IPC-HFW8232E-Z Settings help

[BobW55]

I know most of you use this camera for security and not for watching the sky.
I am more than blown away from the night time ability. I can see clouds with the camera at night that I can not see with my eye. When it is cloudless, I can even watch the stars, some I have trouble seeing with my eyes.

Day time I am having trouble getting the settings correct. I have searched this forum and the Dahua web site, and can not find a good explanation for the various settings. At times I can not turn "FOG" off, because something else is turned on.
Yes I have read the help that came with the "Smart PPS" software, but it is a bit lacking explanation of what the setting does.
Is there a better wiki than the IPC/Camera Configuration - Dahua Wiki or some better explanation for the settings?

Don't give me a fish, teach me to fish.

EDIT:
Googled each one, I have em figured out now.
Dahua's wiki is OK, but lacks a real good explanation.

Bob

 

[Parley]

What did you come up with? I just place an order for this camera.

 

[BobW55]

I have not really come up with anything I am truly happy with.
I can get great day time images, but still suffer from sun flair. I think a polarizing filter would help with that, but I am not about to crack open the camera yet.
Night time: I keep the IR leds OFF. The camera will see stars, and I can get the stars to be nice pin points of light, but then I suffer from detail when clouds move in.
I had to finally settle for a bit of blurriness in the stars to be able to still maintain some detail of the clouds. I still have issues with the moon almost blinding it at night when it happens to rise in the FOV.
Not much you can do about it.
I have sent an Email to Dahua asking about better recommended settings, or even better yet, a camera designed specifically for looking at the sky.
They replied with some questions, which I answered, but I have not heard anything back for 3 weeks.
I will post an update if I hear anything.
Over all, I am very happy with the camera. It has about the best night time ability to capture clouds at night with out breaking the bank. I have captured some stunning sun rises with it.

Bob

 

[Parley]

Thank you for replying.

 

[BobW55]

Here is a grab from tonight: