Reolink?

Thepretender

Thepretender

n3wb
Jan 4, 2020
20
13
Uk
Hi all,

I've used this forum for a while, although this is my first post in here.

I'm planning a new system for a friend and it has got me thinking again about which cameras I should use.

My own system uses 6x 5MP Reolink POE cams (4x RLC-420, 1x RLC-511 and 1x RLC-423 PTZ) via Blue iris.

My experience with these cams has been very good, I've found the image quality to be excellent, the audio on the cams that have a mic is surprisingly sensitive and they have been very stable In operation.

I'm a network engineer by trade, and I do not like the way reolink and many other types of ip cam automatically configure access over the Internet via the manufacturers app for several security reasons, however - this is dealt with easily enough...

The only real drawback I can think of is that they are all still using h264.

So why is it that when looking into cameras, I keep seeing people referring to this brand as 'junk' and advice to avoid them?

What other brands should I consider over similarly priced reolink RLC-420s (x3) , which I currently plan on using for this project?

It would be nice to perhaps have h265 ability...
 
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Please post a night time video with low low light and motion.

Use Google search site:ipcamtalk.com reolink

Have you done a comparison to a starlight or darkfighter camera
 
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I’m addition to crappy sensors And no I frame interval adjustments in the firmware the company lies to users, post fake reviews, Then lies about it again. Reolink is for suckers.
 
SouthernYankee said:
Please post a night time video with low low light and motion.

Use Google search site:ipcamtalk.com reolink

Have you done a comparison to a starlight or darkfighter camera
Click to expand...

Hi Yankee,

I haven't compared footage side by side - although I am mostly happy with the lowlight performance I get, perhaps in part due to fairly good lighting nearby.

I will upload a proper sample of test footage ASAP, although please see a sample image for now.

Side Gate 2020-01-04 01.56.36.188 AM.jpg
Faces are washed out eventually on this cam, although not until the person has walked all the way down the path, through the gate and about halfway in between the gate and the bottom of the shot

I also find that in the UK I can purchase these cams very easily at a reasonable cost, whereas the starlights / dark fighter cams seems less obtainable / more costly.

I am very much open to going to a different brand / model so long as I can be convinced that it would be a genuinely good reason for doing so.
 
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Thepretender said:
Hi Yankee,

I haven't compared footage side by side - although I am mostly happy with the lowlight performance I get, perhaps in part due to fairly good lighting nearby.

I will upload a proper sample of test footage ASAP, although please see a sample image for now.

View attachment 53360
Faces are washed out eventually on this cam, although not until the person has walked all the way down the path, through the gate and about halfway in between the gate and the bottom of the shot

I also find that in the UK I can purchase these cams very easily at a reasonable cost, whereas the starlights / dark fighter cams seems less obtainable / more costly.

I am very much open to going to a different brand / model so long as I can be convinced that it would be a genuinely good reason for doing so.
Click to expand...
Still images Are meaningless because reolink Automatically Increases the exposure to 1/12 In low light this results in a better still image but once there’s movement it’s a total blur
 
Thepretender said:
Hi all,
..
Click to expand...

Welcome @Thepretender

As fenderman and souternyankee note there are numerous issues with Reolink - some of those are quality of night time performance, and cheating ( example: changing the shutter speed to be significantly slower at night which does a good job for "still" components of the images - that is non-moving subjects, but buggers the moving images .. )

Do follow southernyankee's recommendations and search the various Reolink threads.

If you need low light image quality you will need to get better quality cameras. I'd recommend picking one Dahua OEM 2MP or 4MP starlight/starlight+ model to start comparing your current cameras with. ( see southernyankee's welcome to new members he includes a list of good models to consider )


1578154973282.pngreolink-example.png

Pay attention to the quality of the night time captures for subjects moving.
 
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I have used one Reolink cam in a situation where a normal IP cam won't work... with a satellite internet connection. I guess I should qualify that. I did get a standard ip cam to work at least to e-mail alerts and clips at the remote location with satellite service but the cams there are not accessible to view live or manage remotely. Less than ideal. The Reolinks do work in this scenario.
 
Raylo32 said:
I did get a standard ip cam to work at least to e-mail alerts and clips at the remote location with satellite service but the cams there are not accessible to view live or manage remotely.
Click to expand...
Satellite ISP's do not provide a public IP and generally use IPv6, so you cannot communicate from outside INTO your LAN but LAN devices have no problem communicating from inside OUT to Internet (no public IP needed). This has nothing to do with the IP camera's ability of lack of ability.

Raylo32 said:
The Reolinks do work in this scenario.
Click to expand...
Did you scan a QR code or type in a UID (Unique Identification Number) ?
 
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I am in the UK too. I cannot comment on Reolink, but have had some similar cameras like this from Amazon (Sunba, S3VC, Hitosino) and they were all returned for being faulty after 11 months/rubbish/faulty after 11 months respectively :)

I did look into Dahua, but as you have found, they are pretty rare in the UK it seems. Therefore, I now only buy Hikvision cameras. I usually buy either new or used from eBay. You can buy new from UK cctv installers (who are selling on eBay) and get a warranty with the seller. I would not recommend buying a Hikvision sold by a random Chinese eBay seller, shipped from China, as you may struggle to update firmware, and they will be expensive to return if faulty. Fwiw...I have not had any issues with any of mine yet after a few years. You could get something like a 2mp 25x PTZ DS-2DE4225IW for around £350 new. You can also get used (better in low light) Darkfighter PTZ cameras for similar prices, sometimes less. Send me a message if you want further info/links to videos/recommended sellers.

Good luck!
 
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HI all,

Thanks again for all of the input.

I'm planning to go with 2 Dahua 5442's for the most critical area, which is also very low light and then probably a cheaper 2/4 MP cam (possibly a reolink turret I already have due to upgrading...) around the back which is pretty well lit at night to allow me to stay within the budget my friend has set.
 
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jimsander said:
Installed a couple of recently purchased Reolinks, POE 5MP Turret with audio was pretty cheap. Why avoid them?
Click to expand...

For the most part, especially day time - IMO they are fine, especially for the price of them. the 5MP RLC-420 turrets I've used have been very good, however its been pointed out that their low light performance is less than ideal, as above.

there are also a few issues you may find with them in blue iris, such as hardware acceleration on intel not working.
 
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Thepretender said:
For the most part, especially day time - IMO they are fine, especially for the price of them. the 5MP RLC-420 turrets I've used have been very good, however its been pointed out that their low light performance is less than ideal, as above.

there are also a few issues you may find with them in blue iris, such as hardware acceleration on intel not working.
Click to expand...
I asked to soon before reading up the thread, will have to experiment with Duhua, apparently they aren't your average consumer cameras.
 
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jimsander said:
I asked to soon before reading up the thread, will have to experiment with Duhua, apparently they aren't your average consumer cameras.
Click to expand...
They certainly look really good from what I've been reading! Looking forwards to having a play with one - will be interesting to get some side by side footage the the reolink cams I have
 
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I understand all the comments about Reolink. I have three and they are ok but not having anything else I have nothing to compare against.
I'd like to give Dahua or Hikvision a try but it's really confusing to find the right model. There seems to be so many varients, with different firmware.
So would someone help me and recommend something comparable to a Reolink 420. I realise I'll be paying more but I can't be spending hundreds.
Thanks..
 
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