Mounting IPC-HDW5231R-ZE on vertical wall looking sideways and down, without special mounting bracket?

[Oceanslider]

I searched but didn’t find any post about detailed mounting instructions for a IPC-HDW5231R-ZE.

I would like to mount this camera on a vertical surface and have it look to the side about 45 degrees maybe more and down.

 

[mat200]

I searched but didn’t find any post about detailed mounting instructions for a IPC-HDW5231R-ZE.

I would like to mount this camera on a vertical surface and have it look to the side about 45 degrees maybe more and down.

Hi @Oceanslider

hmmm... We've covered this at various times, so I am wondering what keywords are missing in the past threads.

Summary:
You can mount it on a ceiling, on a wall, .. numerous options there. ( PTZ cameras are a different issue compared to fixed alignment cameras )

 

[mat200]

We should have a few good images shared by members on what they've been doing on this topic...

quick look at the media section I found this one... should have some more if you've got time to search for them

http://ipcamtalk.com/media/white-outdoor-camera-close-up.88/full?d=1555205293

 

[Oceanslider]

Hi @Oceanslider

hmmm... We've covered this at various times, so I am wondering what keywords are missing in the past threads.

Summary:
You can mount it on a ceiling, on a wall, .. numerous options there. ( PTZ cameras are a different issue compared to fixed alignment cameras )

Thanks mat200, but is there an exact degree regarding how far to the side can this camera be adjusted to?

 

[mat200]

Thanks mat200, but is there an exact degree regarding how far to the side can this camera be adjusted to?

Hi @Oceanslider

The Dahua webpage as well as spec sheet on that camera should have that information.

In general, on a flat wall you can have it angled to see either side of the wall...

 

[Oceanslider]

I did find this post but it uses a special mount: Mounting turret cam on stucco wall

I want basically the same angle but without the special mount. Is that possible?

I've not seen any pictures of the camera, with the ball part(that houses the camera itself) inside the turret housing "rotated". Is that possible?

 

[aristobrat]

I would like to mount this camera on a vertical surface and have it look to the side about 45 degrees maybe more and down.

I don't think you'll have any problem doing that, but it's always recommended that you try to do a temp mount setup (tall 2x4 or whatnot held up in a bucket of gravel, temporarily network cable run anyway that works <out of window/doors if needed>) to make sure the image is what you expected before you do any permanent mount.

 

[Oceanslider]

I don't think you'll have any problem doing that, but it's always recommended that you try to do a temp mount setup (tall 2x4 or whatnot held up in a bucket of gravel, temporarily network cable run anyway that works <out of window/doors if needed>) to make sure the image is what you expected before you do any permanent mount.

Funny it seems this camera is super popular but I cant find one picture of this specific camera with the inside ball(the actual camera part) rotated. Or a video showing mounting range of angle. In all pictures that rectangle part of the camera (that you see in the lens) is always the same orientation within the turret housing.

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding how you setup this camera. Is the picture orientation adjusted via the software?

Could this camera in the picture attached here, using the special mount, gotten the same angle of view without the special mount?

 

[looney2ns]

See this: Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE | IP Cam Talk
Read the spec sheet for angles.

 

[Oceanslider]

See this: Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE | IP Cam Talk
Read the spec sheet for angles.

Okay not sure exactly how to read the specs. But in the specs it shows it only looking sideway, when mounted on a vertical surface, if using a special mount:

https://www.dahuasecurity.com/asset/upload/download/dh-ipc-hdw5231r-ze_datasheet_20170630.pdf

I see this: "Pan/Tilt/Rotation Range Pan:0˚~360˚; Tilt:0˚~78˚; Rotation:0˚~360˚" So from this can I assume the ball part of the camera can be rotated? I've just not seen any pictures showing this. Not that I need to see a picture but it would give confirmation.

If it needs a special mount then I maybe should be looking for a bullet.

All the videos I've watched including yours only show the picture quality, Not in what ways it can be mounted.

 

[aristobrat]

I'll take some pictures when I get home. I have a 5231 on a temp rig.

@nary's picture in the first post here should give you an intellectual idea of what it's capable of (scroll to bottom of first post):

Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

I bring you the 2016 & 2017 Camera of the year! the true low light destroyer, and guess what? Its got a sensor size the same as the average man's, normal 1/2.8 Sony Exmor-R.. just proof that its not how big it is; its what you can do with it.. lol, sorry I know that was not classy but I just had...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Oceanslider]

Okay missed looking at this picture closely. Here it appears the ball part of the camera is rotated within the turret housing. As you can see the rectangle within the lens at a different orientation to that cutout in the housing.

I am assuming that the "rectangle" that I see within the lens needs to be oriented for the most part horizontally.

 

[mat200]

Okay not sure exactly how to read the specs. But in the specs it shows it only looking sideway, when mounted on a vertical surface, if using a special mount:

https://www.dahuasecurity.com/asset/upload/download/dh-ipc-hdw5231r-ze_datasheet_20170630.pdf

I see this: "Pan/Tilt/Rotation Range Pan:0˚~360˚; Tilt:0˚~78˚; Rotation:0˚~360˚" So from this can I assume the ball part of the camera can be rotated? I've just not seen any pictures showing this. Not that I need to see a picture but it would give confirmation.

If it needs a special mount then I maybe should be looking for a bullet.

All the videos I've watched including yours only show the picture quality, Not in what ways it can be mounted.

Hi @Oceanslider

Check out some of the reviews by members, many will include pictures of the components and sections of the cameras.

update:
example of a review by Looney2ns which clearly shows the separate parts:

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

 

[aristobrat]

I am assuming that the "rectangle" that I see within the lens needs to be oriented for the most part horizontally.

Mostly horizontally usually... I'm sometimes surprised by how askew that can be after I've gotten the camera adjusted to where the scene is level.

There's also a thing called "corridor mode" where you flip the camera 90' to where that rectangle becomes more vertical than horizontal. That gives you an image that is taller than it is wide, which can be useful when the camera is mounted next to doors or aimed down alleys, etc. In that case you have to enable a feature in the cameras settings to rotate the image, otherwise it'll come out sideways.

 

[Oceanslider]

Mostly horizontally usually... I'm sometimes surprised by how askew that can be after I've gotten the camera adjusted to where the scene is level.

There's also a thing called "corridor mode" where you flip the camera 90' to where that rectangle becomes more vertical than horizontal. That gives you an image that is taller than it is wide, which can be useful when the camera is mounted next to doors or aimed down alleys, etc. In that case you have to enable a feature in the cameras settings to rotate the image, otherwise it'll come out sideways.

Okay thank you aristobrat, so you do have to physically adjust(rotate) the camera "ball" within the turret housing to make the scene level, and keep that rectangle you can see within the lens mostly horizontal. That was what I was wondering. And from that picture I posted above of the camera in the box it shows the ball rotated in relation to the cutout.

So I am to assume that a special mount like it shows in the manual is not necessarily needed.

What would be the exact benefit of using that special mount they show?

 

[aristobrat]

What would be the exact benefit of using that special mount they show?

Mounts give you a place to store the the "pigtail" that comes off the back of the camera. The camera's weather-resistant ethernet connection is a lot wider than an unterminated ethernet cable, so if you mount the camera flush on something, you have to drill a much larger hole so you an stuff the pigtail (which is the weather-resistant ethernet connector + the 12v plug <that you won't use if you use PoE>) through the wall/soffit/whatever vs. drilling a much smaller 5/16" hole to pull an unterminated ethernet cable from inside through (then terminating it on the outside of the house, then stuffing it and the water-resistant connector in a mount like this one).

Not the case with this picture, but mounts can offset the camera from a wall which can help reduce IR when the camera is mounted directly to a wall and is aimed right down the side of the wall (or has something over it, like a soffit). IR washout can be extremely bright, which if included in the camera's FOV will usually cause the camera to try and compensate for it which causes the rest of the scene to become too dark.

Appearance. Some folks like the overall esthetic of a mount (especially that particular mount) vs. having the camera directly mounted to the wall.

Flexiblity. Mounts usually have a bunch of different predrilled holes to accommodate many different camera models. So this person could swap the 5231 out for a bunch of different cameras without having to mess with the wiring or how its mounted to the house. The camera mounts themselves are different sizes. i.e. I just swapped out some 5442s for 5231s and the hole pattern for the mounts are different, so I now have six screw holes in my soffit at the two locations where I did this swap (three from the 5231s, three from the 5442s).

IMO, I can't think of any reason why you couldn't mount a 5231 to the wall directly and aim it like this 5231.

 

[aristobrat]

I mounted a 5442 on the front of my garage last week. Because I used a siding block to hide the big-ass cable that comes off the back of the camera (i.e. the pig tail), the first pic shows the small hole I had to drill through the Hardie siding (5/16"). It just big enough to pull an unterminated Ethernet cable through.

If I mounted the camera directly to the siding, I'd have to drill a hole big enough (3/4"?) to push that fat water-resistant ethernet connector (in the second) pic through. I was able to stuff that piece behind the the lower part of the siding block instead.

For the cameras mounted in my soffits, I had no problem drilling a big hole and stuffing the cable through. I just couldn't do that with siding though. I'm weak.

 

[Oceanslider]

Mounts give you a place to store the the "pigtail" that comes off the back of the camera.

I was thinking of just using a basic junction box. Thanks for your response, it gives me more clarification on how the camera can be mounted. I looked over a handful of reviews here but they all focus on picture quality and settings

Looks like you had to custom cut that mount to fit the siding. Nice job. Luckily I won't have to worry about that.

 

[Oceanslider]

Hi @Oceanslider
update:
example of a review by Looney2ns which clearly shows the separate parts:

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

I missed that post that Looney2ns did. One reason, the model numbers are different. I was searching for a specific model. I found his other one with the IPC-HD5231R-ZE, which is what I’m inquiring about , and others on the IPC-HD5231R-ZE by other posters about picture quality only, and if they did show the camera mounted it was looking straight or down only for the most part.

Looking at those pictures in the post about “ipc-t5442tm-as-starlight” the it is clear the camera can obviously be rotated in any direction as it is clearly a ball that sits inside the housing. Thanks and sorry for the complete Newb questions. I just didn't want to fork out the cash for this camera only to find out I needed that special mount to get the angle I needed. It will be my first camera

 

[aristobrat]

Sorry I'm late with the pics, but it sounds like you've got this sorted out. I've got this camera at work today so if there are any other pics that could help, just give a shout.