Dahua Ultra Starlight Varifocal Bullet (IPC-HFW8232E-Z)

[Dxue]

Check your time server settings. Automatic updates to the time may be making the time change for you

Thanks for the reply. In the meantime, i have checked the option for dst and the problem is solved. The weird thing is, even when i don't have either or both dst and/or ntp settings on, it still changes the internal camera time. It is annoying when viewing the the recordings through pcnvr, because it always skips back 1 hour when you select a time to watch

 

[Rocktop_006]

Was this camera discontinued? It seems like a lot of the model numbers that have been discussed here extensively have been removed from the Dahua site this week. Am I missing something?

 

[mat200]

Was this camera discontinued? It seems like a lot of the model numbers that have been discussed here extensively have been removed from the Dahua site this week. Am I missing something?

I still see it here
IPC-HFW8232E-Z | Dahua Technology - Dahua Technology

 

[apmonte]

I just had one delivered earlier this week, so it's still available. I've got two of these now and my weekend project is to try to get them both mounted and operational.

 

[looney2ns]

Was this camera discontinued? It seems like a lot of the model numbers that have been discussed here extensively have been removed from the Dahua site this week. Am I missing something?

Be sure you are looking on the Dahua international site:
Dahua Technology - Leading Video Surveillance Solution Provider with CCTV Products, IP Camera, PTZ, HDCVI products, NVR, Intelligent Building, Intelligent Transportation and Software - Dahua Technology

 

[Rocktop_006]

Thanks! I was not looking at the international site and now have a few on order.

 

[CamCrazy]

I just had one delivered earlier this week, so it's still available. I've got two of these now and my weekend project is to try to get them both mounted and operational.

Interested to know your opinion of these once installed and tested, looks like they could be the best low light camera Dahua has to offer.

 

[mat200]

Interested to know your opinion of these once installed and tested, looks like they could be the best low light camera Dahua has to offer.

IPC-HFW8232E-Z it's a very good night performer better than the starlight turret, however it does cost about 1.8-2x the turret - so if money is limited better to stick with the turret.
If you absolutely need better night time performance it is good, and has additional features which the turret does not.

 

[CamCrazy]

IPC-HFW8232E-Z it's a very good night performer better than the starlight turret, however it does cost about 1.8-2x the turret - so if money is limited better to stick with the turret.
If you absolutely need better night time performance it is good, and has additional features which the turret does not.

Thanks for the response, looking for best night performance with potential to increase shutter speed without darkening the image too much, this is where the 5231 turret cameras seem to suffer most. It looks like the 8232 will give better low light performance with more powerful IR illumination, that is my hope at least.

 

[mat200]

Thanks for the response, looking for best night performance with potential to increase shutter speed without darkening the image too much, this is where the 5231 turret cameras seem to suffer most. It looks like the 8232 will give better low light performance with more powerful IR illumination, that is my hope at least.

Remember to consider external IR illumination as an option.

 

[CamCrazy]

Remember to consider external IR illumination as an option.

Thanks, I do have some IR illumination also but nice that the camera can stand alone if required, I might try both a IPC-HFW8232E-Z and IPC-HFW8231E series to see how the different sensors compare in low light and day light for that matter.

 

[morpheus]

Hi,

8231 is like the turret 5231. It's nearly the same sensor but with better WDR (IMX291 vs. IMX290).

 

[CamCrazy]

Hi,

8231 is like the turret 5231. It's nearly the same sensor but with better WDR (IMX291 vs. IMX290).

Thanks Morpheus, sounds like I am best sticking with the 8232 for improved low light and general performance over the 5231 - will get one ordered and give some feedback once installed. Did also start looking at the IPC-HF8232F box camera but couldn't find any sensible wide angle lenses for it!

 

[apmonte]

Ok, let's get this review and request for help under way. This will be picture heavy if I can upload to the site.

I don't mean for this to be an installation thread, but I'll start with the area that I'm trying to cover.

Overhead of my lot. The woods behind the house go back more than 2x the mowed area, and back up to a golf course, so I'm not too concerned with traffic from the back right now. I'll install cameras back there in the future, mostly to monitor wildlife.

Picture of the house with installed cameras. Can you spot them?

I painted the white portions of the cameras to match the house color so they wouldn't stand out so much.

 

[apmonte]

I'm fairly new to IP cameras, so I definitely can use some help tweaking things to get the best results. I did want to mention that I have both cameras zoomed in a bit to cover just my property, mostly to have a better shot at capturing license plates. I have 128GB SD cards in both cameras. Running Blue Iris to monitor and record. Overall, I'm very pleased with the cameras.

On to some images.
Daytime Pics



I know that reading license plates are tricky, but I'd really like better resolution for these front cameras. I can really start to read the plate once it gets to the concrete portion of the driveway. At some point, I'd like to move these cameras to the back of the house for wildlife monitoring, and replace them with higher resolution cameras that have similar night performance at a similar price point (when can I expect that?).



Night time performance. This is where I need some help. Actually things look great at night, but people are washed out. Need some help with settings to make things better. IR is on in the below image.



Again, IR on in the below image.



IR Off in the below image. I guess I should mention that my outside lights stay on all the time and have dawn to dusk LED lights (with sensors) in them.



Maybe not much of a review so far, but that's where I'm currently at. I'm running everything through Blue Iris 4. Looking for some help to tweak things, but overall very pleased. I can post current settings if that would help.

 

[mat200]

I'm fairly new to IP cameras, so I definitely can use some help tweaking things to get the best results. Overall, I'm very pleased with the cameras.

...

Very nicely painted junction boxes and cameras. I really like the end result.

 

[Rocktop_006]

Hi, I am having some trouble with a new 8232 being recognized on my network. It is not showing up at 192.168.1.108 as I expected and it does not show up on an IP scan or has having an IP address in the switch mgmt screen. It is draws ~11 watts during boot at which time I do see the red lights on the camera face blink. After a while the consumption drops to 2.5 watts. Two 5231 cameras I purchased are fine.

I am not sure if I have a defective camera or, more likely, I've done something boneheaded. This is my first adventure with cameras and I'd really appreciate any advice folks may have. Tomorrow (well later today given it is 2:30 in the morning) I will dig up a 12v power supply and try external power.

 

[apmonte]

Have you tried a different Ethernet cable? I would assume that power could be applied making the camera turn on, but if the other pair were damaged that it wouldn't be able to communicate. I had to replace an end on one of my cables due to intermittent communications.

 

[Rocktop_006]

Thanks for the suggestion apmonte. I should have noted that I tried multiple ports and cables.

 

[Dragon]

Night time performance. This is where I need some help. Actually things look great at night, but people are washed out.

Go to Camera > Conditions > Backlight and change Mode to Off. Mode SSA or WDR will definitely cause the greying effect you're seeing at night (I have the same camera and see the same effect at night).

...but since his cam's sensor is so much larger, why not make it in a 4mp and really take advantage of botb he large sensor and more pixles for forensic zoom in on stills if needed?

The reason low-light cameras work is they use a larger area of the sensor for each pixel to pick up as many photons as possible for each pixel. If you double the resolution, you cut the surface area of the sensor used for each pixel by 75%, which means each pixel gets 75% less light and night performance is reduced by ~75%.