Dahua Starlight Varifocal Bullet (IPC-HFW5231E-Z)

About my comment about not being able to remove the camera from the front of the pipe when using a reducer, I finally realized there's more than one way to build this thing, and the first one I envisioned wasn't the best way to do it. I now see the picture I think the rest of you are seeing.
 
tigerwillow1 said:
About my comment about not being able to remove the camera from the front of the pipe when using a reducer, I finally realized there's more than one way to build this thing, and the first one I envisioned wasn't the best way to do it. I now see the picture I think the rest of you are seeing.
Click to expand...

you said it's going in the side of a hill, what's it going to be looking at? I'm curious.
 
beingaware said:
Do we even want to know? Haha

Hidden on the side of a hill...

Nothing good can come of that ^^^
Click to expand...
Sorry, this is a case where fantasy is much more interesting than reality. The camera is to catch the license plates of vehicles that enter and exit my driveway. The driveway has a small flat spot at the bottom then is cut into a pretty steep hillside. The way it's laid out, I can place the camera where the vehicles are forced to go about 10' to 12' in front of the camera while turning, with the camera about 2' above the pavement surface. I've run a bunch of tests and it looks like I can reliably capture the plates even when the headlights are directly hitting the camera, by restricting the shutter speed to a max of 2 or 3 ms. The HLC backlight mode helps, too. The 4 MP chinese cameras do the job. During the day, the 4 MP cameras work just as well as the 2 MP. In the dark the 4 MP cameras work ok, too, but the 2 MP starlight simply give a sharper, higher-contrast image.
 
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tigerwillow1 said:
Sorry, this is a case where fantasy is much more interesting than reality. The camera is to catch the license plates of vehicles that enter and exit my driveway. The driveway has a small flat spot at the bottom then is cut into a pretty steep hillside. The way it's laid out, I can place the camera where the vehicles are forced to go about 10' to 12' in front of the camera while turning, with the camera about 2' above the pavement surface. I've run a bunch of tests and it looks like I can reliably capture the plates even when the headlights are directly hitting the camera, by restricting the shutter speed to a max of 2 or 3 ms. The HLC backlight mode helps, too. The 4 MP chinese cameras do the job. During the day, the 4 MP cameras work just as well as the 2 MP. In the dark the 4 MP cameras work ok, too, but the 2 MP starlight simply give a sharper, higher-contrast image.
Click to expand...

I like it.
 
Has anyone hooked up to the audio out yet?
My bullet been up a month or so now and I'm thinking of adding a speaker to the Audio out.
Is it just a case of connecting a speaker to the phono jack on the camera harness or do I need to do a little more than that before I get the ladder out again
 
I suggest bench testing. Audio out is not satisfactory, I concluded. It's easier to experminet inside, as versus up on a ladder.
You need a powered speaker. I used one meant for a motorcycle: 12V, weatherproof, not too big.
I used a POE splitter to get the 12V.

Check this thread for details: Two way audio at the Dahua cam - Am I dreaming?

One thing I learned is that not many folks use the audio out capability. Either because it's lame, or there isn't a need.

Good luck,
Fastb
 
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aabs said:
Has anyone hooked up to the audio out yet?
My bullet been up a month or so now and I'm thinking of adding a speaker to the Audio out.
Is it just a case of connecting a speaker to the phono jack on the camera harness or do I need to do a little more than that before I get the ladder out again
Click to expand...

Fastb said:
I suggest bench testing. Audio out is not satisfactory, I concluded. It's easier to experminet inside, as versus up on a ladder.
You need a powered speaker. I used one meant for a motorcycle: 12V, weatherproof, not too big.
I used a POE splitter to get the 12V.

Check this thread for details: Two way audio at the Dahua cam - Am I dreaming?

One thing I learned is that not many folks use the audio out capability. Either because it's lame, or there isn't a need.

Good luck,
Fastb
Click to expand...

I found that every camera that i looked at with audio out, failed to have even a basic low power amplifier (class D 1W), thus requiring a powered speaker, which is a royal pain in the ass outside. Couple this with the lack of a duplex sound codec/hw (simplex), it is nearly worthless. There is an obvious business need to fill this feature hole, but as of yet manufactures have not discovered its value (profit).
 
Fastb said:
I suggest bench testing. Audio out is not satisfactory, I concluded. It's easier to experminet inside, as versus up on a ladder.
You need a powered speaker. I used one meant for a motorcycle: 12V, weatherproof, not too big.
I used a POE splitter to get the 12V.

Check this thread for details: Two way audio at the Dahua cam - Am I dreaming?

One thing I learned is that not many folks use the audio out capability. Either because it's lame, or there isn't a need.

Good luck,
Fastb
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link to your thread !!
You saved me having colourful language as the camera I have with the audio out isn't the easiest to get access.

Looks like it isn't worth the time and tears ATM
 
Is the only difference between these 3 models the focal length?

HFW5231E-ZЕ 2.7mm - 13.5mm
HFW5231E-Z5 7mm - 35mm
HFW5231E-Z12 5.3mm - 64mm
 
IIRC, I’ves seen folks with the Z5 surprised by how narrow the angle of view is compared to the Z12 (at similar focal lengths).

Z5 @ 7mm = 35°view
Z12 @ 5.3mm = 59°view

For a difference of only 1.77mm between their W focal lengths, looks like there’s a 24° difference in horizontal view.
 
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I'll look into it. Other than that, the sensor and electronics in all 3 cams are the same?
 
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