FYI - Amazon lightning deal on Amcrest ( Dahua OEM ) 8MP bullet $64

[fenderman]

i emailed amcrest support over the weekend;
"When will the 180813 amcrest firmware drop?
all i see is 180625 with a lot of promised ivs still missing."

Amcrest answered: Mon, Dec 3, 2018 12:30 pm
"Our developers are constantly performing patches to the firmware over time.
There should be a new release soon. Amcrest Team"

typical useless doublespeak considering we already know they are a whole patch behind

They have no "developers".

 

[consorts]

They have no "developers".

of course... well, somebody in china has to make those

cosmetic html changes that say "amcrest" instead of "dahua"

 

[fenderman]

of course... well, somebody in china has to make those

cosmetic html changes that say "amcrest" instead of "dahua"

Dahua does it for them.

 

[consorts]

so now that i've given up on changing lens till someone ELSE demonstrates it can be done,
how do you open a square bullet casing?
i went over the camera with extra silicon everywhere, and hung it out my window.
i made a notch for the wire, and am using black 4 strand 50lb's fishing line looped thru
the base screw holes inside to a pair of screws that i'm using like a mini rope cleat,
that way it's very secure, yet i can adjust it's position should the need arise.
(i'm in an urban valley on a side street, so not much wind here to worry about)
now begins the IR light testing, and more fine tuning of the motion detect which
i got not to blowing leaf trigger, but still gives false positives from long shadows.
more IVS from amcrest can't come soon enough - i fear if i don't get line cross
from a firmware update by january, i will have to return or resell this camera
and start all over again with a hikvision, which has the smarts to handle this.
now you can see why i jumped at a black body camera, it's hardly noticeable
once i permanently mount it between windows (if i end up keeping it).

 

[mat200]

so now that i've given up on changing lens till someone ELSE demonstrates it can be done,
how do you open a square bullet casing?..

Hi @consorts here's @rkilpa post on how he did it for an older model
FYI - Some local Costco B&M have a Lorex / Dahua OEM 4K 6x camera kit and 8 port NVR for $800

 

[consorts]

post on how he did it for an older model

yes, i saw that over a week ago, it's why i ordered a m12 lens from china long before i had the camera

now that i have it, all i have done is make it nonreturnable and will be stuck with a 4mm lens i can't use.

 

[mat200]

yes, i saw that over a week ago, it's why i ordered a m12 lens from china long before i had the camera

now that i have it, all i have done is make it nonreturnable and will be stuck with a 4mm lens i can't use.

@consorts

Should be basically the same type of case.. 4 screws on the front..

 

[consorts]

Should be basically the same type of case.. 4 screws on the front..

as you can see from my many photos, contours are very different and no holes through the front.
my guess is that's marketing from a not ip cam that pro installers are more likely to lens change.
btw, i've taken apart plenty of stuff - and however they seal it; that's some serious f'ing glue.

maybe when the 4mm lens shows up after the slow boat from china,
i'll muster the courage to cut, melt or drill out a corner in hopes of uncovering a screw head.
i can always restore the weather proofing with more silicon chalk.
or maybe hikvision will get desperate and do a half price sale too

 

[mat200]

as you can see from my many photos, contours are very different and no holes through the front.
my guess is that's ..

@consorts - contours are not that different - Dahua modifies the shape of the cameras a bit here and there for vendors.

Under that face piece are the screws - and yes the face cover maybe "glued" on, that's not unusual as the designers want to make things look nicer.

 

[consorts]

Under that face piece are the screws

ask yourself an obvious question... if there's no framed cap and they obviously put the face on with glue, and the lens assembly is held in place by a foam doughnut - then why the hell would this bullet need any 4 screws in the front to begin with - there is no functional reason why this bullet design would need any screws in those corners at all. it's entirely possible that if you ever managed to remove that front part, that the only way to put the camera back together again so that it's sandwiched layers of electronic boards and ribbon cables would not fall out - would be to use super f'ing glue! also, could you please discuss this on the thread about taking it apart - that would be the more appropriate location should anyone want to take up and resume this effort in the future.

 

[Q™]

We need you to stop being a pussy and rip that face plate off that camera.

 

[mat200]

ask yourself an obvious question... if there's no framed cap and they obviously put the face on with glue, and the lens assembly is held in place by a foam doughnut - then why the hell would this bullet need any 4 screws in the front to begin with - there is no functional reason why this bullet design would need any screws in those corners at all. it's entirely possible that if you ever managed to remove that front part, that the only way to put the camera back together again so that it's sandwiched layers of electronic boards and ribbon cables would not fall out - would be to use super f'ing glue! also, could you please discuss this on the thread about taking it apart - that would be the more appropriate location should anyone want to take up and resume this effort in the future.

@consorts

hmmmm... interesting challenge

For those following - please see the following thread
how do you open a square bullet casing?

 

[looney2ns]

ask yourself an obvious question... if there's no framed cap and they obviously put the face on with glue, and the lens assembly is held in place by a foam doughnut - then why the hell would this bullet need any 4 screws in the front to begin with - there is no functional reason why this bullet design would need any screws in those corners at all. it's entirely possible that if you ever managed to remove that front part, that the only way to put the camera back together again so that it's sandwiched layers of electronic boards and ribbon cables would not fall out - would be to use super f'ing glue! also, could you please discuss this on the thread about taking it apart - that would be the more appropriate location should anyone want to take up and resume this effort in the future.

So, tell us how many bullet cams you have disassembled and confirmed there was no need for screws? Yeah, I thought so.
I'm sure a quick search of Youtube would find a demonstration.
The foam Donuts does not hold the lens assembly in place.
You are making this a lot harder than it needs to be.

 

[Q™]

He’s not here anymore @looney2ns

 

[tigerwillow1]

however they seal it; that's some serious f'ing glue.

Reminds me of when I removed the camera guts from a hikvision bullet case recently. The case is plastic with some kind of sealant, about an inch in diameter, where the wire comes out of the back of the case. Wanting to keep the wire intact, I tried sawing the case off the wire. The darn sealant took or ground the teeth off of ever saw I tried! A heat gun softened it to where it could be picked and pried off the wire, but it was indestructible at room temperature.

 

[hotwheels498]

Any pointers on getting a clear frame from this camera, the motion is rather blury. i am new so everything is set on default now.

 

[mat200]

Any pointers on getting a clear frame from this camera, the motion is rather blury. i am new so everything is set on default now.View attachment 36042

Hi @hotwheels498

Try changing the settings in the camera.

Try a faster shutter speed,
Try turning off WDR

 

[Q™]

Any pointers on getting a clear frame from this camera

Swing it away from the house or else you're going to experience quite a bit if IR reflection at night I would imagine.

 

[hotwheels498]

Fourier, thanks for confirming my worst fears - that i'm going to hate having that wide frame distorted 2.8mm lens in my amcrest. i'd order a 4mm or 6mm already (may take a few weeks to arrive) but i want to wait till i have it in my hand disassembled before probably getting it wrong. my amcrest will be mounted between trees, so i already know too wide will waste half my field of view with wind moving branches. here are the two lenses i'm probably going to try. (i'm new at this, so nobody take my word for these working yet);

amcrest's original lens appears to be from it's specs; M12 2.8mm F1.6 5MP
4mm 5MP 1/2.5" HD IR Sensitive M12 Camera Lens | eBay M12 4mm F1.8 5MP
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019S2X4JO M12 6mm F2.0 5MP
btw, i actually emailed amcrest twice (directly and thru amazon) and they do not
stock a 4.0mm lens or version of this camera even though it's available in the specs,
ICIP-B8310-IR
and seems to be resold at 4mm in a white casing by yet another dahua oem
(yes, i know icrealtime keeps contradicting itself - clueless oem proofreading)

Any luck with one of these lenses?