You mean like lying about the Lux capabilities because Hik gives you specs for Apertures they dont include in the optic package?
No surprise. All these chinese companies seem to be crooked in some way or another. I've got no kind of meter to test the Lux capabilities with other than the general visible scale (starlight, twilight, full moon, etc) and they've always seemed to match up pretty well. The Lux values are not calculated on slow shutter anyway, so running on slow shutter is likely giving me a better Lux rating than given in the specs anyway, which may be why I've not noticed any issues.
FYI The latest firmware for the Starlight Varifocal Bullet/Turret really improved the color balance in the daytime.. quite possible a firmware update will fix the issues your bitching about
That much sounds encouraging, although the color isn't the primary issue that I'm "bitching about"...Sure, the white balance issue is inconvenient, but as long as I can make a manual WB adjustment to correct the issue, then I can get by...What's really got my dander up is the shutter specs being 3x off. That's significantly less light-gathering time. I have little hope of a firmware update being able to fix this as the specs listed on the capabilities page says it's limited to approx 1/3...I can't see a firmware update forcing 1 second if the hardware is limited to 1/3 second. I can hope it was somehow capped at this value in error and can be fixed, but I'm not holding my breath.
Let me know when you find a Darkfighter Hik PTZ for $350 lol
You're missing the point. Again, the Lux values are not based on slow shutter. With a true one second shutter speed, I probably could get a lighter image than this without even needing a darkfighter/starlight ...There are non-darkfighter Hik PTZs in the $350 range...One of the latest ones lists the Lux as color: .02 / B&W: .005...Even if those specs are a bit off, the end result on a 1 second shutter speed would probably be brighter than this starlight cam since it's capped at 1/3...The sensor on the non-darkfighter Hik is less sensitive, but with the exposure time allowing several times more light gathering, the net result would be at least as good, if not better...The only benefit this starlight ptz would have would be at higher shutter speeds since it's capped from going to the slowest speeds.
This is a security camera, not a nature camera..sounds like you should be mounting a DLSR to a fixed mount w/some hacked firmware since you want photography instead of Security.
CCTV and IP Cams aren't strictly for security. They're for continuous, long term surveillance. It's not limited to just watching criminals. Transportation departments use them to monitor traffic, media companies use them to monitor weather, farmers use them to monitor crops, zoos use them to show off their animals on the web as advertising, etc...Biggest difference is the CCTV is for fixed, continuous, long term observation, where DSLR's and home movie cameras are used for portable, short term observation (with DSLR being geared toward the professional end of the spectrum). A DSLR or home movie camera isn't designed to be mounted outside and recording 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. They probably wouldn't last very long under those conditions. What I need is a CCTV IP Camera that lives up to the specs listed in it's advertisement.
The shutter is just as important to me as the pan range would be important to others. Wouldn't be too happy if you bought a 360 degree PTZ to cover your yard only to find out once you purchased it that it will only spin 120 degrees (a third of the expected amount)....You wouldn't be able to do with it the primary thing you had purchased it for. Same in my case, except instead of pan range, my issue is the shutter speed only being a third of the advertised specs...but when it's a dark scene that needed that slower shutter, the result is the same; I'm not able to do the primary reason I purchased it for. As a consumer, we have a right to expect products to match the specs it's advertised to have.
