I have a bunch of Hikvision cameras like DS-2CD2132F-IS, DS-2CD3145F-I, etc. I am using them with BlueIris. However, the video, especially during night time is pretty useless. Some months ago I had police coming by asking me to look at some footage but it was impossible to see anything useful. The catalytic converter was just stolen from our neighbor's car but again the video is pretty much useless. Are there some settings I can improve to get useful video or are there other cameras I should invest in? There is no point having those cameras if they can't capture anything useful. The cameras I currently have are pretty cheap but I am willing to invest a few hundred dollars. There must be better solutions as even the tiny little sensors on my phone do a better job.
Good Quality Cameras
- Thread starter rfj
- Start date
aristobrat
IPCT Contributor
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2016
- Messages
- 2,979
- Reaction score
- 3,178
If you want to try adjusting settings, below is a link to a great post (if you haven't already seen it before):
Common issues with camera image | IP Cam Talk
If you're looking for new cameras that do better in low light, check out Dahua/Hik models that use the 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor.
Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+
Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
ipcamtalk.com
Common issues with camera image | IP Cam Talk
If you're looking for new cameras that do better in low light, check out Dahua/Hik models that use the 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor.
Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+
Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
Dahua IPC-HDW5442T-ZE 4MP Varifocal Turret - Night Perfomance testing
All @EMPIRETECANDY kindly provided 1 of these units for testing and I specifically wanted to focus on 1 area, night captures and IR as I know a number of people have been interested in understanding how this compares to the fixed lens variants in this respect and have been wanting a 4MP vari to...
It would help to know what you mean by useless, what is the issue? Both these cams are on 1/3" sensors, which would not perform well in color at night. Domes are really not recommended for outdoor use for a wide variety of issues as stated in the Cliff Notes.
Post some caps that show what you mean by useless. Sometimes folks use wide angle lenses when they really need to have a more zoomed in view. Sometimes folks complain of poor quality at night and it is a lighting or sensor issue. Without seeing your issues, we really can't help you solve them.
sebastiantombs
Known around here
With that much light in the foreground, any camera will have problems seeing further out is my two cents, so far. Combine that with a 1/3" sensor and background objects become too hard to identify. A temporary solution might be to add an IR illuminator on the front of your garage to brighten up that area for the camera. It won't cure everything, but will sure help a lot.
A few things to consider. It looks like the lens could use some cleaning. If it is a dome, some of that flair could be IR coming back at the lens. That is one reason not to use domes outdoors. It is also possible that the dome has had UV deterioration.
Cams really should only be tasked with one job. This cam placement looks like it might give a reasonable face shot of someone coming up you walkway (but maybe too high), but even at your car in the driveway it is probably too far away. In no way would this lens/location combination give you anything on cars driving down the street at night. It is fine for an overview cam but not for anything that would help ID someone.
You have a lot of light. I really think that a Dahua 5442 turret would give you good color performance at night.
Cams really should only be tasked with one job. This cam placement looks like it might give a reasonable face shot of someone coming up you walkway (but maybe too high), but even at your car in the driveway it is probably too far away. In no way would this lens/location combination give you anything on cars driving down the street at night. It is fine for an overview cam but not for anything that would help ID someone.
You have a lot of light. I really think that a Dahua 5442 turret would give you good color performance at night.
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2017
- Messages
- 14,267
- Reaction score
- 23,797
"I have a bunch of Hikvision cameras like DS-2CD2132F-IS, DS-2CD3145F-I, etc. "
As they are 1/3" sensor models I concur with the prior posts:
Looks like a good time to replace a couple with newer models.
I'd look for a good turret model as mentioned... 4MP 1/1.8" sensor..
Ref:
and
bigredfish
Known around here
If you want good coverage of your walkway, and perhaps general overview (not ID) of your drive, there are better cameras that will help you achieve that.
If you want ID type coverage on the street and at your neighbors house, you need more cameras.
You're trying to do too many things with one camera.
If you want ID type coverage on the street and at your neighbors house, you need more cameras.
You're trying to do too many things with one camera.
Last edited:
therealdeal74
Getting the hang of it
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2014
- Messages
- 76
- Reaction score
- 81
I had a lot of the cameras you were using. There are some settings you can change but in the end they were the earlier IP cameras and they just weren't capable. Aside from the great advice being given here about your lighting and adding other cameras, replacing my Hikvision cameras with Dahua starlight cameras was a big improvement. I have the HIKVision ColorVu cameras as well and they are pretty good but I still prefer Dahua.
Thanks for all the advice. I am kind of surprised that dome cameras are not recommended for outdoors because that's what you see on all the homes. I guess I will have to replace them with Turret cameras. I did clean the glass not too long ago but I guess with all the fires in our area they might be dirty again. As for the positioning of the cameras, I really don't have that many options. I do plan to put one in my front yard that is more parallel to the street so I can read license plates.
I have been going through the cameras from Hikvision and Dahua searching for ones with at least 1/2" lenses, PoE and Turret. I ignored dome cameras this time. So I found 3 incl. Hikvision DS-2CD2385G1-I, Dahua N45EJ62 and Dahua N45DJ62. All of them claim to have IR lightning but if you look at something like this DahuaWiki it only has some small hole next to the lens which I assume is the IR light. Is that really going to help much when it's dark compared to the dome cameras that have IR LEDs all around? Also with that glass am I not going to have the same IR reflection issue as with my current dome cameras?
bigredfish
Known around here
Dahua N45EJ62 This model has no IR. It has white light LED's. they are very bright
Dahua N45DJ62 This model has IR. The IR LED's are behind the black plastic face cover. The little pinhole is the light sensor. It will have better IR than your domes. You may still have reflection, hard to say due to soffit/eaves etc. Not from the camera itself like your domes.
Both Dahua models you mention have a much bigger/better sensor 1/1.8" than the 1/2" sensor on the Hik you chose, which is also a 4K sensor, meaning the Dahua's will kick its ass.
I still recommend bullets under eaves/soffit. YMMV
Dahua N45DJ62 This model has IR. The IR LED's are behind the black plastic face cover. The little pinhole is the light sensor. It will have better IR than your domes. You may still have reflection, hard to say due to soffit/eaves etc. Not from the camera itself like your domes.
Both Dahua models you mention have a much bigger/better sensor 1/1.8" than the 1/2" sensor on the Hik you chose, which is also a 4K sensor, meaning the Dahua's will kick its ass.
I still recommend bullets under eaves/soffit. YMMV
@bigredfish thanks for the input. I will concentrate on the Dahua. Why are you recommending the bullet cameras? Most people seems to prefer the turret (on this forum and what I googled) but I would like to hear your point of view. Note that the cameras I am trying to replace are mounted on the soffit. I plan to install one in the front yard close to the ground and pretty much parallel with the street to read license plates. For that I probably will use a bullet camera but I haven't made up my mind. My first task is to replace the cams on the house.
bigredfish
Known around here
Under eaves and soffit they extend out further and have less issues with IR reflection. They seem to have better depth of field.
Most here prefer turrets due to 1) a misconception that they draw fewer spider webs and 2) the form factor is less obtrusive, more aesthetic to some.
HiK makes some good low light cameras as well, match the cameras with your NVR brand. The one you picked above isn't a good comparison to the Dahua's you picked.
Most here prefer turrets due to 1) a misconception that they draw fewer spider webs and 2) the form factor is less obtrusive, more aesthetic to some.
HiK makes some good low light cameras as well, match the cameras with your NVR brand. The one you picked above isn't a good comparison to the Dahua's you picked.
@bigredfish that makes sense. I am not too concerned regarding the cameras being obtrusive. Actually, it might even be a deterrent except that you can see the direction it is pointing to and people say you can easily move them in a different direction. Moving them actually happened to my brother-in-law. As for NVR, I don't have a dedicated one. I am using BlueIris and store all footage on my "server".
bigredfish
Known around here
Should be no problem on make then.
I can't move my bullets when tightend down any more than I can move my turrets. Nobody is likely going to try anyway. I agree with the visibility, I want mine to be seen.
I can't move my bullets when tightend down any more than I can move my turrets. Nobody is likely going to try anyway. I agree with the visibility, I want mine to be seen.