IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E vs. IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E

R

Rickoo

Getting the hang of it
Nov 16, 2019
202
72
USA
I was interested in the 5231 variant of this camera and Andy suggested the 5241 instead. He felt it was newer and more stable. I know there have been issues with focus at full zoom on the 5231.

I've looked at both units and the only difference that I can see is that the 5231 has 60 fps and the 5241 has 30 fps. I plan on using this camera to view birds and am wondering if the higher frame rate of the older 5231 will produce smoother video with the quick movement of birds.

I would have liked a higher MP (These are 2) camera as night vision isn't a concern and felt like a higher resolution would benefit me in this situation. I can't see any 12x zoom (a neccessity) camera with higher than 2 MP.

Any opinions on one over the other or possibly another camera to look at?
 
I think that shutter speed will be of more importance Rickoo, but that's an advanced tweak that's not too terrible to do.

But what distance is of interest, would you like dome or turret style cameras and do you need either a microphone or speaker on the cameras?

I'm more the dome camp (metal enclosures please), as they're less visual impact and more robust against deliberate damage than turrets. Which is more useful at lower mounting locations that can be easily reached.
 
Style of the camera isn't that important. The cam will be mounted 16 feet away and I need the field of view of about 2-3 feet wide. It appears that a 12x zoom is about right. At least for the cameras in question. I'm not opposed to other models at all. Just want to end up with a cam that does what I want it to do. Need a mic input. Not interested in a built in mic. I want to install the mic a distance from the camera. No speaker needed.

Is there a listing somewhere for all Dahua cameras and their features?
 
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Just checking with you Rickoo, so you are going to be observing at approx 16 feet or is the mounting location at 16 feet?

The distance to your object or objects of interest is necessary, as this relates to the lens needed.
 
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K175un3 said:
Just checking with you Rickoo, so you are going to be observing at approx 16 feet or is the mounting location at 16 feet?

The distance to your object or objects of interest is necessary, as this relates to the lens needed.
Click to expand...

This is to view a bird feeder. The camera will be mounted 16 feet away from the feeder. The field of view I want to limit the cam to will be 2 to 3 feet. (The width of the feeder)
 
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By the looks of it Rickoo, either of the Z12E cams are possibly a good option.

They have a good CMOS and the focal length is from 5.3mm to 64mm (the largest focal length range available from Dahua.

5231 tech docs say that the maximum frame rate is 50 FPS (PAL) and 60 FPS (NTSC), whereas the 5241 tech docs say that the maximum frame rate is 25 FPS (PAL) and 30 FPS (NTSC).

But if you enable WDR to even out the image captured, frame rate will be 25 FPS (PAL) and 30 FPS (NTSC).

So I'd say read reviews and check out YouTube for footage captured by them to work out which one you prefer.
 
The IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E will get you integrated AI which may be useful to you if you aren't using anything third-party
 
mech said:
If you want more than 2MP, you could consider this one: US $237.47 6% OFF|2019 New Arriving cameras IPC B5442E Z4E 4MP WDR IR Bullet AI Network Camera free DHL shipping-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on AliExpress That is 4MP and at full zoom, it would give you a 15-degree field of view, which is 4 feet wide at 16 feet. Useful circle calculator here if you are comparing cameras and have their horizontal field-of-view spec: Circle Calculator - Metric
Click to expand...

I entered the closest model number IPC B5442E ZE into the (IPVM Camera Calculator V3) and it showed 13.9 feet field of view at 16 feet away. Haven't played with the circle calculator.
 
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^^^^^^^^
THIS
 
Interesting. Is there somewhere that shows the designation for a number in the last set of model numbers/letters? Such as Z4E?

I have the one in the Wiki. Almost looks like the last part of the chart is cut off. It looks like the Z4E is a 4x zoom? 8mm-32mm
 
I'm still interested in your bird feeder camera. (:
You wrote:
"I've looked at both units and the only difference that I can see is that the 5231 has 60 fps and the 5241 has 30 fps. I plan on using this camera to view birds and am wondering if the higher frame rate of the older 5231 will produce smoother video with the quick movement of birds."

60fps could help smoothness some when slowing down the video. But when slowing down a lot, much higher fps would be needed for a smooth video.

If you want 4M 12X, here is one. It's not starlight, but you said night vision isn't a concern .
There is a holiday sale on. $323 at Amazon with code 66XGX3PP.
 
The Amcrest cameras look nice. There is a Dahua 25x that's been well reviewed here for around the same price.

Early on, my thought was to go with a turret PTZ and use it for more than just this feeder. At the height I would want to mount the camera, I don't feel I can get an adequate angle to view the feeder properly. So then progressed to a camera at the same height as the feeder and a different mounting location. Still plan on the PTZ. Just not for this feeder. I can mount a camera (somewhat concealed) about sixteen feet away from the feeder, but want to zoom in enough to have pretty much just the feeder in the video.

I have a DH-IPC-HFW2831T-ZAS mounted in this location now. It's a 3.7-11 varifocal and can zoom to maybe 12 feet wide at the feeder. I'd like to reduce this to maybe 2 to 3 feet. I've been using digital zoom and it's surprisingly good at times but I'm optimistic that with more optical zoom and a more narrow field of view, I'll get better results.

The IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E looks like it can get right what I need. I'm wondering if 4MP or above would produce noticeable results in this situation. Don't really know if I'll see increased video quality within the constraints of my laptop, phone or tablet device screens.
 
2MP will have the best low light performance and keep costs down, and a high shutter speed will help capture action.
 
Found something interesting rickoo, DH-SDZ2030S-N 2MP 30× varifocal camera.

I hope that that's the highest zoom that can be found at the moment.
 
Looks like low resolution. 1.3 mp? Also looks discontinued from what I found when googling it.
 
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