Dahua really terrible software

[Vampirtc2]

I bought several Dahua IP cameras and after a few years I'm really dissapointed, especially when I was given Imou camera for free unexpected and comparing the software its like day and night.
I was never really able to configure having access from my phone to cameras with DMSS, sometimes it worked for a month, then it stopped. When using SD card two cameras didn't overwrite when running out of space, had to do it manually.
I got Dahua SD49225XA-HNR it was supposed to have auto tracking, it doesn't. And the software is as bad as with sub 100€ Dahua cameras. Yesterday DMSS was working, today its not.
At one location I'm using Blue Iris and the cameras are doing fine, but when compared to 30€ Imou that even does sound for my purpose Imou is superior in every way just because the software works (so far). I spent at least 50 hours trying to figure out Dahua and I'm far from tech unsavvy.

So in the end is Dahua ment just for enthusiasts and/or professional installers or am I missing something?

 

[wittaj]

The 49225 is a great autotracking PTZ, but if the firmware was updated, autotracking was removed from the PTZ. And the newer versions of the 49225 (S2 versions) do not support autotracking and will not accept autotracking firmware.

Most of us here don't use DMSS because it is clunky. That is why people use Blue Iris or if they have a NVR, they use the consumer version Lorex or Amcrest app or SmartPSS that is better than DMSS.

But you are correct, in the end Dahua is meant for professional installers - we are not the Dahua and Hikvision target audience, it is the professional installers that are authorized to sell and install this gear, so we cannot purchase directly and thus they will not take your phone call for support related questions or suggestions - they will tell you to talk to the installer you purchased from for sales, support or firmware updates.

Many people have bought a "Hikvision" or "Dahua" from Amazon or some shady foreign website and when they call Hikvision or Dahua for support they basically tell them to go pound salt - we have dozens of threads were people come here after trying that route. We simply are not their intended market to sell to and they will not take your call for support...Lot's of threads here confirming this, including one from a few months ago where someone tried to call for support and they told them sorry talk to your installer.

Further, since their intended market are retail and commercial establishments with lots of light, they can usually get by with default settings and do not have a need to get into the GUI to make changes. They are simply looking for the ability to live stream the video and be able to record.

We are just fortunate to be able to get our hands on these types of cameras and a forum like this to help us troubleshoot when needed.

So if you want the pretty software and app interfaces, you need to go to either their consumer lines (usually with inferior sensors and materials) like IMOU, Lorex, Amcrest, etc. that are Dahua OEM or worse the consumer big box store stuff like Ring, Arlo, Reolink, Nest, etc. that all have better user interfaces.

The differences are they will perform poorly at night.

So one needs to decide do they want better performing cameras or the simplicity and pretty apps from consumer grade cameras and then get video that looks like this and is useless:

The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.

Love these posts on Nextdoor type apps LOL. This thread will be used for members to post the poor quality consumer grade type camera images that we see people post to the Nextdoor type apps. Can anyone make out this person that went thru their cars LOL.... And this thread is where members...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[mat200]

I bought several Dahua IP cameras and after a few years I'm really dissapointed, especially when I was given Imou camera for free unexpected and comparing the software its like day and night.
I was never really able to configure having access from my phone to cameras with DMSS, sometimes it worked for a month, then it stopped. When using SD card two cameras didn't overwrite when running out of space, had to do it manually.
I got Dahua SD49225XA-HNR it was supposed to have auto tracking, it doesn't. And the software is as bad as with sub 100€ Dahua cameras. Yesterday DMSS was working, today its not.
At one location I'm using Blue Iris and the cameras are doing fine, but when compared to 30€ Imou that even does sound for my purpose Imou is superior in every way just because the software works (so far). I spent at least 50 hours trying to figure out Dahua and I'm far from tech unsavvy.

So in the end is Dahua ment just for enthusiasts and/or professional installers or am I missing something?

Hello @Vampirtc2

@wittaj did a great reply on this topic ..

just wanted to add a couple of items ..

Dahua and Hikvision and others make money on the initial sale of the cameras through their wholesalers. As they do not have a monthly subscription fees for cloud applications, they are not inclined to pay developers to make the best apps / applications for iphones / android phones nor other consumer friendly devices.

For most of us we found the way to maximize this is to use the professional quality cameras from Dahua and Hikvision with better 3rd party software .. ( like Blue Iris )

For me, I like a core on premise security camera setup and a couple of cloud cameras for alerts covering the front door / driveway .. while it is nice to have it all in one package / vendor .. I found it impossible to get all my requirement filled by one system / vendor.

note: Imou = Dahua OEM, so not certain how they branched the software for that line ..

 

[bigredfish]

DMSS works fine for me