Dahua camera combo advice

Can I just check then that if I had no lighting where the camera would go then the issue with this cam would be poor quality low light images whereas the 5231/2231 would be much better
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Tonight I'll tack my 2231 up and shoot you a real-world video in the scene shown below, if fog doesn't return and foil my plan. This is where my 2.8mm Hik is slated to go. My gut reaction is, light or no light, the Hik Darkfighter will be quite competitive with the 2MP Dahua Starlights.

With floodlights in the plan, if it were me I would start with one of the Hiks you're planning on, and put it in the scene you're doubtful about. If you like the results, go ahead and track down the 6mm model for that spot. If not, buy your last camera accordingly. The 6mm does exist, Andy doesn't carry it (yet).

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mech said:
Tonight I'll tack my 2231 up and shoot you a real-world video in the scene shown below, if fog doesn't return and foil my plan. This is where my 2.8mm Hik is slated to go. My gut reaction is, light or no light, the Hik Darkfighter will be quite competitive with the 2MP Dahua Starlights.

With floodlights in the plan, if it were me I would start with one of the Hiks you're planning on, and put it in the scene you're doubtful about. If you like the results, go ahead and track down the 6mm model for that spot. If not, buy your last camera accordingly. It does exist, Andy doesn't carry it (yet).

View attachment 50528
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Thanks and sounds like a plan! If I went for the 4mm Hikvision it should definitely work for my front but I can also use it to test results at the side location as you say and then put it back at the front and figure out whether I go for the same cam but 6mm version or the 2231s...
 
FYI here is a sample video from last night from a 5231 (equal night performance to a 2231). It's at 7ms shutter, about 1/140th second, in a decently-lit parking lot, plus the cam has SmartIR enabled. It's zoomed out to maximum 13.5mm zoom (its actual job is to watch the park in the distance). Subject in this case is about 35 feet from the 5231. The additional IR light on the sidewalk he's approaching on is overspray from my LPR system's long-range IR. (to clarify, the black&white segment is the 5231, while the color segment is the Hik 8MP).

Pardon the lead-in time on the video, it lets YouTube get past its pixelated phase.

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Above, here is your first Dahua 2231 sample from The Dark Side. This is forced color. Other settings are default. The takeaway here is probably just that forced color is a bad idea with this little light. :)



Above is your second sample, same settings except the camera's in B/W mode using Smart IR. This is at 2.8mm, the widest the lens can go, so a target at 20 feet is not close enough to ID them. I'm carrying a jumbo box of Lucky Charms cereal.



Above, here is something more relevant to your corridor scenario. I've ditched AUTO mode and set the shutter speed manually to 0ms-3ms range, limited Gain to 50, and reduced Noise Reduction to just a couple ticks above the minimum necessary. Considering the camera is looking straight down the IR beam, and you can still get some facial detail inside 15ft range, this is pretty good. I'd still prefer full color, it's a lot easier to track down your perp when you know what his clothes and gear look like in daylight.

The fire hydrant in the scene is about 30 feet out, for reference. The camera was zoomed to 1380 out of 2400, which per the Focal Length Calculator at Focal Length Calculator happens to come out to 6.0mm. Hope this is some help in your quest :)
 
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Stuff suddenly got real, the 2231 test cam picked up this interesting guy with a pistol, a machette, and a bandana mask. I should have had him stand still so I could dial in my settings... *sigh*


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freddyq said:
Can I just check then that if I had no lighting where the camera would go then the issue with this cam would be poor quality low light images whereas the 5231/2231 would be much better.
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IMO, one way of roughly judging that is to look at the cameras' minimum color illumination spec (on the tech specs sheet).

Hikvision usually only publishes one value. Dahua used to publish two ... one with a shutter speed of 1/30s <which is a starting point for most folks at night>, the other is a much slower 1/3s shutter speed <which IMO very few folks would ever use at night>. Hik's one spec seems to be 1/3s, so when comparing to Dahua, if Dahua lists two specs, use Dahua's 1/3s spec. Lately Dahua seems to only be listing one spec (1/3s).
 
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OK so now considering the following four Dahua cams:

HDW5231R-ZE
HDW2231T-ZS-S2
T5442TM-AS
HDW3541T-ZAS

I've got some questions...

What exactly are the important differences between the HDW5231R-ZE and HDW2231T-ZS-S2? Main things I've picked up are that the 2231 only supports up to 30fps whereas the 5231 supports 60fps. Going on @aristobrat's advice above I've also noticed that the 2231's min illumination is 0.002 @ F1.5 whereas the 5231's is 0.005 @ F1.4 so I think that means the 2231's low light performance would be a bit better? If I'm going to discount the 5231 I just want to be clear what I'm losing in going with the 2231. Based on what I've read on this forum it seems up to 30fps is more than sufficient...

Secondly, as far as the T5442TM-AS goes I think I would have settled on this for the front of my house had I not seen the last day or so worth of posts on the review thread! It seems some build quality issues have surfaced with the cam being loose in it's base even when the set screw is fully tightened. I'm hesitant to buy a camera which may have an issue like this in the current batch so will probably just have to monitor but seems a big shame...

Finally, specs-wise the HDW3541T-ZAS which @tibimakai pointed out actually does look quite good. Bumped up MP for better daytime footage but not bumped as high as 8MP impacting the low light performance, it's a varifocal turret, good Starlight sensor size and a min illumination of 0.005 @ F1.5 which is good. I just don't know what the deal is with this cam in terms of availability and other people's thoughts...
 
"....the 2231's min illumination is 0.002 @ F1.5 whereas the 5231's is 0.005 @ F1.4 so I think that means the 2231's low light performance would be a bit better? ..."

One is F1.5 and one is F1.6 -The lower the F stop the more light it can let in. F1.5 is lower than F1.6.

But yeah in theory the new 2231T-ZS-S2 should be a smidge better in low light

5231R-ZE 0.006Lux/F1.6 ( Color,1/3s,30IRE)

2231T-ZS-S2 0.002 Lux@F1.5
 
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Not yet. On Alibaba you can and order it, but they expect you to buy more than 1 camera. It will take like 3 weeks for them to get the camera ready to ship.
I will wait for this, or other varifocal camera to show up. I will run the wire there and wait with the camera.
 
freddyq said:
If I'm going to discount the 5231 I just want to be clear what I'm losing in going with the 2231.
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I've always told myself that if the 2231 was available back when I bought all of my 5231s I still would have gone with the 5231s because they have built-in mics (and I'm weird and like hearing the sound of the neighborhood when checking in remotely). But with @looney2ns's comment about the 2231 S2 being an "improvement definitely" over the 5231, now I'm thinking I would have gone with the 2231 S2.

IIRC, the 5231 had a couple of fit/finish issues in its early days, so def. keep an eye on the posts about the 5442 models. I'd expect that to get ironed out sooner than later.
 
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On the subject of audio, check your laws to make sure it's not technically illegal to record conversations without consent. In my country and state (United States, state of Washgington) it's not allowed, which could be a technicality that results in evidence being inadmissible in court. You would not want that outcome after, say, a home invasion or a shooting.

I'll add that I do have one cam with audio enabled, but the mic is at 1% and BlueIris records it at minimum gain. Its only job is to detect and record gunshots or other extremely loud noises. We had a guy fire off a very large firework Sunday night which made a great test. The cam got that one, no problem.
 
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OK so now considering the following four Dahua cams:

HDW5231R-ZE
HDW2231T-ZS-S2
T5442TM-AS
HDW3541T-ZAS

I've got some questions...

What exactly are the important differences between the HDW5231R-ZE and HDW2231T-ZS-S2? Main things I've picked up are that the 2231 only supports up to 30fps whereas the 5231 supports 60fps. Going on @aristobrat's advice above I've also noticed that the 2231's min illumination is 0.002 @ F1.5 whereas the 5231's is 0.005 @ F1.4 so I think that means the 2231's low light performance would be a bit better? If I'm going to discount the 5231 I just want to be clear what I'm losing in going with the 2231. Based on what I've read on this forum it seems up to 30fps is more than sufficient...

Secondly, as far as the T5442TM-AS goes I think I would have settled on this cam had I not seen the last day or so worth of posts on the review thread! It seems some build quality issues have surfaced with the cam being loose even when the set screw is fully tightened. I'm hesitant to buy a camera which may have an issue like this in the current batch so will probably just have to monitor...

Finally, specs-wise the
tibimakai said:
Not yet. On Alibaba you can and order it, but they expect you to buy more than 1 camera. It will take like 3 weeks for them to get the camera ready to ship.
I will wait for this, or other varifocal camera to show up. I will run the wire there and wait with the camera.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Has @EMPIRETECANDY said anything about it here?
 
aristobrat said:
I've always told myself that if the 2231 was available back when I bought all of my 5231s I still would have gone with the 5231s because they have built-in mics (and I'm weird and like hearing the sound of the neighborhood when checking in remotely). But with @looney2ns's comment about the 2231 S2 being an "improvement definitely" over the 5231, now I'm thinking I would have gone with the 2231 S2.

IIRC, the 5231 had a couple of fit/finish issues in its early days, so def. keep an eye on the posts about the 5442 models. I'd expect that to get ironed out sooner than later.
Click to expand...
Ah so mic is another important difference...possibly not a deal breaker for me because I plan on having a Nest Hello doorbell on the door with two-way audio anyway but good one to know. Also, I'm still torn on the camera over-looking the front of my house - I'm wanting something like the 5442 or HDW3541T-ZAS which would give me that improvement in day footage without compromising night footage too much, plus as I've said before there is some ambient light at the front from street lights and neighbours so I'd expect a camera with higher MP to give me good low light footage. At the side and rear of my house I think it's going to be the 2231 S2.
 
The issue with the IPC-T5442TM-AS is it's fixed lens. Is there a 4-5MP turret style cam out there with varifocal lens and 1/1.8" sensor?? Feels like this type of cam would be ideal for the front of my house...but I haven't come across one!
 
It seems like, you need exactly what I need, a 4-5MP varifocal.
Somebody could enlighten me please, which sensor is better, 1.8, 2.7 or 2.8?
 
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