DS-2CD2135FWD-I vs DS-2CD2155FWD-I

S

Sep

n3wb
Jan 5, 2018
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2
I am trying to decide between these 2 cameras for outdoor:
DS-2CD2135FWD-I: It is a 3 MP camera but has DarkFighter.
DS-2CD2155FWD-I: It is a 5 MP camera but does not have DarkFighter.

Which one would be better for monitoring my side yard? It is not super dark at night and there are motion activated flood lights.

Thank you !
 
It's not dark fighter its low light..go with the low light but not the dome...get the turret
 
Thank you Fenderman!

1) I am new to this. Can you explain why turrent would be a better choice than dome or bullet?
2) Is this the model you would recommend: DS-2CD2335FWD-I
3) Any recommendation on the lens size: 2.8, 4, 6 mm?

Thanks
 
Sep said:
Thank you Fenderman!

1) I am new to this. Can you explain why turrent would be a better choice than dome or bullet?
2) Is this the model you would recommend: DS-2CD2335FWD-I
3) Any recommendation on the lens size: 2.8, 4, 6 mm?

Thanks
Click to expand...
1 - there are many threads that discuss this..ir refection, spiders
2- yes..or the dahua starlights..
3- there is a varifocal hikvision and dahua as well...that will let you chose the exact field of view you need....the size depends on what you want to capture.
 
Don't get hung up on the term 'Darkfighter' it’s just marketing, Hik also use the term 'Darkfighter lite' for a lot of these cheaper cameras. If your yard is well lit with reliable floodlighting then consider the higher MP cameras.

General rule, bullets give a better picture over longer ranges and are less affected by sun & rain but as Fenderman points out more susceptible to spider webs. A good deterrent in that its instantly recognisable as a CCTV camera, downside is it’s easy to see where its looking so some will try and sneak around keeping out of what they think is its field of view. One of the weaker camera types against vandals as a bigger glass lens area to attack and a quick side strike can also knock the camera into facing another direction - best mounted high on a property and with the proper lens a good long range option.

Anti-vandal domes are as you'd expect great against vandalism especially in areas where someone would have more time to try and damage one i.e. to the rear of a building, if the camera is in easy reach then this should be your choice. They are great against spider webs but do get sun glare refracting across the bubble dome and do dirty quickly in the dust and rain so can be high maintenance that way. I normally advise these if fitting <12' from the ground but be aware that for a few days after fitting you may get a little condensation on the inside that normally clears up - installer nightmare for early customer complaints though. They’re also a great deterrent as its hard to see where their looking so an intruder is less likely to try and sneak around one as will tend to assume it’s looking at them.

Turret cameras sit in the middle, good against vandalism needing a direct lens strike to damage, if fitting >12' then these are a good option. They get a bit more sun glare then bullets and more likely to get water droplets on the lens during rain but not nearly as bad as the domes get and not as big an issue with dust particles. They aren’t as good a deterrent as the above 2 with some intruders not realising that they are CCTV cameras, the older turrets with the recognisable ring of IR LEDs are easier to identify but the EXIR type look a bit too fancy for some of the numbskulls to know what they are. Like a turret it’s easy to spot where they are looking. And also pretty good against spiders.
 
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Great informative reply Frank, very useful.

However I’m still none the wiser regarding what is a Darkfighter and what is not. Am I right in saying that the 2Mp gives a better night image as less/bigger pixels than the 3Mp.
 
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2 & 3mp will be the same - Hik just crops the same sensor to give the different aspect ratio - same with the 5 & 8mp saves running too many production lines with different image sensor components - exactly the same lux rating exactly the same night performance. I did experiments with the old 2 & 3mp cameras, side by side same image settings = same performance, switched the resolution on the 3 to match the 2 and it was identical.

Did the same between the old 4mp and 2mp which have the sale lux spec and guess what - the 4mp looked better at night until you dropped the resolution to 2mp and then they were identical - when in 4mp mode there appeared to be some extra image processing to make the 4 look better on a still image, problem was movement looked blurry.

Long story short, you can use the Lux rating a manufacturer gives to compare cameras within a range but also observe the quoted aperture, I'd also go as far as to say you can't really compare paper specs between brands this way due to different testing methodology and marketing. Anyway ignore the term 'darkfighter' and go of whether a camera is low lux and what that lux rating is. Easy IP3.0 makes no real mention of 'EXIR' yet its stamped all over the box when you buy a camera - again, marketing.
 
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I just don’t get it. Is 4.3 better than 16.9? So confusing. I’m sick of looking at different cctv camera specs.
 
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At low level 16x9 will normally be preferable unless you have nearby obstructing objects that make the extra width less useful. At height 4x3 may be more useful as with correct lens selection you can reduce the blind spot under the camera. Another way to look at it is you can save on bitrate and recording space by using an appropriate aspect ratio for your framing - why go 8mp if the left and right frame edges are obstructed or capturing unimportant areas? - go 5mp etc.

Another overlooked option on a supporting IP camera is corridor mode, where your rotating your camera 90deg, to get a really well covered view in a narrow area, you can pretty much cover from the horizon to directly beneath the camera - down side is the live view image looks goofy but the recording is fine. Its one of those features that unless you explain it really well to a customer just appears to look defective on the live view, never been a great seller but a useful feature.
 
See my other post about my DS-2CD2155FWD-I. Just be aware that at 30 fps, you can't rotate the image. You could do so at 20 fps. Hikvision level 1 support has no answer to this, and it's escalated.
 
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Saw your post on that, not that I have an "i'm alright jack" attitude to it but it wouldn't affect the majority of my cameras, I'd avoid high frame rates on cameras not working to cature fast moving objects or scenes - just a waste of bandwidth and storage space.
 
Hi!

Made a lot of research before getting my cameras. I´m using a hik Pir-version in garage, then 3 pieces of the Darkfighter 2135-IS-version around the house.

There is a lot of talk of spider webs, insects and so on. I had a lot of issues with false alarms on my cheaper cameras (old D-links). My goal became to get away from the night functions, and stop using IR. I tested one of the 2135 Darkfighter and I realized it fit my needs perfectly as I got some lights on my house that helps a bit. The darkfighter does not need much light in order to keep colors. In sweden there is a lot of other things to think of also. Lots of rain/snow/himidity and cold. When I succeeded with my test camera, I bought 2 more and I am about to buy my fourth one. I will never go back to IR help-light as I think to much information is getting lost (colors of clothes and cars for example).

In my cabin I run a lot of cheap cameras. One Sricam, Wanscam and three D-link 930 and a 5010 ptz. It is pretty funny that I succeeded running those indoor cameras outside in -20 :).

Anyway, I will buy another Hik 2135 soon in order to cover one more side of my house. You really need to try around with the settings, but when done correctly, they work pretty well.

I would like to have better details during day as my cameras are of the 2.8 lens version and I get a lot of area covered. Was thinking of going for 4mm or 6mm but I realized I´d rather cover a big area, instead of a smaller.

I watched a lot of youtube picture/video examples of the performance. This link below made me choose the 2135 Darkfighter. As said earlier; colors are so important due to identifying people/clothes/cars (for me)

Hikvision 3MP (Darkfighter Lite) vs 5MP (EXIR) Dome

I set all my 2135 not to enter IR mode (unless it gets completely dark outside, which might happen if I get a power surge). My UPS keeps cameras running.

I have read a lot about the differences between turrets and domes. In sweden the laws regarding surveillance are pretty rough. Using a dome makes it hard for bypassers to see what way I am actually filming, which is good. This goes for burglars also. They will not know which path to choose in order to reach best angle for disabling the camera.

As I am not using IR, flies/spiders aren't really attracted to camera. When it comes to rain I would never put any camera in a way that would make rain/snow reach it.

I have seen some people fail installing these cameras with the optimal settings, claiming quality is bad. As noted before, it takes some effort getting the settings good for both night/day surveillance.

I have run my 2135 cams since summer. No real issues yet. These are the original ones, not the gray market ones. I use sd card in each camera and skipped NVR. Some cameras notify me about movements, some just save footage each time triggered. Works fine and is a simple and easy maintained solution for my purposes. SD card 16 gb and 64 gb, mixed, keeps some months of footage when only saving triggered events.

Oh, another thing. Some reviews warn about the dome cameras due to reflections and such. I have never experienced this (on the other hand, I am not using IR, and cameras are not pointing directly to sun).

Good luck with your choice!
 
hikDude said:
Hi!

Made a lot of research before getting my cameras. I´m using a hik Pir-version in garage, then 3 pieces of the Darkfighter 2135-IS-version around the house.

I watched a lot of youtube picture/video examples of the performance. This link below made me choose the 2135 Darkfighter. As said earlier; colors are so important due to identifying people/clothes/cars (for me)

Hikvision 3MP (Darkfighter Lite) vs 5MP (EXIR) Dome

I set all my 2135 not to enter IR mode (unless it gets completely dark outside, which might happen if I get a power surge). My UPS keeps cameras running.

I have read a lot about the differences between turrets and domes. In sweden the laws regarding surveillance are pretty rough. Using a dome makes it hard for bypassers to see what way I am actually filming, which is good. This goes for burglars also. They will not know which path to choose in order to reach best angle for disabling the camera.

As I am not using IR, flies/spiders aren't really attracted to camera. When it comes to rain I would never put any camera in a way that would make rain/snow reach it.

I have seen some people fail installing these cameras with the optimal settings, claiming quality is bad. As noted before, it takes some effort getting the settings good for both night/day surveillance.

I have run my 2135 cams since summer. No real issues yet. These are the original ones, not the gray market ones. I use sd card in each camera and skipped NVR. Some cameras notify me about movements, some just save footage each time triggered. Works fine and is a simple and easy maintained solution for my purposes. SD card 16 gb and 64 gb, mixed, keeps some months of footage when only saving triggered events.

Oh, another thing. Some reviews warn about the dome cameras due to reflections and such. I have never experienced this (on the other hand, I am not using IR, and cameras are not pointing directly to sun).

Good luck with your choice!
Click to expand...

Great write up..can you help me with my decision. I'm deciding between Easy IP 3.0 cameras and really would like ultra-low light performance (color night vision). In Datasheets, 2135, 2145 and 2155 have very similr specs...2155 has slightly higher lux requirement (0.008 vs 0.01). The sensor sizes are weird though 2135 = 1/2.8", 2145 = 1/2.5", 2155 = 1/2.9". So proportionally, 2135 has largest sensor so probably best low light performance, however, both 2135 & 2145 are marketed as "Darkfighter".

For a home, do you guys think 3MP is enough or should I go for 4MP (will be available in a few weeks)?

How has your experience been with Dome camera so far? In my area we don't get snow but we do have dust year around and rainy summers, how bad does the image get in rain? would i need to clean it everyday?
 
I would like to change my statement a bit as I have had the cameras for a while now. Still, I think the difference in lux (0.008 vs 0.01) is a needed difference and can be seen/used depending on light environment. The last camera I bought was a 2185, non darkfighter. It is not as good in the dark as the 2135 darkfighter, on the other hand I get a really good picture on daytime. The choice depends on what you will use it for and when. In Sweden, we got a lot of darkness (even though the sun currently topped a 200 year old record regarding heat this summer :)). From september to march it gets dark...

The best choice when it comes to camera seems to be to combine good light conditions (external lights) with a camera with high resolution. That wins over all darkfighter series as good light makes everything better.

In times where I forgot to turn on porch light, cameras go in to night mode. I havent got som many false alarms in those situations but if it would have been several nights in a row I am pretty sure spiders would place net easier.

When it comes to rain I would never recommend using the camera in a place where rain touches the dome/camera. You will get so many false alarms and you will regret placement.

I can assure you that you will get lots of false alarms even if you place camera in a perfect condition. For example, my black shiny car top mirrors the clouds some days, causing false alarms. Some things are impossible to get rid of. I got a total of 9 cameras. If I get 5 false alarms per week per camera...there are lots of mails alerts to overview.

My next camera will probably be a 5 or 8 mp. It is extremely useful to be able to zoom into faces afterwards, when needed (or car plates).

Overall, when it comes to dome physics I think it wins over turrents and other designs. It is harder to break and to discover. The glass also makes it hard for people to see where lens is pointing towards, which can be pretty useful if you have camera towards a place where you are not allowed to film :)

All around my house I got light bulbs built into the house (14 lights). They help a lot and it is very hard to approach our house without being seen. The most funny thing is that our only valuables to steal are the cameras, nothing else :).

Please also note that in a really dark environment, you can adjust the picture so that you get a pretty bright light in the settings, although, the quality goes down pretty much. "Darkfighter" seems to be mostly based on software features. Then you apply these setting, it has to do with shutter speed. This means that the picture gets ok, but if anyone moves in front of the camera it gets very blurry.
 
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How prone are Dome cameras to dust? Its kind of dusty here in Pakistan, wondering how often it'll require cleaning vs Turret or Bullet.

The place outside where I'm planing on mounting the dome has a 4-5" garage ceiling extending ahead, would that be enough to prevent rain directly falling on dome? I was thinking about getting Turret but saw videos online and looks like hikvision turret can be moved very easily once installed, so its not vandal resistant at all.
 
LoinKing said:
How prone are Dome cameras to dust? Its kind of dusty here in Pakistan, wondering how often it'll require cleaning vs Turret or Bullet.

The place outside where I'm planing on mounting the dome has a 4-5" garage ceiling extending ahead, would that be enough to prevent rain directly falling on dome? I was thinking about getting Turret but saw videos online and looks like hikvision turret can be moved very easily once installed, so its not vandal resistant at all.
Click to expand...
Wrong... The turret is secured with a set screw and cannot be moved..
 
fenderman said:
Wrong... The turret is secured with a set screw and cannot be moved..
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarification, actually I was going by what a youtube reviewer said that its easy to move to it.

I went to the local Hikvision office but they didn't have turret, he said no one really buys it here so he just has one camera for display purposes. For now I got a 2043G0 bullet camera, the sales guy said it has same features as the 2045 (latest) camera and I couldn't find any difference in the specs either. They both support H.265+ codec, VCA functions, three streams etc, so not sure what the difference is?

Btw, it looks likes people are buying international version of Dahua/Hikvision from some guy Andy in Hong Kong. Is he a legit seller? Are the cameras 100% original?
 
Generelly, if the cost is much lower than for original cameras, it isn't original. :). On the other hand, depending on usage/placement, maybe it doesn't have to be original.

My experience is that I had to place much effort and time into configuring the original ones. I did not want to add more issues than I already have, which could be the case if fw is tampered with or some security update cannot be installed due to locked fw and so on. If I bought a set of hikvision to my cabin I would probably go for the cheapest ones that (according to reviews) works ok.
 
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