Reolink IP Cameras

[sebastiantombs]

1 - A dome, a plastic dome mounted over the lens, can create IR reflections and usually does. Additionally the dome can collect dust, more IR reflections, and can "fog" from UV exposure, more IR reflection. The reflected IR when the dome is clean and new creates hot spots that obscure a clear view. When the dome is dirty or fogged the reflected IR washes out the whole view. A turret has nothing in front of the lens at all. A Starlight, Starvis, sensor is designed for low light situations.

2 - Look around this forum, specifically in the Dahua and Hikivision topic areas for reviews of cameras and the differences will become instantly obvious.

Do not chase megapixels unless you have deep pockets. A 4MP camera with the same sensor as an equivalent 2MP camera will not perform well at all. With sensors, even Starvis, size matters and bigger is better.

 

[kuzco]

@sebastiantombs:
Many thanks for clarification. Really appreciate it.

 

[samplenhold]

Many thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately I have 2 more questions:
1. Why is a starlight turret better compared to a dome (especially for night view)
2. Have already checked the wiki, but I have not found any information regarding cam recommendation for night view . Please advise.

On the WIKI page, scroll down to where it states "Everything Else". Select 'IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes'. There is a huge wealth of info in there.

Also answers to your questions:
1. Using a dome camera outdoors is not recommended. They can fog up, tend to attract spiders and their webs more than a turret, sunlight will haze the clear dome over time, and they tend to have an issue with IR reflections out doors.
2. The cliff notes will give you that info.

Your best place to buy Dahua equipment is from @EMPIRETECANDY and he ships world wide. See the Cliff notes section on 'Dahua Purchasing Information'.

 

[Scott Ritchey]

I set up four cams on my front porch for a side by side comparison.

The Cams are: 5MP Reolink RLC-420, Dahua HDW5442TM-AS, Dahua 2231T-ZS, and Dahua HDW4631C-A. The C-A is a cheap ($60) hacked Chinese model. The 5442 is a 4MP starlight (about $150) and the 2231 is a 2MP starlight with zoom but fewer IVS features (about $130). Look at the attached (cloudy and rainy) day and (dark) night pics and judge for yourself.

These are Blue Iris still saves. Zoom in on the photos to see the detail. In summery, the 5442 is the best IMO. The 2231 looks just as good until you zoom in where the limited MP becomes visible. The RLC-420 is just OK but the images are not as crisp and that cam has only basic motion detection. Finally the 4631 is actually best during daylight but worst at night and also lacks advanced motion detection.

By the way, the "eye chart" on the second column was about 15 ft from the cams but only in the daytime photos. It wasn't there when I made the night shots but the 5442 was the only cam that could see the printing on the chart, (probably an IR thing) and while faint, the chart was a s readable as daytimr on the 5442.

 

[mikeynags]

This is a great comparison. Next, you should put on a dark hoodie at night time and share the video from each camera. That’s where the money is. Stills always look good, it’s the motion you really need to look good.


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[fenderman]

I set up four cams on my front porch for a side by side comparison.

The Cams are: 5MP Reolink RLC-420, Dahua HDW5442TM-AS, Dahua 2231T-ZS, and Dahua HDW4631C-A. The C-A is a cheap ($60) hacked Chinese model. The 5442 is a 4MP starlight (about $150) and the 2231 is a 2MP starlight with zoom but fewer IVS features (about $130). Look at the attached (cloudy and rainy) day and (dark) night pics and judge for yourself.

These are Blue Iris still saves. Zoom in on the photos to see the detail. In summery, the 5442 is the best IMO. The 2231 looks just as good until you zoom in where the limited MP becomes visible. The RLC-420 is just OK but the images are not as crisp and that cam has only basic motion detection. Finally the 4631 is actually best during daylight but worst at night and also lacks advanced motion detection.

By the way, the "eye chart" on the second column was about 15 ft from the cams but only in the daytime photos. It wasn't there when I made the night shots but the 5442 was the only cam that could see the printing on the chart, (probably an IR thing) and while faint, the chart was a s readable as daytimr on the 5442.


View attachment 54019View attachment 54020View attachment 54021View attachment 54022View attachment 54023View attachment 54024View attachment 54025View attachment 54026

Note that reolink artificially slows the exposure to 1/12 in low light to make still images appear crisp, but movement will result in blur.

 

[Scott Ritchey]

This is a great comparison. Next, you should put on a dark hoodie at night time and share the video from each camera. That’s where the money is. Stills always look good, it’s the motion you really need to look good.


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I don't have a hoodie (dark or otherwise) but here are stills of me walking to the cameras. Both starlights and the Reolink failed to dim as I got very close and my image was very overexposed when I got within about 5 ft (guessing at distance). The 4631C-A actually adjusted exposure correctly when I got close, These starlight stills appear less clear than the video replay. I need to experiment with face capture when I get spare time (don't hold breath).

I see the camera time codes are not synched so I picked corresponding photos based on my location.I was walking but I wasn't moving my head.

Referring to the photos in my #44 post, you really need to down load the photos and zoom in to see the difference between the 2MP and 4MP starlight cams.

 

[mikeynags]

Understood. Your stills look fine. Me personally, I’m more concerned with good looking video at night. Bad guys are not going to stop and look directly into your camera so you need every opportunity to identify the person in motion. The Reolinks are junk compared to the Dahua when it comes to night vision with motion. I know because I bought one before I knew better. I still have the camera today but I have it in a non-critical area.


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[SnarkyBoy]

Note that reolink artificially slows the exposure to 1/12 in low light to make still images appear crisp, but movement will result in blur.

Fenderman... you are the only user I have found to succcessfully set up a Reolink RLC-420 on a Blue Iris based machine. Can you share setings / procedures / pitfalls? There are a lot of h8ers here regarding Reolink. I am trying to use existing infrastructure and slowly upgrade to better cameras, while transitioning from NVR to a PC setup with Blue Iris.

 

[fenderman]

Fenderman... you are the only user I have found to succcessfully set up a Reolink RLC-420 on a Blue Iris based machine. Can you share setings / procedures / pitfalls? There are a lot of h8ers here regarding Reolink. I am trying to use existing infrastructure and slowly upgrade to better cameras, while transitioning from NVR to a PC setup with Blue Iris.

I dont use reolink, with or without blue iris. They are liars, and sell crap.

 

[Scott Ritchey]

Fenderman... you are the only user I have found to succcessfully set up a Reolink RLC-420 on a Blue Iris based machine. Can you share setings / procedures / pitfalls? There are a lot of h8ers here regarding Reolink. I am trying to use existing infrastructure and slowly upgrade to better cameras, while transitioning from NVR to a PC setup with Blue Iris.

I have several RLC-420s (and a 411) running on Blue Iris 5. No magic here. Just let BI FIND/INSPECT the cam or manually select "Reolink 410/411/420/422/425 BASELINE RTMP" in the setup script (or in camera settings/Video/configure). Possibly older versions of BI didn't work with Reolink but I had no trouble with BI5. I agree with Fenderman that the Dahua starlights are superior (at 3 times the price). But if Reolink is what you have, why not use it until you upgrade.

 

[SnarkyBoy]

I have several RLC-420s (and a 411) running on Blue Iris 5. No magic here. Just let BI FIND/INSPECT the cam or manually select "Reolink 410/411/420/422/425 BASELINE RTMP" in the setup script (or in camera settings/Video/configure). Possibly older versions of BI didn't work with Reolink but I had no trouble with BI5. I agree with Fenderman that the Dahua starlights are superior (at 3 times the price). But if Reolink is what you have, why not use it until you upgrade.

Scott Richey,

Thanks for the useful feedback. I have tried the Reolink.... baseline RTMP and the 'RTSP (old firmware' and neither will work I will review my process and try your trips. One note: the ReoLink NVR states that the camera IP is 172.16.25.2:9000 I assume that the IP address is internal to the camera, and should carry over directly, and that '9000' is the Discovery port. However I set BI up, with the default of 8000 or trying 9000, BI times out without configuration completed. I have one Dahua HDW5442TMP Eyeball on the BI system.. it is a great camera. When I launch BI tp Find/inspect with blank address, the Dahua shows up, but no joy on the Reolink.

So I will continue to try things until all my air falls out or I get a solution. But thanks for the repliy thus far. Any further ideas, please drop me a note.

Thanks

 

[SnarkyBoy]

Scott Richey,

Thanks for the useful feedback. I have tried the Reolink.... baseline RTMP and the 'RTSP (old firmware' and neither will work I will review my process and try your trips. One note: the ReoLink NVR states that the camera IP is 172.16.25.2:9000 I assume that the IP address is internal to the camera, and should carry over directly, and that '9000' is the Discovery port. However I set BI up, with the default of 8000 or trying 9000, BI times out without configuration completed. I have one Dahua HDW5442TMP Eyeball on the BI system.. it is a great camera. When I launch BI tp Find/inspect with blank address, the Dahua shows up, but no joy on the Reolink.

So I will continue to try things until all my air falls out or I get a solution. But thanks for the repliy thus far. Any further ideas, please drop me a note.

Thanks

Post script: OK.. I have answered my own question... To those following, I started with mis-information. I do NOT have an RLC-420. What I do have is four D400 cameras and a B400 camera, which are now explicitly
disclaimered by ReoLink as not ONVIF compliant and not third party software compatible. So, not a lot of hope for merging these into to PC based system driven by Blue Iris. I believe one of our contributors has
recently reviewed a Dahua camera that appears identical to the evil D400, but is better behaved in the ONVIF world.

If anyone has any suggestions, other than a pound of C-4 taped to the ReoLink camera system, feel free to contribute. On the bright side, I am learning a TON about PoE cameras and components.

Regards

 

[TonyR]

If anyone has any suggestions, other than a pound of C-4 taped to the ReoLink camera system, feel free to contribute.

I think a quarter pound will suffice if you place all 5 cameras around the C-4 and bind tightly.

If there was any way to go back to firmware older than a year, you might be back in business. After reading several posts here and there from a Google search of "reolink d400 blue iris" it seems more than just a few folks have some older D400's that work with BI and recently purchased ones that do not.

Glad to hear you are "...learning a TON about PoE cameras and components." At least something positive resulted from an otherwise negative experience!

 

[Scott Ritchey]

As far as I know B400 and D400 will ONLY work with a Reolink NVR. I screwed up a while back and bought a D400 by mistake. I'll find a use for it some day, maybe as a paper weight. I don't know about "old" firmware but sounds plausible.

 

[SnarkyBoy]

I just found my preferred replacement for the D400. A Dahua with virtually identical form factor to the D400, and with Starlight performance. IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS. No problem setting up with Blue Iris, and the low light color performance is excellent.
Dynamic range is much better for identifying the make and model of an approaching vehicle due to headlights washing out detail. Reolink cannot cope with that at all. Not happy with the twin IR illuminators that appear to give uneven illumination in
darkness, but that may be due to my test setup location. I think maybe the ring of discrete LEDs around the camera actually has some advantages I haven't seen a Dahua model that uses this style of LED illumination yet.. The BI software haas a TON
of features, and I am only scratching the surface on its use... but I am a geeek at heart and love to learn tech things.

 

[SnarkyBoy]

On another topic... for those here that build and upgrade their own PC systems... Amazon is now selling Corsair PSU units at competitive prices. There is a down side, however. I usually buy PSUs from Newegg or another component reseller.
Amazon ships the unit shrink-wrapped in the retail manufacturers package - not nearly rugged enough for UPS or FedEx handling. My 550 watt supply sustained a shipping impact so severe that it deformed the aluminum housing and split
apart one seam. Unclear if this happened at the Amazon warehouse or at UPS. When I contacted their support and complained, they replaced the unit but shipped the replacement exactly the same way.... they just dont understand that
these things are somewhat fragile internally. I must have been a hell of a hit to bend aluminum, so imagine what the potential damage to the internal circuit board could be. It seems the best way to avoid this is to have it shipped as a gift,
to force secondary packaging to hide the contents.

So Caveat emptor on buying PSUs from Amazon.

 

[Scott Ritchey]

IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS ?
How is IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS different from IPC-HDW5442TM-AS ?

 

[SnarkyBoy]

IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS ?
How is IPC-HDW5442TMP-AS different from IPC-HDW5442TM-AS ?

I have absolutley nooo Idea. I bought this from a high rated direct sell Dahua and Hikvision supplier in China, who has a store on eBay. It is touted as an English only version. Shipping was reasonable... less than 2 weeks order to dropoff. I hear horror stories about hacked Chinese cameras... hopefully I have not stepped into that trap.

 

[Scott Ritchey]

Well, fenderman was right, even if he is less than diplomatic. He said I was satisfied with Reolink only because I had never seen images from a good camera.

I have replaced all my Reolink cams with Dahua starlights: mostly T5442TM-AS plus two HFW1831E for wide area over-watch and one T2231T-ZS for a tight area where I needed zoom. The Dahua cams cost 2-3 times what the Reolinks cost but the better night image quality justified the price.