the the original firmware that would ship if purchased elsewhere such as here in the US?
You are going a million miles per hour here.. Man, have a drink and slow down - I know IP cams can be fun and exciting but your just flying along with posts and questions which is caused some what by confusion. Take some time and review the forum and exsisting popular dahua threads, I believe you'll feel more comfortable and understand things a bit better
As it relates to Dahua firmware, you are confusing HIK and Dahua. HIK is who has different region hardware, firmware, etc that you see AE selling which in some cases can't be upgraded. Dahua does NOT play region lock games, buy Dahua on AE or buy Dahua from someone in the US you will receive the same hardware and both can be upgraded as needed.
There is more then enough feedback and examples to justify the hardware coming from
@EMPIRETECANDY here. Their really isn't a reason to question what he is selling.
Also, don't be a "firmware whore"
just because a new firmware comes out don't feel like you have to jump on it. Once your system is configured and running as desired don't update your firmware unless a security issue is addressed or some "must have" feature is released.