Comparing Cameras

[Grierts]

I also currently have a few, three, 5442s. Two are fixed focus turrets and one is the varifocal bullet. I like them even more than the 3241 in most cases. The 5442 is even better in low light, both color and B&W. Again, it all comes down to what you're trying to cover and how big your budget is. You really can't go wrong with either one. I will say that my "default" of 3.6mm for close in lenses has changed to 6mm but I tend to install more than one camera to cover each area so I still get the overviews albeit through multiple cameras.

How many cameras are you running?

How many per side of your house ?

Have you seen my google drive video above ?

I'd like your input on camera placement

I found some 5442 fixed lens on ebay for $130.

While the 3241 vari lens cost $134 from Andy.

I think a mixture of fixed and vari lens is better than just all 5442 fixed lens. Andys vari lens 5442 cost $195 which is a little too high per camera

 

[wittaj]

You have asked opinions in lots of places here. Everyone will have a different opinion. At some point only you can decide what you want to cover and how best to cover it with your budget.

Personally, I would choose a varifocal over a fixed lens in most situations. The fixed lens gives a nice overview, but the first time something happens and you cannot identify, you will wish you had a varifocal that you could zoom in more for the next event.

When we had a thief come thru here and get into a lot of cars, the police couldn't use one video or photo from anyone's system that had fixed 2.8mm or 3.6mm cams - those cams sure looks nice and gives a great wide angle view, but you cannot identify anyone at 15 feet out and at night you cannot even ID someone from 10 feet, especially on auto shutter that so many run cams at . Meanwhile, the perp didn't come to my house but walked past on the sidewalk at 80 feet from my house and my 2MP varifocal zoomed in to a point at the sidewalk was the money shot for the police that got my neighbors all there stolen stuff back.

In fact my system was the only one that gave them useful information. Not even my other neighbors $1,300 4k Lorex system from Costco provided useful info - the cams just didn't cut it at night. His system wasn't even a year old and after that event has started replacing with cameras he bought from @EMPIRETECANDY based on my recommendation and seeing my results - fortunately those cams work with the Lorex NVR. He is still shocked a 2MP camera performs better than his 4k cameras... It is all about the amount of light needed and getting the right camera for the right location.

My first few systems were all 2.8mm lens and while the picture looked great in daytime, to identify someone you didn't know is impossible unless they are within 10 feet of the camera, and even then it is tough. You are getting the benefit coming to this site of hearing thoughts from people that have been there/done that.

We all hate to be that guy with a system and something happens and the event demonstrates how poor our system was and then we start the update process. My neighbor with his expensive Lorex fixed lens cam is that guy right now and is still fuming his system failed him.

Main keys are you can't locate too high 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 Full Color and the like - all cameras need light - simple physics...

The best advice we give is purchase one varifocal camera and test it at each location you want to install a camera and confirm the lens you need.

 

[Grierts]

You have asked opinions in lots of places here. Everyone will have a different opinion. At some point only you can decide what you want to cover and how best to cover it with your budget.

Personally, I would choose a varifocal over a fixed lens in most situations. The fixed lens gives a nice overview, but the first time something happens and you cannot identify, you will wish you had a varifocal that you could zoom in more for the next event.

When we had a thief come thru here and get into a lot of cars, the police couldn't use one video or photo from anyone's system that had fixed 2.8mm or 3.6mm cams - those cams sure looks nice and gives a great wide angle view, but you cannot identify anyone at 15 feet out and at night you cannot even ID someone from 10 feet, especially on auto shutter that so many run cams at . Meanwhile, the perp didn't come to my house but walked past on the sidewalk at 80 feet from my house and my 2MP varifocal zoomed in to a point at the sidewalk was the money shot for the police that got my neighbors all there stolen stuff back.

In fact my system was the only one that gave them useful information. Not even my other neighbors $1,300 4k Lorex system from Costco provided useful info - the cams just didn't cut it at night. His system wasn't even a year old and after that event has started replacing with cameras he bought from @EMPIRETECANDY based on my recommendation and seeing my results - fortunately those cams work with the Lorex NVR. He is still shocked a 2MP camera performs better than his 4k cameras... It is all about the amount of light needed and getting the right camera for the right location.

My first few systems were all 2.8mm lens and while the picture looked great in daytime, to identify someone you didn't know is impossible unless they are within 10 feet of the camera, and even then it is tough. You are getting the benefit coming to this site of hearing thoughts from people that have been there/done that.

We all hate to be that guy with a system and something happens and the event demonstrates how poor our system was and then we start the update process. My neighbor with his expensive Lorex fixed lens cam is that guy right now and is still fuming his system failed him.

Main keys are you can't locate too high 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 Full Color and the like - all cameras need light - simple physics...

The best advice we give is purchase one varifocal camera and test it at each location you want to install a camera and confirm the lens you need.

Yes I definitely have asked. Lot of people for their opinions. I just want to ensure i am making the right decision.

I will probably order one 3241 vari lens and one 5442 3.6mm lens and see how they compare and where is good camera placement.

Ill order those two cameras and try to find the best placement at my new house.

With so many experts here, it is Soo easy to get analysis paralysis, and just keep wanting to hear everyones opinion

 

[wittaj]

The key is you are listening and at least committed to purchasing quality cameras. And yep, analysis paralysis is real with camera selection LOL. We have all been there!

Many come here and ask, don't listen and get mad and defensive at the recommendations and then go buy a Night Owl or Reolink or some other big box store camera and then come here weeks later asking how to improve the camera You can only do so much with consumer grade, appeal to the masses, cameras.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I would strongly advise against buying cameras from eBay and use extreme caution if buying from AliExpress. You have no way to know with real certainty if what you are buying is really an International version of firmware or a hacked-to-English Chinese version. Hacked Chinese firmware cannot be upgraded and, if you try to upgrade it, will normally turn you nice camera into a useless brick. They may be priced lower, but that low price can be expensive when things go wrong, see Murphy's Law.

Andy, EmpireTechAndy, is a member of this forum, has a thread in the vendor area, supplies authentic OEM International versions of Dahua and Hikvision and is extremely reputable. He ships worldwide and shipping time from him, in Hong Kong, to me on the East Coast is normally under four days. He also stands behind the products he sells and often gets firmware updates far ahead of when Dahua "publishes" them and many times seems to get custom firmware based on testing by other members of this forum. Drop him an email with what you're interested in and check out his pricing. He also has an Amazon store.

Andy
IPCT Thread

EmpireTech Andy

Dahua products

ipcamtalk.com

Andy's Store

Amazon.com

King Security/EmpireTech Store

Amazon.com

Email
Andy Wang kingsecurity2014@163.com

 

[samplenhold]

I will probably order one 3241 vari lens and one 5442 3.6mm lens and see how they compare and where is good camera placement.

Not sure why you would get the 5442 in 3.6mm when you do not know if that would work in a specific location. Trying to compare the 3241 varifocal to a 5442 3.6mm is an apples to oranges comparison.

Make sure you test each locations BEFORE running cables and mounting cam.

 

[Wildcat_1]

That is great to know.

I am thinking about doing a mixture of 5442 and 3241 ? What do you think about that ?

Either 3 of each or 4 of each.

So i have some vari focus cams and some fixed lens

Pickup a 5442 vari turret as mentioned above then move it around the house, temp install in each location you are interested in having a cam (you'll be needing CAT runs anyway). Try it out in day and night, dialed in then make your decision from there would be my recommendation at this point. That way you are only out the cost of 1 cam +SD card (pickup a Samsung Pro Endurance 128gb SD card like THIS that I highly recommend so you don't even have to mess with BI or NVR first, minimal investment). Then if you like what you see, expand to the other cams. Really no reason to go with 2MP's at this point with the x442's being so good UNLESS as I mentioned you a) have a specific use case such as LPR at long distance in which case 5241-Z12 OR incredibly low light that you cannot (key here is cannot) fix with additional lighting. Other than that I strongly recommend the x442's any day of the week

 

[sebastiantombs]

I just happen to have a 5442T, 6mm, and a 3241T-ZAS sitting side by side on a window sill doing a "burn in"(AKA I haven't gotten motivated enough to make their mounting brackets yet). Here's a screen cap from UI3 for comparison. The 3241 is zoomed in somewhere around 8-10mm which is why the difference in view. The 5442 is on the left and the 3241 is on the right.

 

[Grierts]

I just happen to have a 5442T, 6mm, and a 3241T-ZAS sitting side by side on a window sill doing a "burn in"(AKA I haven't gotten motivated enough to make their mounting brackets yet). Here's a screen cap from UI3 for comparison. The 3241 is zoomed in somewhere around 8-10mm which is why the difference in view. The 5442 is on the left and the 3241 is on the right.

View attachment 84498

Looking at this image both cameras look damn near comparable.

Night shots ?

Moving targets at night/day?

I know I could just look at some reviews on this website.

 

[Grierts]

Not sure why you would get the 5442 in 3.6mm when you do not know if that would work in a specific location. Trying to compare the 3241 varifocal to a 5442 3.6mm is an apples to oranges comparison.

Make sure you test each locations BEFORE running cables and mounting cam.

I guess your right. Ill probably just do it simple drop $200 with Andy on the 5442 vari. And start testing from there !!!

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'll post a night shot once it gets dark here. Neither have any ghosting in motion video at night. I haven't really fine tuned either of them, yet, and won't do that until they are in their permanent locations on the front of the house. You will see a difference between the two in the night shot with the 5442 being a better picture. You can't go wrong with the 5442 varifocal, just be aware that the F stop, speed, of the lens is slower in any lens that has zoom when compared to the same focal length in a fixed lens. To be a true comparison, they should both be the same lens and focal length.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Here's the night shot -

 

[Grierts]

Here's the night shot -

View attachment 84523

Sheesh i cannot tell a difference between the two ; night or day

Can you see a difference??

 

[wittaj]

It's why we say don't believe the 4k hype

Now granted these are not 4K examples, but shows why we say do not chase MP. All cameras need light and at night when it matters the most and you have to run infrared, in my experience the 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor is adequate. Unless you get a great deal on the 4MP on the 1/1.8" sensor, I would go with a varifocal 2MP.

I do think the above example it does appear that the 5442 is a tad brighter and can pick up some items to the left of the shed, but you could probably dial in the 2MP to be little lighter as well.

As always YMMV. But in my install location and my light conditions, I do not see enough difference between my 5442 and whatever model my 2MP cams are to justify the added expense. I picked my 5442 up on one of Andy's sales and thus the price difference wasn't as great which was why I got it to try it. I can see how it would be superior to the 2MP with the right light conditions that I do not have and @samplehold does! I am sure the 5442 beats a 2MP at his one location.

Maybe get a 4MP and 2MP varifocal and test at each location to help decide future purchases...

 

[tigerwillow1]

The big difference between the 5231 and 5442 series is when there's motion with low light. I posted some side-by-side camera pictures a while back:
Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+

The detail difference isn't only with the moving animal, but also with the chain link fence and grass blades.