Recommendations for IP camera to record and live stream my bird feeder (4k, 25fps+ and less than $200)

S

Starling

n3wb
Jul 28, 2020
19
5
UK
Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could please recommend an IP camera to record and maybe live stream my bird feeder to youtube?

I already saw a similar thread from funkyduck, but they are specifically looking for a hikvision one.

The specs I would prefer would be for one that is 8mp (4k), at least 25fps and preferably a motorized lens up to 11mm+ (or perhaps fixed at least 8mm). I'm not too bothered about night time filming, daytime performance is the main priority. I was also hoping to find one for less than $200.

The Dahua IPC-HFW2831T-ZS ticks most of my boxes I think, but I read some iffy reviews on here (which is how I found this forum), the manufacturer says it is end of life too. There is a new Dahua IPC-HFW2831T-ZS-S2 but it only records 4k at 15 fps when the only one was 25/30 which is strange they would downgrade it.

IPC-HFW2831T-ZS

IPC-HFW2831T-ZS
www.dahuasecurity.com www.dahuasecurity.com

I was maybe hoping to do some live streaming of my bird feeder on youtube, some people make a small amount of money from donations doing that, most of the streaming channels use the AXIS P1448-LE which looks amazing, but it is just too expensive or me.

www.axis.com

AXIS P1448-LE Network Camera | Axis Communications

Looking for cost-effective 24/7-surveillance – indoors or outdoors? AXIS P1448-LE IP Camera has you covered.
www.axis.com www.axis.com

Can anyone please recommend another one? I've been searching on google for days through loads of type but there is usually something that lets one that looks promising down, most of the time it's the fps, there are not many above 25fps that I can find at 4k.
 
Hi
Personally i would go for a ptz camera if it's only for watching the feathered guy's.. i'm not sure if they make a 8mp one but this is a good choice Dahua SD42212T-HN 2MP 12x Optical Zoom PTZ .. they do the same model 25 times zoom if needed. you can set it to zoom in or back out on diffrent presets. this would be my choice i'm sure they will be other's... by the way to stream to youtube you need good upload from your internet and a camera that supports the rtmp feature,
 
jon2 said:
Hi
Personally i would go for a ptz camera if it's only for watching the feathered guy's.. i'm not sure if they make a 8mp one but this is a good choice Dahua SD42212T-HN 2MP 12x Optical Zoom PTZ .. they do the same model 25 times zoom if needed. you can set it to zoom in or back out on diffrent presets. this would be my choice i'm sure they will be other's... by the way to stream to youtube you need good upload from your internet and a camera that supports the rtmp feature,
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. They're installing fiber internet in my area with an upload speed of over 100 megabytes per second, so would hopefully be enough.

It's a similar setup to the channel below I would have, not sure I need a PTZ.

 
Look also for data rates. This 1831E can deliver only: H.265:32K~ 8192Kbps - You'll have no good picture at this data rate @4K. Maybe that's the reason for "EoL" - SOC was too weak.
This sheet is very helpful: Max bit rate?? - it says: "If the real environment is more complex, you can increase the bit rate 20%~30% higher than recommend." - I would replace "20%-30%" by "2x - 3x" for maximum image quality.
PC-HFW5842H-ZHE: H.265: 12 kbps-16384 kbps, custom setting up to 17664 kbps.

Axis keeps this secret (Zipstream functionality), I can't find any details on bit rate for P1448-LE.
@DirkJensen can you give us an insight on this?
 
@chaosengine i cant say so much to the Zipstream feature from Axis, didnt use it by now.

this one i think could be the right one for you, used it by myself already, and the image quality is very good.
the only thing you have to handle is, that it is only aviable with chinese firmware, but when you are used to dahua camera menue, that's not a big problem

IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS
8MP
4K / 30 FPS
1/1. 8 CMOS Sensor
3,5mm ~ 12mm Lens

US $129.8 |Original 8mp Sternenlicht IP kamera IPC HFW4833F ZAS H.265 Variable Objektiv 3,5mm ~ 12mm Unterstützung Max 128g Sd karte und Eingebautem Mikrofon|Überwachungskameras| - AliExpress
 
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DirkJensen said:
@chaosengine i cant say so much to the Zipstream feature from Axis, didnt use it by now.

this one i think could be the right one for you, used it by myself already, and the image quality is very good.
the only thing you have to handle is, that it is only aviable with chinese firmware, but when you are used to dahua camera menue, that's not a big problem

IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS
8MP
4K / 30 FPS
1/1. 8 CMOS Sensor
3,5mm ~ 12mm Lens

US $129.8 |Original 8mp Sternenlicht IP kamera IPC HFW4833F ZAS H.265 Variable Objektiv 3,5mm ~ 12mm Unterstützung Max 128g Sd karte und Eingebautem Mikrofon|Überwachungskameras| - AliExpress
Click to expand...

Thanks that camera looks very promising, I don't mind too much if it is in Chinese as I could use a translate app.

It is available in two signaling systems PAL and NTSC, which one do you think is most suitable?

I'm new to IP cameras, would I need an NVR to operate this or can it be operated over my network using the inbuilt SD card on the camera?

From searching the model number I came across this thread you made, did you get that problem fixed?

IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS - Problems after Firmware Update

Hi everybody, i have a IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS. This model only has chinese FW version by now. No problem at all, but after updating to the newest chinese FW version V2.800.0000000.5.R, Build Date: 2020-01-07 from https://www.dahuatech.com/service/searchlist.html?keyword=IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS the...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com

Someone is streaming in germany using the same camera, is that your stream? Looks pretty good.



On Aliexpress is has one bad review from someone in Russia, but it's hard to know what they are complaining about.

Ordered the camera from this seller exactly the one I need, but the seller for the first time reconvinced me that the camera works in NTSC format and is intended only for China and will not work with NVR English firmware. I had to agree to send another model. But after he exposed this camera already PAL format, I ordered, and he did not send said that this model is not available, and when will be unknown. And the story with the other model was repeated. Do not buy here, it is an unfair seller. By the way, the camera of the first option is on sale again.
Click to expand...
 
Starling said:
Thanks that camera looks very promising, I don't mind too much if it is in Chinese as I could use a translate app.
It is available in two signaling systems PAL and NTSC, which one do you think is most suitable?
I'm new to IP cameras, would I need an NVR to operate this or can it be operated over my network using the inbuilt SD card on the camera?
From searching the model number I came across this thread you made, did you get that problem fixed?
Someone is streaming in germany using the same camera, is that your stream? Looks pretty good.
Click to expand...

Hi,

i ordered the PAL model because i wanted to stream with 25 fps.
depends wich framerate you wanted to stream to youtube, with ntsc it would be 24 or 30 fps i think.

with an NVR it would be more comfortable and reliable i think, because SD card's will die after a time, when the maximum of read/write cycles are reached, or you just change the SD Card when its damaged, anyway would be less then buying an NVR.
for operating the camera you dont need an NVR or SD card. if you want to stream to youtube with that camera it is supereasy to set up a livestream using a raspberry pi, ffmpeg and a small bash script to copy the stream to youtube. if you want to add overlays,
streamcopy will not work, and you have to use a Intel i5 or i7 processor, depending how many overlays you want to insert, and wich streambandwith you want to use.

the problem with the FW update i couldnt solve, because theres no newer version, and also no where theres the old FW version to find.
so when you buy this camera, never do the FW update ;-)
before i made that mistake to update, i was streaming in 4K with that camera, the picture was excelent, and the camera performed very stable and without any problem !!
 
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DirkJensen said:
with an NVR it would be more comfortable and reliable i think, because SD card's will die after a time, when the maximum of read/write cycles are reached, or you just change the SD Card when its damaged, anyway would be less then buying an NVR.
for operating the camera you dont need an NVR or SD card. if you want to stream to youtube with that camera it is supereasy to set up a livestream using a raspberry pi, ffmpeg and a small bash script to copy the stream to youtube. if you want to add overlays,
streamcopy will not work, and you have to use a Intel i5 or i7 processor, depending how many overlays you want to insert, and wich streambandwith you want to use.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't want to add any overlays, just record the footage (using motion sensor to log when there is activity), and perhaps stream it to youtube, I haven't decided if actually will stream it yet.

For a good setup would it be advisable to get raspberry pi and NVR and use them together? Can you recommend a good and cheap NVR that would be compatible with the IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS?
 
looney2ns said:
See the many reviews here of 4k cams.
I think you'd be happy with something like this: Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua) | IP Cam Talk you can also record directlly to and SD card you would install into the camera, no NVR needed.
But if your stuck on 4k, then maybe not.
Click to expand...

Thanks but I'm looking for one that is 4k, I'm going to probably buy the IPC-HFW4833F-ZAS DirkJensen recommended. Hard to find many 4k ones 25fps or above, so many at 15fps but it's too jumpy.
 
DirkJensen said:
Hi,

i ordered the PAL model because i wanted to stream with 25 fps.
depends wich framerate you wanted to stream to youtube, with ntsc it would be 24 or 30 fps i think.

with an NVR it would be more comfortable and reliable i think, because SD card's will die after a time, when the maximum of read/write cycles are reached, or you just change the SD Card when its damaged, anyway would be less then buying an NVR.
for operating the camera you dont need an NVR or SD card. if you want to stream to youtube with that camera it is supereasy to set up a livestream using a raspberry pi, ffmpeg and a small bash script to copy the stream to youtube. if you want to add overlays,
streamcopy will not work, and you have to use a Intel i5 or i7 processor, depending how many overlays you want to insert, and wich streambandwith you want to use.

the problem with the FW update i couldnt solve, because theres no newer version, and also no where theres the old FW version to find.
so when you buy this camera, never do the FW update ;-)
before i made that mistake to update, i was streaming in 4K with that camera, the picture was excelent, and the camera performed very stable and without any problem !!
Click to expand...

The seller on aliexpress told me the camera is "not compatitable with english version NVR", did you manage to get it working with an NVR?
 
Starling said:
The seller on aliexpress told me the camera is "not compatitable with english version NVR", did you manage to get it working with an NVR?
Click to expand...

by now i used ip cameras "only" for livestreaming on youtube and other plattfoms, never did a productive setup with nvr, and never for surveillance, so my knowledge in this is limited ;)
when you are an absolute beginner with this stuff, i agree with @chaosengine that for your first setup its maybe better to invest some € or $ more and have a better point to start from,
with less stress and less ??? in your brain ;)
try to ask @EMPIRETECANDY , i think he has the right camera and NVR for you, and he is a trusted and reliable seller !
 
Last edited:
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I still think your think you would be better off going for a ptz camera. it give's you more options than a fixed or vari focal camera . you can set presets to zoom in closer or zoom out and if you decide you want more than one bird feeder you can set presets to move from one or more locations zooming in or out, i think a ptz is a ideal choice for birdwatching..i looked at the live video of the 4K birdfeeder. i looked at it in 4K and 1080P i didn't see much diffrence . although my eyesight isn't what it used to be. plus the 4K kept buffering on my old laptop. here is a comparison this is my 2mp dahua ptz in my avairy.

 
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jon2 said:
I still think your think you would be better off going for a ptz camera. it give's you more options than a fixed or vari focal camera . you can set presets to zoom in closer or zoom out and if you decide you want more than one bird feeder you can set presets to move from one or more locations zooming in or out, i think a ptz is a ideal choice for birdwatching..i looked at the live video of the 4K birdfeeder. i looked at it in 4K and 1080P i didn't see much diffrence . although my eyesight isn't what it used to be. plus the 4K kept buffering on my old laptop. here is a comparison this is my 2mp dahua ptz in my avairy.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, you've given me more ideas to think about before committing to a camera. That is a great aviary btw!! I'll just be filming wild birds in my garden, various tits, blackbirds, robins, sparrows and starlings etc.

You should think about adding a paypal donations link in the description of your livestream, lots of other live steamers have that and think they make a little bit of money, no idea how much. I think some people who don't have an aviary or gardens find it relaxing having a live stream of bird on a screen in their house and will give the streamers a tip.

How many fps is your camera?
 
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It's really ony for me and a few friends who asked me . so they could view a few of my birds. i can only stream in 720p because my internet is rubbish but streaming is free so i can't complain,

20/30 fr
 
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May I suggest a Hikvision 2385G1. I have one in 4mm flavor on the way. Does 8MP and 20FPS with a decent 1/2" sensor, Darkfighter. No audio but it has audio input. 150usd or so from Andy shipped. Can't wait to set it up.
 
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