Dahua Starlight Varifocal Bullet Z12 5.3-64mm (IPC-HFW5231E-Z12)

beingaware

beingaware

Pulling my weight
Mar 16, 2017
215
178
Australia
Continuing on with the starlight series.

Side by side test and comparison of the IPC-HFW5231E-Z12 vs IPC-HFW5231E-Z.
Note: Test was initially done in the rain/temp locations, further videos coming next week at a rural location.

The camera is almost identical in shape, size, design and behaviour as the E-Z but with 2 notable differences:

The E-Z is 2.8-12mm with 50m max IR range, while the Z12 has 5.3mm ~ 64mm with an IR range of 200m.

Comes with the usual metal casing, solid mount, damage resistant design.

Connectivity wise, Standard POE or v12, 100mbps, also includes audio in/out via external mic as well as 2 alarm ins and one alarm out.

The zoom in this camera would be perfect for further away fixed targets such as a back gate, long driveway, rural property or even installed high up on buildings.

The night vision with or without IR is what you'd come to expect from the starlight series while the IR beam is a bit more of a hotspot due to the long range design but the camera could still be used for up close ID purposes.

I'd certainly chose this camera over the IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 but it compliments the IPC-HFW5231E-Z.

Features
  • 1/2.8” 2MP progressive scan Sony Starvis Exmor-R (IMX291) CMOS
  • H.265 & H.264 triple-stream encoding
  • 50/60fps @ 1080p(1920×1080)
  • Minimum Illumination: 0.006 Lux/F1.4 (Color); 0 Lux/F1.4 (IR on)
  • Smart Detection supported (Facial/Tripwire/Intrusion/Audio)
  • WDR(120dB), Day/Night(ICR), 3DNR, AWB, AGC, BLC
  • Multiple network monitoring: Web viewer, CMS(DSS/PSS) & DMSS
  • 5.3mm ~64mm motorized lens (12x Zoom)
  • Adjustable P-Iris
  • EXIR LEDs Distance: 200m
  • IP67, PoE (802.3af)
  • Micro SD card memory (128GB Max)
  • External Audio and Alarm IO

Product Page: http://www1.dahuasecurity.com/products/ipc-hfw5231e-z12-12371.html

List Pricing including express shipping: $220 USD though PM @EMPIRETECANDY for forum discounted pricing.

This is an international model camera, comes unmodified with english translations and is upgradable.

Firmware version that was shipped with this camera (June 2017)
Screen Shot 2017-06-13 at 7.40.28 pm.png


Camera was set to default for the following videos.

Z12 IR OFF:

Z12 IR ON EXTERNAL SOURCE: [
MEDIA=youtube]B9LTu-q9mtw[/MEDIA]

Z12 SMART IR:


For comparison, the E-Z.
IR OFF:

IR ON:


RAW Video files can be found here: Index of /DAHUA/VIDEOTEST/

Finally, my initial live comparison video.


Finally some unboxing photos/comparison with the E-Z.

Photo 13-06-2017, 6 01 08 PM.jpg


Photo 13-06-2017, 6 01 22 PM.jpg

Photo 13-06-2017, 6 02 14 PM.jpg

Photo 13-06-2017, 6 02 22 PM.jpg
Photo 13-06-2017, 6 02 28 PM.jpg

Photo 13-06-2017, 6 03 26 PM.jpg




Dahua IPC-HFW5231E-Z12 left, Dahua IPC-HFW5231E-Z right. (Side by Side)


Photo 13-06-2017, 6 14 14 PM.jpg

Photo 13-06-2017, 6 38 54 PM.jpg

Photo 13-06-2017, 6 39 01 PM.jpg

Realised I had left the E-Z running IR in the tests, was hurrying due to the rain.
Have since created another video using the smart IR of the Z12:

 
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Face burned by IR light when come closer in front of camera, no possible ID, try to play with some settings.
 
Dodutils said:
Face burned by IR light when come closer in front of camera, no possible ID, try to play with some settings.
Click to expand...

I was using the E-Z IR, thus the burn, started to rain heavily.

EDIT: Moment of rain pause, managed to sneak in another video, please note this is out of box video settings, would not use the defaults for installation:
 
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Very good comparison and first video I've seen of this camera. For our specific needs concerning distance, we are roughly looking at say from 20' to maybe 60' to the far end of the driveway.

Again, approximate distances. The Z5 would surely handle this based upon the videos @nayr posted up. Do you think the Z12 would be overkill in this situation or would it still be preferable?

Ideally, some kind member will do a direct comparison of both of these cameras and varying distances and side by side. Above and beyond distance, the two appear identical.
 
ThomasPI said:
Very good comparison and first video I've seen of this camera. For our specific needs concerning distance, we are roughly looking at say from 20' to maybe 60' to the far end of the driveway.

Again, approximate distances. The Z5 would surely handle this based upon the videos @nayr posted up. Do you think the Z12 would be overkill in this situation or would it still be preferable?

Ideally, some kind member will do a direct comparison of both of these cameras and varying distances and side by side. Above and beyond distance, the two appear identical.
Click to expand...

I'd go the Z12, will give you extra flexibility over the Z5 for both close up and further away deployments.
 
I guess this is the IPC-HFW5231E-Z12 thread. Anyways I mounted mine today. I left the settings alone except no IR at night. I have enough light at night from a couple of street lamps in the area. The purpose of this camera is to watch the comings and goings on the street across from my house. It dead ends at a cul-de-sac. I have it set up for license plate numbers during the day and a very few at night if the light is correct. Here are two day time pictures and one night time picture. I am very pleased with the performance of this camera. By the way I have it hooked up to my Hikvision NVR. This is my 5th startlight or low light camera. I have 15 cameras all toll. I am slowly upgrading my cameras.

back_IP Camera6_back_20170614131820_16645512.jpg back_IP Camera6_back_20170614141047_19789876.jpg back_IP Camera6_back_20170614205807_8780787.jpg
 
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This model right now bad lack of stock and i think the currently who buy from us can be processed around 10days later. Now Z5 still have enough stock. Anyone want to change into Z5, please let me know.
 
We sure appreciate the updates Andy, any more reports on the Z12 out there?
 
beingaware said:
8<

Realised I had left the E-Z running IR in the tests, was hurrying due to the rain.
Have since created another video using the smart IR of the Z12:

Click to expand...


Hi there, and g'day!
Many thanks for posting these videos, which I found extremely helpful when trying to choose my first serious CCTV system. I took delivery of my Z12 yesterday (thank you Empiretecandy) and am currently trying to fathom out the software apps, which is proving a bit of a chore in some ways!
More specifically, I'm having a bit of trouble trying to get the camera to zoom in and out consistently, and I notice that in your video above, you seem to be able to do so without any apparent difficulty; especially the zooming out bit.

When I use either SmartPSS or Easy Viewer plugin for Chrome, the camera responds very slowly (if at all) when I click on the + (zoom in) button in the PTZ section, and hardly ever when I try to zoom back out clicking on the - button. I usually have to resort to clicking on the 3D Postioning magnifying zoom tool first to draw a red area box and then immediately clicking on the zoom in button below before it will do anything at all. The manual zoom adjustment buttons (T and W) on the camera itself work fine, however, so it is definitely a software issue. Can I ask which software you are using to control your camera in the videos above please?

UPDATE 1: Just realised that the reason for the slow/erratic response of the Zoom In/Out function was due to the wrong Camera Protocol having been set! It was default set to Private, and although there was no Dahua in the options list, I chose ONVIF and .... kapow ... fully functioning Zoom! Very happy.

UPDATE 2: Unfortunately, using the ONVIF protocol resulted in the loss of the latest H265 video compression option. It no longer shows up in the Encode Type options of SmartPSS, until I revert back to PRIVATE protocol. However, I have discovered that I can control the Zoom In/Out quite easily by using the Zoom function located in the Setup/Image/Auto Focus tab of Easy Viewer. Can't seem to find it in SmartPSS though.
 
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@beingaware I don't wish to be a pest, but any chance you could let me know which software you were using in your video to zoom in/out on the Z12?
Cheers
Nigel
 
EMPIRETECANDY said:
This week should be ok. They said can be ready on 12th.
Click to expand...

Hope so, looking forward to it! Patiently waiting for my Z12... and that it will help me get better lpr at night.
 
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