I made the Reolink mistake

[wittaj]

Wow that is crazy. Any luck with your credit card company?

Did you inform Reolink that you would be giving an unfavorable review on Amazon?

How about they comp you the NVR if they are so convinced it will improve all around performance (but we know from their own marketing videos that night video still sucks)...

The 5442 series is the current nighttime champ with 4MP on the 1/1.8" sensor. The turret version has a built in microphone:

Amazon.com : EmpireTech IPC-T5442T-ZE 4MP IR Vari-Focal Eyeball Starlight IP Camera Support POE and ePOE White

Amazon.com : EmpireTech IPC-T5442T-ZE 4MP IR Vari-Focal Eyeball Starlight IP Camera Support POE and ePOE White

www.amazon.com

This is sold by Andy @EMPIRETECANDY here and they are Dahua OEM cameras.

Loryta and Empiretech are Dahua OEM sold by Andy. Some of my cameras I have bought from Andy from his Amazon store come as Dahua cams in Dahua boxes with Dahua logos, and some are not logo'd - I think it depends on how many cameras Andy buys if he gets them with the Dahua Logo or not. But regardless, they are Dahua cams. If you get a camera that has Dahua on it, then the camera GUI will say Dahua; otherwise it will simply say IP Camera but looks identical except without the logo.

And the firmware we get from him is actually better because many members here provide feedback to Andy and then Dahua makes modifications to the firmware and sends back to him and then he sends out to his customers. These have been great improvements that Dahua doesn't even update their firmware and add to their website. So many of us are running a newer firmware than those that purchase Dahua cameras through professional installers. Smart IR on the 5442 series is one such improvement. Autotracking on the 49225 PTZ is another. Almost every other vendor the 49225 is not autotrack.

Andy has great customer service as well.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

youtuber testing guy sometimes not tell you the bad thing about the cam, you see we have lots of cams testing here ,some of them are junk too. But still good compare to the reolink one
If buy from amazon or online, can get your money back easily, but sometimes need to pay the shipping cost.

 

[wittaj]

Yes, Andy will tell you if some of the cams he sells is junk LOL. He has some 4k cams on 1/3" sensors that he will not recommend except for places with good light, yet people still buy them because they favor 4k over quality video....but they are still better than the reolinks LOL.

Folks here run the cams through their paces and we see how they perform. Here is the review of the camera I mentioned:

Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua)

IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal from @EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret Varifocal Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $200.00...

ipcamtalk.com

And the firmware updates Andy gets for it that Dahua doesn't even push out to their customers most of the time:

IPC-T5442T-ZE IPC-T5442TM-AS latest new firmware General_IPC-HX5XXX-Volt_MultiLang_NP_Stream3_V2.800.15OG004.0.R.201203

Hey guys The Smart IR firmware has been released. The update is mainly because of the new lot has a small hardware change, so this firmware can work for both the latest new cameras and old batches. IPC-T5442T-ZE IPC-T5442TM-AS IPC-T5241TM-AS IPC-B5442E-ZE IPC-B5442E-Z4E IPC-T5241H-AS-PV...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Yes, Andy will tell you if some of the cams he sells is junk LOL. He has some 4k cams on 1/3" sensors that he will not recommend, yet people still buy them because they favor 4k over quality video....but they are still better than the reolinks LOL.

Folks here run the cams through their paces and we see how they perform. Here is the review of the camera I mentioned:

Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+

Dahua OEM IPC-T5442TM-AS from EMPIRETECANDY 4MP WDR Turret AI Network Camera Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) in exchange for a fair and honest review. Andy's ipcamtalk store: link Andy's AliExpress store: link Andy's Amazon store: link Price Approximately US $160 Link to camera...

ipcamtalk.com

And the firmware updates Andy gets for it that Dahua doesn't even push out to their customers most of the time:

IPC-T5442T-ZE IPC-T5442TM-AS latest new firmware General_IPC-HX5XXX-Volt_MultiLang_NP_Stream3_V2.800.15OG004.0.R.201203

Hey guys The Smart IR firmware has been released. The update is mainly because of the new lot has a small hardware change, so this firmware can work for both the latest new cameras and old batches. IPC-T5442T-ZE IPC-T5442TM-AS IPC-T5241TM-AS IPC-B5442E-ZE IPC-B5442E-Z4E IPC-T5241H-AS-PV...

ipcamtalk.com

aha, i recommend them for good light places using for 4K models

 

[wittaj]

aha, i recommend them for good light places using for 4K models

That is true, when people post images of what they are trying to cover by cameras and they have a lot of light, he will recommend the 4k if that is what they are looking for. A rural farm with nothing but stars, he won't recommend it.

I, as many others here can attest, have found Andy to not push an expensive camera on you and tell you it will be great, but will recommend the best camera for your situation. I have seen him talk people down to a cheaper model after they say what they are trying to do with the camera.

 

[pianoman]

I am overwhelmed at the different cameras out there! I have been looking at cameras for so long that I have analysis paralysis.

My environment has plenty of ambient lighting at night, through street lights and other landscaping lights, but I still want good IR in case the lights happen to be off. Based on the Reolinks I have now and some extra research, I think that a 3.6mm or 4.0mm lens is what I want - it seems to give me the coverage I need. I don't necessarily have to have 4K - I am ok with 5MP as long as it has a 16:9 ratio and has a similar FOV as the 4K models. I don't need PTZ or varifocal.

I've been looking at the Amcrest IP8M (4K) and IP5M (5MP) for $100 and $55 respectively. Has anyone used these with BI, and do they meet the BI standards? The only thing I don't like about the 5MP model is that it appears to be in a 4:3 ratio which I absolutely hate, and I don't want to distort the image to stretch it to 16:9. Is there a 5MP camera that is in 16:9?

What other brands/models would you recommend that have the following:

• Decent night vision without terrible ghosting/smearing
• 16:9 ratio
• 1-way audio (I don't need 2-way but if it has 2-way that's ok too)
• iframe rate adjustable
• at least 25 fps (I plan to use 15 but would like the ability to go higher if needed)
• ability to stream main and sub streams simultaneously for recording continuous SD and motion in HD
• US firmware or at least reputable international version (i.e. no hacked firmware)
• prefer metal housing but sturdy plastic is acceptable
• Price point in the ballpark of $80-100 per camera for 4K, or $50-70 for 5MP

Thanks for all your feedback and advice!

 

[wittaj]

You will have a tough time meeting most of those bullets at that price point...

Price point for 4K will likely give you 4k on the same sensor that a 2MP is on. In most night time situations, the 2MP will outperform a higher MP camera on the same sensor.

Re-read my Post #19 on first page and my neighbor with his 4k cameras...

Movies are shot at 24 FPS, so I doubt you need higher to watch on your mobile device and tablet LOL. Most of us find that 15FPS is more than enough. Shutter speed to get a clean image is more important. Some of my cams are at 8FPS. Police care about the ability to get a clean image, not see a smooth video of the perp running. Need higher shutter speed for that to happen.

Amcrest and Lorex and rebranded Dahua cameras, so they will work in BI.

If the cheap Amcrest is the one you are eyeing, purchase one and put on a test rig and try it out in different spots. And do not run auto/default settings or you will get the ghost/blur. Once you dial it in, you will see the limitations of 4k on those sensors.

 

[sebastiantombs]

The current king of the hill is the Dahua 5442 series. 4MP on a 1/1.8" sensor, but even they need enough light to remain in color at night. They are in the $170-220 price range depending on specific model and form factor. Unfortunately, your price range is not realistic for really decent cameras with the feature set you list and good night vision. You may be better off upgrading over a period of time, rather than all at once, to make it more affordable and still get the results you need/want. Even a good 2MP camera, like the 3241 series, 1/2.8" sensor, from Dahua, is in the $130 range.

 

[mat200]

FYI - we try to keep things here

I am overwhelmed at the different cameras out there! I have been looking at cameras for so long that I have analysis paralysis.

My environment has plenty of ambient lighting at night, through street lights and other landscaping lights, but I still want good IR in case the lights happen to be off. Based on the Reolinks I have now and some extra research, I think that a 3.6mm or 4.0mm lens is what I want - it seems to give me the coverage I need. I don't necessarily have to have 4K - I am ok with 5MP as long as it has a 16:9 ratio and has a similar FOV as the 4K models. I don't need PTZ or varifocal.

I've been looking at the Amcrest IP8M (4K) and IP5M (5MP) for $100 and $55 respectively. Has anyone used these with BI, and do they meet the BI standards? The only thing I don't like about the 5MP model is that it appears to be in a 4:3 ratio which I absolutely hate, and I don't want to distort the image to stretch it to 16:9. Is there a 5MP camera that is in 16:9?

What other brands/models would you recommend that have the following:

• Decent night vision without terrible ghosting/smearing
• 16:9 ratio
• 1-way audio (I don't need 2-way but if it has 2-way that's ok too)
• iframe rate adjustable
• at least 25 fps (I plan to use 15 but would like the ability to go higher if needed)
• ability to stream main and sub streams simultaneously for recording continuous SD and motion in HD
• US firmware or at least reputable international version (i.e. no hacked firmware)
• prefer metal housing but sturdy plastic is acceptable
• Price point in the ballpark of $80-100 per camera for 4K, or $50-70 for 5MP

Thanks for all your feedback and advice!

FYI - we have some reviews on the Amcrest IP8M, it has a Sony Starvis 1/2.5” 8MP - and in our experience is not that great in low light conditions. The 5MP amcrest models do better in low light - however, do note their bodies are "plastic" iirc ( thus one reason why more affordable ).

If you have a very tight budget, I would consider the 5MP for most of your cameras and consider 1-2 of the better 4MP 1/1.8" cameras to cover your most critical low light areas.

 

[Phe0nix]

Fingers crossed you get it resolved one way or the other...

Yeah - $700 and that is the best you get - that image is useless to the police. Is it a tank or a pickup or a vehicle or a UFO...really cannot tell.

Wow that is pathetic how much those cams are adjusting the parameters to give you a nice static image - I bet a static image with no motion looks great though!

It is simple, do not chase MP - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything other than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything other than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy 4k that is on anything smaller than a 1/1.2" sensor. Unfortunately, most 4k are on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will kick its butt all night long as the 4k will need 4 times the light than the 2MP...4k will do very poor at night unless you have stadium quality lighting (well a lot of lighting LOL).

When we had a thief come thru here and get into a lot of cars, the police couldn't use one video or photo from anyone's system that had the 4k fixed 2.8mm or 3.6mm cams - those cams sure looks nice and gives a great wide angle view, but you cannot identify anyone at 15 feet out. At night you cannot even ID someone from 10 feet. Meanwhile, the perp didn't come to my house but walked past on the sidewalk at 80 feet from my house and my 2MP varifocal zoomed in to a point at the sidewalk was the money shot for the police that got my neighbors all there stolen stuff back.

In fact my system was the only one that gave them useful information. Not even my other neighbors $1,300 4k Lorex system from Costco provided useful info - the cams just didn't cut it at night. His system wasn't even a year old and after that event he has started replacing his 4k cameras with 2MP cameras like mine after seeing my results - fortunately those cams work with his Lorex NVR. He is still shocked a 2MP camera performs better than his 4k cameras... It is all about the amount of light needed and getting the right camera for the right location.

My other neighbor had reolinks and replaced those with Arlos after this event and then the next time his door was checked, he had even more useless video...the cost of both those systems could have got him a better system to start. As @looney2ns says - buy once, cry once. No dude here likes to have their property violated and the wife say "so you spent $1,000 on all that gear and we cannot tell if it were a male or female". Someone here posted that too after someone door checked, but I forgot who to give credit to.

What is the model # of those 2 MP cameras you use please .

 

[Phe0nix]

6 days ago I began watching “ The Hookup” videos and while continuing my research I found myself on Reolink’s website on their 12 th anniversary flash sale with a counter counting down to the end of the sale. I thought a counter ( bs ) , well it’s their 12th anniversary so that makes sense and I was at work on my break. I wanted the $120 off the RLK8-810B4 but didn’t want to buy from their site and so I checked Amazon and they had a coupon for the same so I bought it.
After watching more of his videos I decided to go with a Dell Optiplex i7 6700 ( quick sync ) 3.4 GHz quad core with 16 GB of DDR 4 with a Win 10 Pro 64 bit license off EBay for $285 and returned my Reolink system to Amazon the same day it arrived telling them Reolink was using deceptive advertising and this was my first ever return with Amazon over a 10 year period with probably 200 purchases.
After my return I continued my research to be sure the system I bought on EBay would handle BI and found this thread. Looks like my system that arrived today can handle BI
And that I dogged a bullet .
I would like one of you experts on here to recommend an outdoor wired camera. I want the best quality in day/night I can get but don’t want to spend $449 on a G4 Pro.
I’d probably spend as much as $200 per camera. The post above with bullets listing the features he was looking for all sound good to me but I understand it will cost more than what he was budgeting on his new system.

 

[mat200]

6 days ago I began watching “ The Hookup” videos and while continuing my research I found myself on Reolink’s website on their 12 th anniversary flash sale with a counter counting down to the end of the sale. I thought a counter ( bs ) , well it’s their 12th anniversary so that makes sense and I was at work on my break. I wanted the $120 off the RLK8-810B4 but didn’t want to buy from their site and so I checked Amazon and they had a coupon for the same so I bought it.
After watching more of his videos I decided to go with a Dell Optiplex i7 6700 ( quick sync ) 3.4 GHz quad core with 16 GB of DDR 4 with a Win 10 Pro 64 bit license off EBay for $285 and returned my Reolink system to Amazon the same day it arrived telling them Reolink was using deceptive advertising and this was my first ever return with Amazon over a 10 year period with probably 200 purchases.
After my return I continued my research to be sure the system I bought on EBay would handle BI and found this thread. Looks like my system that arrived today can handle BI
And that I dogged a bullet .
I would like one of you experts on here to recommend an outdoor wired camera. I want the best quality in day/night I can get but don’t want to spend $449 on a G4 Pro.
I’d probably spend as much as $200 per camera. The post above with bullets listing the features he was looking for all sound good to me but I understand it will cost more than what he was budgeting on his new system.

HI @Phe0nix

Look for SouthernYankee's welcome message to new users, he's got a nice list of cameras to consider.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Use IPC-B5442E-ZE or IPC-B5442E-Z4E. These 2 bullet are the best one for <60ft, 60-110ft using.

 

[wittaj]

Yep I'd go with the 5442 series at this point since you are looking to spend around $200.

 

[Phe0nix]

Yep I'd go with the 5442 series at this point since you are looking to spend around $200.

Thank you for your recommendation. I’ve read comments on here that this is the go to for others as well. I’ve been unable to locate SouthernYankee’s post on camera recommendations , could be because I’m not on a PC atm. Never thought about it before but I’m from PA living in NC so that makes me a SouthernYankee as well.
My refund of that Reolink NVR just hit my bank. Glad I have it to use on cameras that you can to configure to suit your needs.

I hope the author of this thread is able to get his refund, buyers remorse is a bad feeling

 

[user8963]

I hope the author of this thread is able to get his refund, buyers remorse is a bad feeling

Sadly people first buy "The Hook Up" recommendation and find out later... Hookup gets his bonus, Reolink scammed another poor boy and everything is fine for them Best hope is that Hook Up gets hooked up by a tornado or some lightning..

 

[sebastiantombs]

Post #9 in this thread -

Help/Suggestions on picking the right surveillance system and number of cameras (beginner)

Hello, I'm looking to purchase a surveillance system for an 8 unit building in Canada (rental multifamily). I was thinking of purchasing this system from lorex although the price is quite expensive and is at my limit...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Phe0nix]

Sadly people first buy "The Hook Up" recommendation and find out later... Hookup gets his bonus, Reolink scammed another poor boy and everything is fine for them Best hope is that Hook Up gets hooked up by a tornado or some lightning..

I extremely upset with him as well. He’s talking out of Bothsides of his mouth.
Another member on here said he felt the hookup was honest . I feel he hasn’t seen enough of his videos. I’ve watched him state Reolink works fine with BI with the right settings and then to hear him discuss iFrame settings shows he knows better.
There are people that make videos just to help others and then there there are people who are in it to help themselves and when it hurts others I have a problem with it.
So I couldn’t bite my tongue, I had to post a comment .

 

[looney2ns]

I extremely upset with him as well. He’s talking out of Bothsides of his mouth.
Another member on here said he felt the hookup was honest . I feel he hasn’t seen enough of his videos. I’ve watched him state Reolink works fine with BI with the right settings and then to hear him discuss iFrame settings shows he knows better.
There are people that make videos just to help others and then there there are people who are in it to help themselves and when it hurts others I have a problem with it.
So I couldn’t bite my tongue, I had to post a comment .

You are wasting your time posting on his video. He's been banned from here for posting false information.

 

[Phe0nix]

You are wasting your time posting on his video. He's been banned from here for posting false information.

I didn’t know, but it sure made me feel better none the less.