Dahua Chinese versions from Aliexpress
- Thread starter Jomsha
- Start date
SouthernYankee
IPCT Contributor
No.. you do not know what you are getting. I have a few of them, will be replacing them with dahua starlight.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
Buy it! Great deal. Then you will learn your lesson! Its as if this forum does not exists and you cant fined info on hacked cameras. Some people need to lean the hard way.
I've voiced my opinion a few times. Here are 2 examples:
Purchasing Dahua from Amazon Vs EmpireTech: Firmware Updates
Dahua cams on Amazon for cheap
Is it worth it?
If you want the best low light or night image, no.
If you use will use a Dahua NVR, no.
If you're not at least a bit technically inclined, no.
If you want any support from the seller, no.
If getting twice as many cameras for the same money is the important thing, maybe. When I started out a few years ago, the camera count was important to me, I wasn't willing to spend a lot, and went with all Chinese market cameras. The installed system proved its value to me, and now the better night vision has become more important than the camera cost. I'm about 50-50 now with the Chinese market and international starlight cameras, and any new ones will be the international starlights. I'm secretly hoping for the Chinese market cameras to die, and one of them did fulfill my wish recently.
Purchasing Dahua from Amazon Vs EmpireTech: Firmware Updates
Dahua cams on Amazon for cheap
Is it worth it?
If you want the best low light or night image, no.
If you use will use a Dahua NVR, no.
If you're not at least a bit technically inclined, no.
If you want any support from the seller, no.
If getting twice as many cameras for the same money is the important thing, maybe. When I started out a few years ago, the camera count was important to me, I wasn't willing to spend a lot, and went with all Chinese market cameras. The installed system proved its value to me, and now the better night vision has become more important than the camera cost. I'm about 50-50 now with the Chinese market and international starlight cameras, and any new ones will be the international starlights. I'm secretly hoping for the Chinese market cameras to die, and one of them did fulfill my wish recently.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
Yes, they are worth it....
I am running mostly all copies of the brand names,I have 3 Dahua and 1 Hik, rest are the same but no name.
All wired IP cams mostly in the 4mp range.and they are working very good so far/1 year. I cant afford 20 cameras @ $200-400 each. I do have a couple that are $200, but the brand name of it is like $600!
They may not come with good starting documentation, but some are excellent cameras. I have a 10x zoom Insunn that was about 150, and this thing is excellent picture and very good at night as well. excellent sweep of PTZ and zoom is great. A few bullet, and they are doing well so far.
I would only think they may have upgrade issues in the future, as some software companies are LINKED to the name brands, and force an update to kick off the off-brand contenders. The industry is well protected. I was in it years ago, Bunch of bullies. But I was hoping that has changed over the decade... ?
I am running mostly all copies of the brand names,I have 3 Dahua and 1 Hik, rest are the same but no name.
All wired IP cams mostly in the 4mp range.and they are working very good so far/1 year. I cant afford 20 cameras @ $200-400 each. I do have a couple that are $200, but the brand name of it is like $600!
They may not come with good starting documentation, but some are excellent cameras. I have a 10x zoom Insunn that was about 150, and this thing is excellent picture and very good at night as well. excellent sweep of PTZ and zoom is great. A few bullet, and they are doing well so far.
I would only think they may have upgrade issues in the future, as some software companies are LINKED to the name brands, and force an update to kick off the off-brand contenders. The industry is well protected. I was in it years ago, Bunch of bullies. But I was hoping that has changed over the decade... ?
SouthernYankee
IPCT Contributor
hehe, you maybe very correct on what maybe possible. The IR on the 10x is very good, BUT the FPS is likely slow and getting blurred images with trails. BUT its always blowing out the plates on cars as the IR is strong on the reflective material and anything bright.
The other is a copy or OEM version of the Hikvision Dome. The IR is OUTSIDE the dome Which I think ALL dome cams should be designed this way. The software on this and the 10x zoom I mention above are very similar. They display the zoom and PTZ axis as you maneuver them.
This has good low lux vision with 4x zoom, but 2mp. It was about $170. The Insunn PTZ is also very good with IR and zoom. I can tell you that at night there was a kid running across my yard and the Hikvision copy dome camera barely got a few frames, but it was further out in the dark, likely detected motion too slow.
I have a couple Onwot PTZ's and these are EXCELLENT in day time, but I think my lenses were dirty or they suck at night, as they didnt pick up motion. I plan to use IR-Motion lights to help this before I get rid of the cameras, as they are so good otherwise.
One thing I have yet to figure out is how to use MANUAL focus on these varifocal cameras. I have some foreground that often gets in the way of my intended focal point.
I also have a MorphStar which I regret. They were pricey at 150$ , and the Dahua's I have are far superior and less expensive($90). All my cams have audio over Ethernet. So FPS at night is an issue unless you have sufficient IR or motion sensor lights that kick on. But fast movements at night are a challenge to those sensors as well. I remember RAB sensors being pretty solid, but most lights come with basic low grade stuff.
The other is a copy or OEM version of the Hikvision Dome. The IR is OUTSIDE the dome Which I think ALL dome cams should be designed this way. The software on this and the 10x zoom I mention above are very similar. They display the zoom and PTZ axis as you maneuver them.
This has good low lux vision with 4x zoom, but 2mp. It was about $170. The Insunn PTZ is also very good with IR and zoom. I can tell you that at night there was a kid running across my yard and the Hikvision copy dome camera barely got a few frames, but it was further out in the dark, likely detected motion too slow.
I have a couple Onwot PTZ's and these are EXCELLENT in day time, but I think my lenses were dirty or they suck at night, as they didnt pick up motion. I plan to use IR-Motion lights to help this before I get rid of the cameras, as they are so good otherwise.
One thing I have yet to figure out is how to use MANUAL focus on these varifocal cameras. I have some foreground that often gets in the way of my intended focal point.
I also have a MorphStar which I regret. They were pricey at 150$ , and the Dahua's I have are far superior and less expensive($90). All my cams have audio over Ethernet. So FPS at night is an issue unless you have sufficient IR or motion sensor lights that kick on. But fast movements at night are a challenge to those sensors as well. I remember RAB sensors being pretty solid, but most lights come with basic low grade stuff.
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As far as the camera quality goes (i.e. ignoring the other issues like support and upgrading), my experience is that it's tough to make a good general statement. I've looked at the internals of 3 chinese market dahua models I have, and 3 international market dahua models I also have, and they sure look to me like they use the same components and have the same build quality. Wouldn't surprise me if they roll off the same assembly line. The difference I see is that the lower price chinese market cameras are just lower-end models, with small sensors and sometimes plastic cases. The lower end international models have these characteristics, too. I've not seen any chinese market starlights for sale on amazon/ali/ebay (regardless of what the seller is claiming). Performance depends a lot on individual models. I began my journey with some higher-end official USA rebranded hikvision cameras. The image quality was so bad I was on the verge of chucking the whole project. Out of desperation, I tried a chinese market dahua camera that was half the price of the hikvisions, and the image was stellar by comparison. Next I tried a chinese market hikvision camera with the same specs as the dahua camera, and its image was lousy. I'll stand up and say the chinese market 4431-series dahuas are good cameras, just as good as the starlights in terms of daylight image and build quality. At night, the starlights have a pretty good image advantage over them.
Andy sometimes stocks what look like international equivalents of the chinese market cameras. When he first had them it looked to me like the cost was about $10 to $15 more per camera vs. the chinese market equivalents. Well worth it, IMO, for the reliability and support of the seller, and that they should play well with a dahua nvr.
Andy sometimes stocks what look like international equivalents of the chinese market cameras. When he first had them it looked to me like the cost was about $10 to $15 more per camera vs. the chinese market equivalents. Well worth it, IMO, for the reliability and support of the seller, and that they should play well with a dahua nvr.
I can agree with your testament, and yes, the Dahua bullet cams I have, not sure of their source are excellent for the model and night vision. Not sure on the FPS at night, but they have a clear image in both color and BW output. I have the DH-IPChfw4631h-zsa. I paid $50 MORE for MorphXStar 8MP, and they actually are poor at night, although claiming "Starvis". But the image in low light is blotchy and less resolving visibility than the Dahua. Morphstar claimed it is due to LED placement they now improved in a design, which doesnt help someone who spent hundreds of dollars on their cameras. I can say the same in bad design to dome cameras, as they are often bad in overhand situations for night LED monitoring as any glare off the dome reflects back in the lens causing all sorts of refraction and reflection issues.
The OnWote PTZ for under $200 are actually pretty great. I have Amcrest as well as GW and USG, Inesun, Linksys(older), HikVision, Foscam(older) and HDV6iew..these are pretty current models.
SO instead of upgrading these, I will be installing motion sensor lights to activate ahead of the camera "expected" capture target, before any other drastic measures.
So far I have about 6 out of the 23 cameras total that are supposed to be up and running. But since I changed systems from the older PC box to a new i7-8700, MOST of the cameras dont show up!
I may need to do some reseting something ? I dont know what?
The OnWote PTZ for under $200 are actually pretty great. I have Amcrest as well as GW and USG, Inesun, Linksys(older), HikVision, Foscam(older) and HDV6iew..these are pretty current models.
SO instead of upgrading these, I will be installing motion sensor lights to activate ahead of the camera "expected" capture target, before any other drastic measures.
So far I have about 6 out of the 23 cameras total that are supposed to be up and running. But since I changed systems from the older PC box to a new i7-8700, MOST of the cameras dont show up!
I may need to do some reseting something ? I dont know what?
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