Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

[Bob Sherger]

Would've been cool to see someone do a flying jump kick through the glass on the back door, but I will keep it out of the picture because of that light. The backdoor is a glass french door; not very secure. I thought about hardening the front door however since it's a fiberglass flimsy piece of crap, but there is only so much you can do which is why I'm well armed. When I'm not home, if they want to get in, they are going to get in but I want the security system to do its job so I can get the authorities there and get some ID.

I noticed my front door cam's porch light was causing the cam not to go into IR mode with a dark looking background. The porch light is not in the picture but it put out enough light that it stayed in its normal mode. Guess I need to start changing some thresholds so it works better. These cameras really do look great. I have 4 installed, and now just need to do the back and I'm done with this phase of the project. Thanks for all your help and promoting this camera.

 

[nayr]

You'll see the flying kick part, just not through the glass door part.. with a lil luck you record em bleed to death on the back patio though heh.

might consider installing it right above/below the light, then it wont be a problem heh

 

[looney2ns]

3m makes security film to place on the glass that makes it much harder to break.
A few well placed 3" screws replacing the short ones in the front door can do wonders.

 

[DMY]

Does anyone know of a source for the dome version of this camera?

 

[nayr]

andy's listing the turrets back in stock: DAHUA 2.7mm ~12mm motorized lens 2MP WDR IR Eyeball Network Camera IPC HDW5231R Z ,free DHL shipping-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

@DMY, here's the dome version.. but I'd advise against using domes: Aliexpress.com : Buy DAHUA 2.7mm ~12mm motorized lens 2MP WDR IR Eyeball Network Camera IPC HDBW5231R Z ,free DHL shipping from Reliable shipping peanuts suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

 

[hmjgriffon]

I'm holding off on ordering anything until I know it will ship when I buy it lol, and I was thinking turrets outside but after getting a bullet version I am really liking it and the versatility, I think I will be going all bullet outside except for the front door.

 

[ilrider78]

I'm holding off on ordering anything until I know it will ship when I buy it lol, and I was thinking turrets outside but after getting a bullet version I am really liking it and the versatility, I think I will be going all bullet outside except for the front door.

Same here. I got the 25X a few days ago and I'm very happy with its performance after testing it out. Still need to mount it but I also am looking to buy a few turrets to add to my existing system.

 

[DMY]

andy's listing the turrets back in stock: DAHUA 2.7mm ~12mm motorized lens 2MP WDR IR Eyeball Network Camera IPC HDW5231R Z ,free DHL shipping-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

@DMY, here's the dome version.. but I'd advise against using domes: Aliexpress.com : Buy DAHUA 2.7mm ~12mm motorized lens 2MP WDR IR Eyeball Network Camera IPC HDBW5231R Z ,free DHL shipping from Reliable shipping peanuts suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

Thanks for the quick reply. I understand there could be some drawbacks but there is a possibility of vandalism due to mounting height. I would be open to alternative suggestions.

 

[nayr]

the turrets will holdup to most residential vandalism, they can spray paint on both of em just as easy but the turret could be repainted and have anything stuck to the glass lens cover taken off w/a razor blade.

vandalism of cameras in a residential environment is fairly rare; unless you have an ongoing war with a neighbor its pretty much unheard of.

 

[hmjgriffon]

Thanks for the quick reply. I understand there could be some drawbacks but there is a possibility of vandalism due to mounting height. I would be open to alternative suggestions.

turret and dome about he same, you can't easily buy new domes for the dome cameras from what I understand anyways.

 

[DMY]

In this case (for a relative) the chance is very real.
You would still go for the turret?

 

[nayr]

if given the option yeah; because I think in case of vandalism a turret would be easier to repair.. as @hmjgriffon pointed out, getting a replacement dome isint going to help and there's no sure fire way to keep a camera from damage if someone is determined enough.. no camera would stop a 308 round for example.

If it was in a park or multi-tennant dwelling where you have either a history of vandalism or its pretty much unavoidable with enough time then I might put up with all the crap a IR dome will provide you.. the most common camera vandalism consists of pointing the camera in another direction, and neither dome or turret are partictuarly susceptible to that w/out having tools on hand.. I would hang my entire weight off my turret w/out fear of it breaking, unlike most bullets.

 

[LittleScoobyMaster]

Is it possible this is a firmware issue with my cams? I don't have PTZ control options with the web UI either.

Software Version 2.460.0000.1.R, Build Date: 2016-10-25​

For controlling the Zoom on this camera, Milestone uses the device detected for Hardware Type as an Onvif Conformant Device in networking and as General IP Camera for Device Driver with Xprotect Essential version 2016 R3. Zoom works great on it this way. You just need to make sure to change PTZ Device to PTZ type on Com1 to be Absolute on the PTZ settings tab.

2017 R1 should be out in another week or two I believe. Hoping the next driver release includes the 5231 latest firmware because right now my Xprotect is one firmware version behind the 5231 and I'm using the latest Device Pack (8.9a) and it still lists as Onvif Compliant Device \ General IP Camera instead of Dahua (Model#). But again, this is most likely due to the fact that Xprotect supports the slightly older version of the 5231 firmware. They need to add the latest firmware version support to the next Xprotect Device Pack.

 

[nayr]

Thanks for the firmware link. I now have this installed on both of my new cams.
Just an observation, with Hevc/H.265 enabled I still cannot export video to the mp4 format, only to native dav format.

Hopefully a new update will enable this as I don't like having to re-encode video and I'm assuming there is no tool that allows you to demux dav format video ?

Have you tried SmartPlayer?

 

[jazzy1]

For a little more, you could get a managed gigabit POE switch
Amazon.com: TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit PoE Web Managed Easy Smart Switch with 4-PoE Ports (TL-SG108PE): Computers & Accessories

It would let you add VLANs later if you wanted to.

could you elaborate on the VLANs benefit??....not sure what they are/do....

thanks!

 

[tangent]

could you elaborate on the VLANs benefit??....not sure what they are/do....

This thread really isn't the place for a detailed discussion on the subject. Search the forum for vlan or other places on the net like: Networking forum | DSLReports, ISP Information

 

[reverend]

Latest Firmware: DH_IPC-HX5X3X-Rhea_Eng_P_Stream3_V2.460.0000.2.R.20161216.bin

Optimizations & bug fixes:
1. Repair the network security vulnerabilities
2. Optimize smart codec effect

note this is PAL firmware; if you've got a NTSC this will make it a pal.. Ive installed it on both my turret and bullet w/no problems.. YMMV, proceed at your own risk.

That's superb thank-you - I've installed that on the camera that was having slow response via the admin GUI when writing to the internal microSD and now the interface is much snappier

 

[randytsuch]

could you elaborate on the VLANs benefit??....not sure what they are/do....

thanks!

Trying not to sidetrack this thread, but you can look here
Simple Port based VLAN
That thread is about vlans, so a better place to ask questions.

 

[jazzy1]

Trying not to sidetrack this thread, but you can look here
Simple Port based VLAN
That thread is about vlans, so a better place to ask questions.

thanks! will check it out!

 

[hmjgriffon]

Vlans are really not needed, I'm sure people will cry but if you trust your LAN you should be fine. Physical separation will help performance though, IE putting your NVR machine on the same switch as the cameras