Dahua HDW4431C

[Gdurham]

Hello,
I am looking into cameras for my house, originally I was looking at the hik 2342, and now looking at the Dahua HDW4431C.

Is there any performance difference between this and the hik?
Is there anything I should be concerned about with these not having metal bases?
Is this a good seller, http://goo.gl/DE4uNg
Can I configure/access these cameras from a mac?

Completely unrelated, when would a PTZ be useful, ive seen in a number of places on this forum that people say they are gimmicky, just would like to know if there is a time and place for them, for instance, would they be good if you need to cover two entrances (an alley way and access to door ways) and use triggers on the door to tell the PTZ to look there?

When does a verifocal/motorized lens become useful?

Thank you so much!

 

[bp2008]

Hello. To save space I have colored your questions instead of "quoting" them.

Is there any performance difference between this and the hik?
Not a lot.

Is there anything I should be concerned about with these not having metal bases?
It hasn't been a problem for me.

Is this a good seller, http://goo.gl/DE4uNg
Yes, that is the seller I prefer.

Can I configure/access these cameras from a mac?
Yes. I'm not sure if you can view video in their web interfaces from a mac but you can certainly configure them, and use Dahua PSS software to view/configure.

Completely unrelated, when would a PTZ be useful, ive seen in a number of places on this forum that people say they are gimmicky, just would like to know if there is a time and place for them, for instance, would they be good if you need to cover two entrances (an alley way and access to door ways) and use triggers on the door to tell the PTZ to look there?

In my experience, PTZs are mostly a toy. Sure you can trigger them to point where the action is, but usually for the same or less money you could just install several fixed cameras to monitor those locations continuously. The one thing PTZs do a lot better than fixed cameras is zoom. If you need a whole lot of zoom, a PTZ camera can deliver that where it would be a serious challenge to find a good fixed camera with an equivalent amount of zoom.

When does a verifocal/motorized lens become useful?

At installation time, mostly. This is so you can fine-tune the best field of view without having to guess at which lens size you should buy. Motorized varifocal can be controlled remotely but usually you won't bother.

 

[Gdurham]

Do you have a good recommendation on a NVR for these, I will be using the nvr in a remote location, and blue iris locally (2 different locations) I assume purchasing dahua is recommended due to the difference in ONVIF support?

 

[bp2008]

I only use Blue Iris, not NVRs, so I can't recommend one.

 

[Del Boy]

4-channel 4104
8-channel 4108
16-channel 4216
4K - 4208-4K or 4216-4K (wouldn't get that with these cameras)

 

[fabads]

Just received HDW4431C-A and NVR 4208-8P-4K and work well!

 

[Del Boy]

I should add that my sister has NVR-4208-8P-4K and that's what I will do if any of my Hikvision stuff goes kaboom.

 

[carolinatlc]

I'm looking at the same cameras with the NVR-4208-8P-4K NVR from the seller linked above. Maybe a dumb question but what is the selection for horizontal resolution for? I'm in the US so I would select NTSC for signal but not sure what the resolution selection is for as it is listed as a 4mp camera. Also, how do you select focal length? I'd like a couple wide angles 2.8mm and probably a couple medium 6mm cameras.

Where red is a good place to buy the NVR?

 

[nayr]

those are usually selections for lens type, read the description carefully.

 

[carolinatlc]

Yep, right there in bold red letters! Thanks, not sure how I missed that.

any idea of a good place to buy the DVR?

 

[nayr]

whomever has it cheapest shipped, this is Ali.. once the product is in your hands the transaction is done, its not like customer service is important when its non existant.

 

[Kawboy12R]

PTZs aren't gimmicks. Outdoor tracking on motion is the gimmick. The real usefulness of a PTZ for a homeowner comes when you're either using it live or, say, you park your car at a bit of a distance in different places. Alarm triggered zooming to a preset can also be quite useful. They're an addition to fixed cams, not a replacement for them.

 

[Gdurham]

Been getting yanked around by aliexpress, with the new verification stuff (sorry don't trust giving them any more information than they need) I was looking at ebay for these cameras, and came across these, however they say the firmware cannot be upgraded. Has anyone had any experience with these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dahua-IPC-HDW4431C-A-4MP-50M-IR-Support-PoE-Built-in-Mic-Network-Dome-Camera-/111360067727?hash=item19ed93c88f:g:x3AAAOSw0UdXqLeW

 

[bp2008]

I wasn't able to upgrade mine from aliexpress either. The good news is you aren't likely to brick it if you try. My cameras just rejected the firmware image. It is important to note, there was nothing wrong with mine on their original firmware. I just had been told that newer firmware enabled a slightly higher video resolution and I wanted to try it (but couldn't, obviously).

 

[Gdurham]

Thanks for the assist everyone, just ordered a bunch of these cameras and a 4216.

 

[fabads]

Where can we find firmwares for our Chinese 4431C-A?

 

[nayr]

why?

 

[Btan]

@Gdurham thanks for your post.

Would you mind mind sharing who you ended up buying your nvr and cameras from? And the 4216 would require a POE switch,correct?

 

[nayr]

incorrect, some come w/built in PoE.. some do not, look for like an P in the model number to indicate PoE built in.

 

[Gdurham]

I picked up this 4216 (no built in Poe switch) http://www.ebay.com/itm/401016759893

And a bunch of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111360067727