Shutter Speed	50Hz: 1~1/30,000s; 60Hz: 1~1/30,000s	1/25~1/30000S
Enhancement	Smart Defog: on/off	No Smart Defog
Day& Night	ICR	Electronic Day Night
Streams	Three Streams	Two Streams (Main and Sub stream)
Tilt Range	-5° ~ 92° (auto flip )	-10° ~ 90° (auto flip )
Protocols	IPv4/IPv6, HTTP, HTTPS, 802.1x, Qos, FTP, SMTP, UPnP,SNMP, DNS, DDNS, NTP, RTSP, RTP, TCP/IP, UDP, IGMP, ICMP, DHCP, PPPoE	Does Not have 802.1X or HTTPS functionality.

Blue Iris Setup

Blue Iris set up was easy. The camera auto detected. The PTZ didn't work until I changed the PTZ protcol to Hikvision. Haven't played with presets yet.

General thoughts.

It isn't a bad little camera. It was just dissapointing for it to arrive without many of the stated features.
What did surprise me was the IR performance. They claim 150m (500ft) and usually that means 150 feet. In one of my test shots I could distinguish people walking at 190m (633 feet) in poor lighting conditions. They were invisible to the naked eye. IR performance depends on zoom of course. Focus at longer ranges in poor light becomes a bit tough for the camera. The downside of such honking IR is that it is very easy to get an IR halo effect from the reflection off nearby objects. I would not buy this camera if the application required it to perform at 150m (500ft) all the time in poor light. At half that distance it performs well in very poor light so for most applications it will be very good, especially if there is better ambient light.

There are many happy reviews on Aliexpress in relation to this camera, and but for the fact that I was checking and comparing everything, I would probably be another blissfully ignorant and satisfied customer. Depending on the application I would consider buying another one but I would want to pay less for it. I don't know if I would buy it from Jack again for a few reasons. First is honesty. I dislike finding out that the camera is not to the stated specs in the listing, and the things I was told about the dates items were "shipped" clearly needed to be taken with a grain of salt. Second is the language barrier with Jack would be an issue in regards to after sales service. His english is better than my chinese but I don't think it would be good enough if you had a really curly problem. Finally I think Jack is just a reseller and his technical know how is limited.


Model numbers for Google
YC-HD785R-20X
IMP-HD785-FZ

 

[Larebear]

Thanks for starting this thread SyconsciousAu. That's a nice camera with great specs. Looking forward to hearing about it after it arrives.

I didn't know Jackie Chan was in the camera business now.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Thanks for starting this thread SyconsciousAu.

My pleasure, I was tempted to, but haven't, told Jack about this forum or this thread. I want to be the mystery shopper on this one so I can give an accurate review of his performance. I suspect if he knew I was doing a review I would have a tracking number this afternoon and it would be the best camera they ever put together, which whilst great for me, isn't good for the community as a whole and I don't want to be the guy that recommended a lemon.

That's a nice camera with great specs.

Whilst not a Darkfighter PTZ, at less than 1/4 the price I'm not complaining for that level of functionality and performance if everything is as advertised. I was testing their online camera (http://ipcctv8.oicp.net:9090/ U:admin P:Admin ) yesterday. The test camera allowed you change the settings and play with the auto tracking and I was quite pleased with the performance.



A couple of screen shots I took. I had a pretty good connection at the time but you can see how the quality of the shots changes with the performance of the connection / number of users. It's really bad at the moment.

Night performance looked good, even when I turned off slow shutter changed the shutter speed to 1/100, but it is a fairly well lit factory scene there so I think I will ground mount it and take it to a bushland area for testing when it gets here.

Auto tracking seemed to perform well if the area you were monitoring didn't have any trees in view. A moving tree would result in the camera chasing the leaves of the tree up the canopy which seems to be a known issue with auto tracking.

Looking forward to hearing about it after it arrives.

Already got the spot on the house picked out for it. Planning to integrate it with the other cameras in BI so that motion at particular points sends a preset call to the camera.

I didn't know Jackie Chan was in the camera business now.

Which is another reason I didn't tell him. If I write a bad review he might come over and kick my arse :laugh:

 

[wxman]

I'll be following this thread very closely as this seems to have the slow shutter speed (less than 1/25) that I've been looking for and the image quality looks good on that demo model....

However, I'm a little concerned by the fact that the demo test model is a different model than the camera listed in the advertisement that you've bought.

First off, the model numbers are different....The one listed in this ad that you bought is "YC-HD785R-20X" and "IMP-HD785-FZ"......However, if you go to the live demo cam and go under "configuration / system / device info", it says the model number you're testing is "CMR-HD130-20-KB".....Not sure exactly what each part of the model numbers mean, but the "HD130" in the test demo verses the "HD785" in the purchased model concerns me the most since it appears to be related to the actual camera module inside the housing...
(click image to enlarge)


As further proof that we're not testing the same model, I notice the tilt of the demo model only goes 0 to 90, whereas the ad of the item you purchased states that the tilt range is "-5 to 92"...

Third, I also note that the aperture range listed on the ad you bought says "F1.6 ~ F3.5"....However, this demo cam that we're looking at goes from F1.6 to F22 (see image below)



I'm curious as to what you'd actually be getting. Are the specs in the ad wrong? or is the demo an older model that's been mounted a while and we'd be ordering a newer, more advanced model? Or is the demo the more advanced model and what we'd be ordering is of lesser quality?

Needless to say, I'm anxiously awaiting your review and would love to see some screen captures of the settings (aperture range, shutter speed range, tilt range, etc.) on the model you receive.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

I'll be following this thread very closely as this seems to have the slow shutter speed (less than 1/25) that I've been looking for and the image quality looks good on that demo model....

However, I'm a little concerned by the fact that the demo test model is a different model than the camera listed in the advertisement that you've bought.

First off, the model numbers are different....The one listed in this ad that you bought is "YC-HD785R-20X" and "IMP-HD785-FZ"......However, if you go to the live demo cam and go under "configuration / system / device info", it says the model number you're testing is "CMR-HD130-20-KB".....Not sure exactly what each part of the model numbers mean, but the "HD130" in the test demo verses the "HD785" in the purchased model concerns me the most since it appears to be related to the actual camera module inside the housing...
(click image to enlarge)

Good pickup. I did a bit of googling and there are not alot of mentions of CMR-HD130-20-KB, but the most recent is dated 2012. Hopefully the test camera is an earlier model.

Third, I also note that the aperture range listed on the ad you bought says "F1.6 ~ F3.5"....However, this demo cam that we're looking at goes from F1.6 to F22 (see image below)

That one doesn't worry me too much because it is something you see all the time in cheaper zoom lenses where they can't maintain the largest aperture throughout the range. Better glass will do the maximum aperture throughout the range. It looks like they have only put the maximum aperture figures down

I'm curious as to what you'd actually be getting. Are the specs in the ad wrong? or is the demo an older model that's been mounted a while and we'd be ordering a newer, more advanced model? Or is the demo the more advanced model and what we'd be ordering is of lesser quality?

The joy of ordering from Ali Express but that's why I started this thread. Hopefully I haven't bought a pig in a poke but if I have you guys will know about it and can learn from my pain.

Needless to say, I'm anxiously awaiting your review and would love to see some screen captures of the settings (aperture range, shutter speed range, tilt range, etc.) on the model you receive.

Ill get them up as soon as i get it.

 

[wxman]

Sounds great! Please keep us posted.

I've been desperately trying to find a PTZ that will fit my needs for a while now. Been burned a few times already. It's so frustrating when they give inaccurate specs or specs that contradict each other at different places in the ads. If I could just find an example of one that does the job so that I could say "I want to order model number: xxxxx", it would be nice..It's getting tiring just blindly ordering stuff based on fake specs only to be let down. If we were talking about $5 gadgets, that would be one thing....but at $300 - $600+ a piece, it's too expensive for mistakes. The saddest part is it's so easy to confirm the accurate specs (by simply logging in and seeing what numbers are written on the screen) that even a child could do it.

 

[hunte88]

Sounds great! Please keep us posted.

I've been desperately trying to find a PTZ that will fit my needs for a while now. Been burned a few times already. It's so frustrating when they give inaccurate specs or specs that contradict each other at different places in the ads. If I could just find an example of one that does the job so that I could say "I want to order model number: xxxxx", it would be nice..It's getting tiring just blindly ordering stuff based on fake specs only to be let down. If we were talking about $5 gadgets, that would be one thing....but at $300 - $600+ a piece, it's too expensive for mistakes. The saddest part is it's so easy to confirm the accurate specs (by simply logging in and seeing what numbers are written on the screen) that even a child could do it.

I understand you. Think of it as I saw good or bad that many features are similar. With the same characteristics I choose the one that costs less. And if the features are not those reported then probably also the most expensive is not. I think so.
I do not think many models. I think there are those models with some extra feature as input / output modules analogic output etc. These differences raise prices.

 

[wxman]

One thing I've noticed on the demo model is the manual exposure doesn't seem to be working right. I try setting it to manual with a wide open iris and slow shutter. It works for a few seconds and the image brightens up but then it kicks back to auto mode after about 5 seconds and darkens. Yet it still says that it's in manual mode.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

One thing I've noticed on the demo model is the manual exposure doesn't seem to be working right. I try setting it to manual with a wide open iris and slow shutter. It works for a few seconds and the image brightens up but then it kicks back to auto mode after about 5 seconds and darkens. Yet it still says that it's in manual mode.

The demo model allows multiple log in, so it is entirely possible that someone else was messing with the settings at the same time you were.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Update:

I didn't check my emails for a few days until this afternoon when I discovered that Thursday evening I had received an email saying the cam has been sent but it will be three days before I get a tracking number. That doesn't fill me with confidence. In my mind sent means the courier has it and it is on it's way so it should have a tracking number. There is definitely a language barrier so he might mean the order has been processed and is awaiting pick up by the courier, or they have given it to some sort of intermediary who handles the shipping.

I should see a tracking number in my inbox by tomorrow though given his time frame. I'm not expecting one Sunday night.

Ducked down to Bunnings (Australia's sad version of Home Depot for my North American friends) and bought the timber I am going to use to build a ground mount for testing.

 

[hunte88]

Hey guys the demo cameras was not 1080p but it is 720p.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Hey guys the demo cameras was not 1080p but it is 720p.

With luck that means the camera will perform better than the demo.

An Update:

I havent got a tracking number yet. I emailed to ask where it was and was told it had been sent to DHL Hong Kong and I should get a tracking number tomorrow. He must have meant three working days.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Update:

Still no tracking number. The Aliexpress listing promises it will ship out within 7 business days so I figure they have until Thursday the 21st get a tracking number to me and still comply with their own stated time frames. I struggle a bit to believe that it was shipped 5 full days, and three full working days ago, and still there is no tracking number.

Updated Update:

Better late than never but a tracking number has arrived in my inbox.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016	Location	Time
1	Shipment information received	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	17:00

It's on the way. I may even get it by the weekend.

 

[lulu5kamz]

Update:

Still no tracking number. The Aliexpress listing promises it will ship out within 7 business days so I figure they have until Thursday the 21st get a tracking number to me and still comply with their own stated time frames. I struggle a bit to believe that it was shipped 5 full days, and three full working days ago, and still there is no tracking number.

Updated Update:

Better late than never but a tracking number has arrived in my inbox.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016	Location	Time
1	Shipment information received	HONG KONG - HONG KONG	17:00

It's on the way. I may even get it by the weekend.

After my Huisun Mini PTZ order got cancelled, I went and pulled the trigger on a Mini Dome PTZ. The unit is very small, only 4 inches in diameter. I found a couple of sellers of Ali Express that carried them. It does not have auto tracking as far as I can tell. But it is 1080P resolution with 20X Optical Zoom. Total purchase price with free Fex Ex International shipping was $169. According to their tracking, it is scheduled to be delivered on Friday January 22. If this works as advertised, I plan on putting it on our back deck where I currently have a Huisun mounted. I will also create a new thread and post a demo video.

 

[atom]

After my Huisun Mini PTZ order got cancelled, I went and pulled the trigger on a Mini Dome PTZ. The unit is very small, only 4 inches in diameter. I found a couple of sellers of Ali Express that carried them. It does not have auto tracking as far as I can tell. But it is 1080P resolution with 20X Optical Zoom. Total purchase price with free Fex Ex International shipping was $169. According to their tracking, it is scheduled to be delivered on Friday January 22. If this works as advertised, I plan on putting it on our back deck where I currently have a Huisun mounted. I will also create a new thread and post a demo video.

Sounds good. Could you post a link please?

 

[lulu5kamz]

Sounds good. Could you post a link please?

I purchased a Sunba 507-20XB model camera. According to Fed Ex tracking, camera is currently in Japan and scheduled to be delivered Friday. Sunba has 6 different models in the 507 Series camera. See the following thread for a similar model.


https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/3439-Review-Sunba-Tedh-507-20XC

 

[SyconsciousAu]

. According to Fed Ex tracking, camera is currently in Japan and scheduled to be delivered Friday.

Well at least you will have it to play with on the weekend. I'm beginning to doubt that I will have mine before next week. I did a google on the status "shipment information received" and it appears that the parcel is still not with DHL yet.

Found this explanation on another forum.

Hi, my experience is that it has nothing to do with DHL at all. Some sellers give your orders to a postal service agent who claims to be DHL. The agent is then supposed to transport without delay your orders to Hong Kong where there maybe another postal agent who very often wait for a convenient time to hand in the parcel to HK DHL office - probably this is because it is only their sideline job.The clever thing that postal agents often do at the very beginning is sending an email message to inform HK DHL saying that they have a parcel to be handed in. Doidng so they will automatically get a HK DHL tracking number showing on the tacking website that "shippment information recieved". This means nothing unles the parcel has been handed in and "shippment picked up or arrived at HK DHL facilities" message appears on the tracking website. ("Shippment picked up or arrived at HK DHL facilities" means the parcel has been handed in to DHL.) Your luck depends solely on the quality of postal agents, some of them treat an "Express" post as an EXPRESS one and take the parcel to HK DHL without delay and you can immediately see a renewed DHL online tracking message saying, "shippment picked up or arrvied. If you are unlucky and your seller uses a cheap, slow , unreliable and doddgy postal agent, they will take several hours or even 2-3 days to actually hand your order in to HK DHL. The trick here is that they can always give you a tracking number while the parcel is not on its way to HK DHL at all. What you see on DHL tracking information is always a "shippment information received" (without the shippment itself being recieved by HK DHL). When you chase sellers up, Ttere are many lies they can tell you inclduing "DHL is too busy to load your order to an airplane", "shipment van has been stopped and held by HK custom office for 2 days", "DHL has experienced some problem with new recruits", DHL bla bla bla ... while actually the delay has nothing to do with DHL at all. If you see "shippment information received" sticking there for days without any new movement, it means the delay is caused by the sellers' postal agents who may have to wait until they have enough orders to ship them together to HK, or their sub agents in HK do this as a sideline job and hand your parcel in only when they have spare time, or they just cross into HK once a week while telling you they do it every day, or the are trying to find a cheaper way to do it. Hope my experience helps you undestand why some "shippemnt information received" is on the DHL tracking website for several days without new movement (because the shippment has not actually been handed in to HK DHL facilities). Of course, doggy postal agent won't like me sharing this information with everyone, they always make up lies blaming DHL while it is themselves who cause the delay by not handing in the parcel to HK DHL facilities ontime.

Potentially I could be in for a few more days wait until it is actually shipped in any meaningful sense of the word. Fingers crossed for some movement. Might be the end of the working day but there is still a few hours till close of business in China.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Update:
Got an SMS in the early hours of this morning saying the package had been picked up by DHL so they are good to their word that the item will ship out in seven working days ... just.

DHL isnt messing around. The package is due by tomorrow.

 

[lulu5kamz]

My Sunba 507-20XB is at the local Fed Ex facility here in town six days after placing the order. According to the Fed Ex tracking, it is still listed for Friday delivery. Maybe that will change during the day so I can get it today instead.

 

[wxman]

DHL isnt messing around. The package is due by tomorrow.

Typically DHL takes 2 days from pickup to delivery; although I've had it take 3 days before...One time said it was out for delivery with the carrier but I didn't receive it until the next day. Apparently the driver ran out of time. Can also be customs delays which can delay up to a few days but fortunately I've never experienced them.

Can't wait to hear the results!