Looking for a new camera to replace my rlc-423

JBjorn

JBjorn

n3wb
Mar 4, 2023
24
13
United States
Hey folks new guy here,

I've been surfing the forums for a bit and researching a replacement for my Reolink RLC-423. We have had a spat of crimes in my area including 2 attempted catalytic convertor thefts in front of my house and this guy right next door: .

I'm looking for something that will reduce the motion blur at night (see 1:55 mark of video). Even at best settings I cannot get good identifiable features using my current camera. I have researched a number of cameras and am leaning towards ones that have excellent night performance. Also considering perhaps a panoramic (hikvision/annke) on one end and a fixed at the current ptz location.

Any suggestions would help!

Regards,

JBjorn
 
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Welcome!

Sorry to hear you were burned by the Reolink...and yep most people don't find out their cameras do not perform until it is the total stranger scumbag.

And then to top it off, you have a wide angle camera that will not IDENTIFY at that distance regardless of how good the camera is. You need a varifocal optically zoomed in to the sidewalk, not a 2.8 or 3.6 mm fixed lens camera.

Take a look at this thread that shows the cameras recommended the most for the distance you want to IDENTIFY. In some instances it is a 2MP camera. These cameras represent the best overall cost and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...
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Thanks for the info wittaj! Yeah, I bought this PTZ almost 5 years ago. And, I noticed it had night visions issues even then. It does have a motorized lens (2.7mm - 12mm) and can go from 31°~87° degrees of viewing. But, with a 1/2.7" CMOS Sensor, it is far below the recommend sensor size for a 5 mp camera at night. As you can see by this test (custom setting around 21 fps which is the best I can get without it being too dark) I did on a food delivery this evening: . So, even at 12mm and 31 degrees, it is not sufficient. Which pretty much proves the point of your article on this subject.

So, it looks I guess there are a couple variations I could go for. I could go for some of the latest color panoramics that have 2 4mp cameras with 1/1.8 sensors for the DOR in DORI. And, then either a varifocal on the best spot on the street or a PTZ that has some sort of AI behind it for identification.
 
Guessing at that distance, a 12mm varifocal should have been able to get you close to IDENTIFY.

The problem with reolink is they wrote the firmware to favor a bright static image over anything else, so motion is usually crap.

Shutter speed is more important than FPS. I would take 8 FPS at a 1/120 shutter over 30FPS on default/auto shutter all night long. But the faster the shutter, the darker the image gets, so it is a balancing act.

I think your idea of a 180degree camera seems reasonable, to go along with a fixed varifocal optically zoomed in to the best spot on the street or a PTZ.

Depending on what you use for recording like an NVR or Blue Iris, you could use the fixed cams as spotter cams to go along with an autotracking PTZ so that the fixed cam would tell the PTZ where to look and then the PTZ with autotrack takes over from there.
 
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Realize that if you want to be able to ID someone on the sidewalk, you will have to set the FOV specifically for that. Do not try to do multiple things with a single cam. An overview cam is fine but realize that it will never get a face shot that can be used to ID someone.

A very good cam that has more zoom than the 12mm is the Dahua B5442E-Z4E, which is a 4MP on a 1/1.8" sensor and is an 8-32mm varifocal.
 
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Yeah, I have no complaints with it's daytime performance. It is very crisp. I have been using blue iris. I set it up many years ago and haven't looked at the capabilities side of it since. There seems to be a lot more options out these days. Do you have any recommendations for that spotter/autotracking option? As a software engineer, I familiar in the basic sense of some of it, having worked on sensor integration with cameras once or twice, but not familiar with current offerings. Looking at some of the 'The Hook Up" videos on auto tracking and other cameras, a lot has changed.
 
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My first cam was a PTZ. tried to do too much with it....eventually I learned a Metric Shit ton from These 2 guys who have responded. and thusly,,,,bought smarter going forward.
 
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Hi Flinstone61, Thanks for responding! Yeah, this is my first self wired camera. And, has been pretty useful while I'm awake if I hear a noise outside. I am quite fond of it. But, as previously mentioned, it doesn't provide enough for identification. And, where I live, there is increasing foot traffic around my area at early morning hours. So, trying to do as much research as possible and choose the best options that make sense. Already been at it a couple weeks before coming onto the forums. But, I try to be pretty exhaustive in trying to figure these things out.
 
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Hi wittaj,

I also recall there being some PTZ's that had some kind dome around them such that people couldn't necessarily see if it was tracking them. Are you familiar with any of those? Trying to find the links again for one. The one thing about considering an auto tracking PTZ is that folks may now be aware that it is watching them. And, in the first video I posted, the owner of the skateboard that was stolen off his porch found it destroyed a couple blocks down. So, I wouldn't put it past someone hopping my fence and taking a baseball bat to a PTZ they thought was tracking them. On the other hand, could also serve more of a deterrent.

Thanks!
 
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Quit watching the hookup - all he will point you to is reolink LOL

Here is how to set up spotter cams:

Using Spotter Cameras to direct a PTZ where to look in an NVR or Blue Iris and setting a spotter cam as a priority in Blue Iris

We get this question from time to time, so I thought with the recent addition to BI, it made sense to have a thread we can point to. Previously in BI, if you had more than one spotter cam, you could not make one a priority, so if spotter cam #1 triggered the PTZ and it starts tracking and...
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These are the go to sub $450 autotracking PTZs:

https://www.amazon.com/Loryta-SD49425XB-HNR-Starlight-Network-Tracking/dp/B082XX9LJ6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=ptz&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&qid=1677898476&s=merchant-items&sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-Starlight-Auto-Tracking-Protection-SD4A425DB-HNY/dp/B0BPH7L1Z1/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=ptz&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&qid=1677898476&s=merchant-items&sr=1-14


This is a great one that has great range of motion:

https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-PTZ1A225-HNR-XA-Starlight-Positioning-PTZ1A225U-IRA-N/dp/B08LGVS1RR/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=ptz&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&qid=1677898476&s=merchant-items&sr=1-15


This is the best sub $1,000 autotracking PTZ:

https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-SD5A425XA-HNR-Starlight-Auto-Tracking-IVSEnglish/dp/B08GKQSK2W/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=ptz&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&qid=1677898581&s=merchant-items&sr=1-21


And then if you have the money:

https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-Sensitivity-Auto-Tracking-Recognition-SD8C845FG-HNF/dp/B0BRQ6ML1K/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=ptz&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&qid=1677898602&s=merchant-items&sr=1-11
 
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samplenhold said:
Realize that if you want to be able to ID someone on the sidewalk, you will have to set the FOV specifically for that. Do not try to do multiple things with a single cam. An overview cam is fine but realize that it will never get a face shot that can be used to ID someone.

A very good cam that has more zoom than the 12mm is the Dahua B5442E-Z4E, which is a 4MP on a 1/1.8" sensor and is an 8-32mm varifocal.
Click to expand...

An example of using the Dahua 5442E-Z4E (8-32mm zoom) set at 23 mm for sidewalk viewing. Camera mounted on top of a fence post at 40 inches.

Video taken from Blue Iris. One day and one night example.

View attachment Day-5442E-Z4E.mp4



View attachment Night-5442E-Z4E.mp4
 
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wittaj said:
Quit watching the hookup - all he will point you to is reolink LOL
Click to expand...
Hi wittaj. I didn't get that impression for my use case. Which was least motion blur at night. Reolink tended to perform poorly compared to others. And, it seemed he did ok reviews of color night and panaromic cameras. I did search high and low for other camera comparisons by other channels. And, it is too cost prohibitive to get an ipvm subscription for other reviews. I am curious about how the higher end cameras perform in comparison to say mid tier. But, there is alot that I still haven't read on these forums. At this point, I will probably end up with the hikvision/annke NCD800 panaromic bullet as a spotter unless the resolution/stretching has been fixed for the dahua variant. Seems a fair deal with good results. And, my area is fairly well lit. As for the PTZ, still searching.
 
No idea of why the MP4 will not play. Suggestions for success are appreciated. Video will be replaced once a solution is available.

Uploaded a new set of videos directly taken from BI and both work fine on this site. However, when reduced in size as an mp4 in VLC neither will work on this site.
 
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