I had a old 5MP Bosch 5000 varifocal dome cam up on our third-floor porch. Problems:
1. I can't rely on a couple of the residents to run their porch lights.
2. If they do turn their lights on, then a person facing the camera is backlighted.
3. the old Bosch had inherently poor night performance
So I wanted to replace the old Bosch camera with something that either has onboard IR, or onboard white light. The photo below is from the Bosch 5000, with some IR coming from its right from an old analog cam that's still up there. How am I supposed to identify cats with this? I can't even tell if it's that black one, or the fluffy cream-colored one
The camera candidates were:
1. Dahua 5442AS-LED turret (white-light LEDs, full-time color). I have one of these already, so I'm familiar with it
2. Hikvision ColorVu turret (white-light LEDs, full-time color).
3. Dahua IPC-HDW5541H-AS-PV if I could get it in 6mm lens. This is a 4:3-format camera which would fit the shape of the scene. One white LED, one IR LED.
4. Dahua 5442 varifocal bullet, or 6mm 5442 turret could also work if I don't mind going with black/white using IR
Since the scene is small, the priority was something with either a 6mm lens or a varifocal. In the end, I went with the 6mm ColorVu from @EMPIRETECANDY. Here are a couple of items that it took a little while to discover:
1. Where's the LED control? I discovered it under Configuration > System Settings > External Device. The combination of settings below lets it control intensity automatically and go as high as 100%. The Sensitivity of 7 was necessary to get it to turn the lights on automatically despite facing the two porch lights.
2. Where's the audio? Thanks to @alastairstevenson's review of the ColorVu, I learned that I can switch the audio on using the drop-down in Video/Audio. In my state, recording conversations requires explicit consent, so I dial down the audio to nearly zero. I just need at least one camera that can document gunshots (no joke, we have some bad people around here).
From a raw pixel-density standpoint, the ColorVu is a step backwards from the 5MP varifocal Bosch, which packed more pixels into less space and was OK in the daytime. At night, with its lights allowed to run as high as 100%, the ColorVu is doing a decent job in full color where the Bosch was best off in B/W mode. Here's a sample video of me in my usual "test-pattern" jacket:
Settings used above:
1/250th-second minimum shutter speed
maximum gain limited to 40; @ 1/250th shutter, I can move Gain to 100 and the scene does not change, 40 is about what it wants
2D DNR at zero, 3D DNR at 50
Sharpness at 60, other Image settings at 50
bitrate at maximum, I used 30FPS for this demo but normally would use 15fps
all Backlight options turned off.
Disclaimer! The massive f1.0 aperture on the lens lets in extra light, but the downside of a large aperture is a shallow depth-of-field. I wanted maximum detail on a person at the top of that stairway, but the lens seemed to be dialed for best results about twice that distance. So I opened up the camera and easily rotated the lens to optimize the focus a bit closer. The video above reflects that. If you get one of these and you want to do this, you'll need a #2 Phillips screwdriver and a smaller Phillips, and some fingers. This is all the disassembly you need (below): get the shell open and don't damage the cables for the lights or the microphone.
More tuning? If you're like me, you probably noticed that as I walk toward the camera, there's a zone where my face is pretty dark. From my 8MP DarkFighters, I know that reducing Contrast on my Hikvisions can have a WDR-like boost on dark areas without the expected WDR blur penalty. I'll see about doing some more tuning videos tomorrow night and try a low-contrast setup, as well as HLC/BLC, to see if there's more optimization to do.
1. I can't rely on a couple of the residents to run their porch lights.
2. If they do turn their lights on, then a person facing the camera is backlighted.
3. the old Bosch had inherently poor night performance
So I wanted to replace the old Bosch camera with something that either has onboard IR, or onboard white light. The photo below is from the Bosch 5000, with some IR coming from its right from an old analog cam that's still up there. How am I supposed to identify cats with this? I can't even tell if it's that black one, or the fluffy cream-colored one
The camera candidates were:
1. Dahua 5442AS-LED turret (white-light LEDs, full-time color). I have one of these already, so I'm familiar with it
2. Hikvision ColorVu turret (white-light LEDs, full-time color).
3. Dahua IPC-HDW5541H-AS-PV if I could get it in 6mm lens. This is a 4:3-format camera which would fit the shape of the scene. One white LED, one IR LED.
4. Dahua 5442 varifocal bullet, or 6mm 5442 turret could also work if I don't mind going with black/white using IR
Since the scene is small, the priority was something with either a 6mm lens or a varifocal. In the end, I went with the 6mm ColorVu from @EMPIRETECANDY. Here are a couple of items that it took a little while to discover:
1. Where's the LED control? I discovered it under Configuration > System Settings > External Device. The combination of settings below lets it control intensity automatically and go as high as 100%. The Sensitivity of 7 was necessary to get it to turn the lights on automatically despite facing the two porch lights.
2. Where's the audio? Thanks to @alastairstevenson's review of the ColorVu, I learned that I can switch the audio on using the drop-down in Video/Audio. In my state, recording conversations requires explicit consent, so I dial down the audio to nearly zero. I just need at least one camera that can document gunshots (no joke, we have some bad people around here).
From a raw pixel-density standpoint, the ColorVu is a step backwards from the 5MP varifocal Bosch, which packed more pixels into less space and was OK in the daytime. At night, with its lights allowed to run as high as 100%, the ColorVu is doing a decent job in full color where the Bosch was best off in B/W mode. Here's a sample video of me in my usual "test-pattern" jacket:
Settings used above:
1/250th-second minimum shutter speed
maximum gain limited to 40; @ 1/250th shutter, I can move Gain to 100 and the scene does not change, 40 is about what it wants
2D DNR at zero, 3D DNR at 50
Sharpness at 60, other Image settings at 50
bitrate at maximum, I used 30FPS for this demo but normally would use 15fps
all Backlight options turned off.
Disclaimer! The massive f1.0 aperture on the lens lets in extra light, but the downside of a large aperture is a shallow depth-of-field. I wanted maximum detail on a person at the top of that stairway, but the lens seemed to be dialed for best results about twice that distance. So I opened up the camera and easily rotated the lens to optimize the focus a bit closer. The video above reflects that. If you get one of these and you want to do this, you'll need a #2 Phillips screwdriver and a smaller Phillips, and some fingers. This is all the disassembly you need (below): get the shell open and don't damage the cables for the lights or the microphone.
More tuning? If you're like me, you probably noticed that as I walk toward the camera, there's a zone where my face is pretty dark. From my 8MP DarkFighters, I know that reducing Contrast on my Hikvisions can have a WDR-like boost on dark areas without the expected WDR blur penalty. I'll see about doing some more tuning videos tomorrow night and try a low-contrast setup, as well as HLC/BLC, to see if there's more optimization to do.
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Also, while I was up there taking down the camera to adjust its focus, a known car thief came up the staircase to see if his pal in the third apartment was there... unfortunately I do have more than just the black cat and the fluffy cream-colored one to worry about 
