Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal

awsum140 said:
I took the plunge and am trying a 2231. Ordered Monday and it arrived today, halfway around the world. Great service as usual from Andy.

I did have a heck of a time getting it configured though. I set the password, logged in and set the IP to match my LAN. When I went to log in from the LAN, nada, nothing, not even an error message. So, I took it apart and did a hard reset. That got me back in and everything went smoothly from that point.

I bought a PFA130-E to mount it with, it's going on a tree. The PFA130, itself, is really nice and has 3/4" hubs which is perfect for me since I used 3/4" liquid tight up the tree trunk. It also comes with screws to mount the camera with. The mounting holes do not go through the cover plate to maintain weatherproofing. Unfortunately the nice stainless wire on the cover plate that will hold things for you while you work is kind of pointless, other than holding the box cover itself. The 2231, or any of the turret cameras that fit, covers the mounting screws for the box cover so there is no way to pre-mount the camera and take advantage of that nice feature.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing! But with the 4231EM-ASE. Complete w/ Camo. It was a pain to paint the thing, (requires like 8 coats to prevent chipping). But it turned out pretty good in the end.

IMG_20180828_162225.jpg

I advise putting an expansion coupling between the top of the pipe and the camera (as shown, it's the 8 inch section below the camera) as it allows for the tree growth.

IMG_20180828_162218.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrblu, Soladaddy, actran and 4 others
I'm using a sort of more green paint for mine. I tried camo and it was too dark. The "green" I'm using now is a little too light, could use some more brown, but it is less obvious than the camo on the trees I'm using. Trees grow up from the top though, not the bottom. The big problem, over years, is the increase in trunk diameter.
 
Since the bases of these turret cameras do not provide any seal, how are you guys sealing where the cable enters the electrical box?

I have two of the 2331s, and have not mounted them yet. The cameras themselves are sealed. But where the cable will enter the house, building, or electrical box will need to be sealed. Yet I want to leave enough slack in the cable to let me adjust the camera aim (rotate the ball in the socket, so to speak).

And, particularly when going up into a soffit, I want a seal, but will also want to be able to access the connections in the future.

I may need to use electrical boxes even for soffit mounting just to maintain access while also allowing me to seal things.

The bullet cameras I've used up to now mate tightly against the soffit when you mount them, so you have your seal, but you can access the connections by just unscrewing the base of the camera from the soffit (or other surface), and then the hole is revealed and accessible again.

Perhaps I need an electrical box, or at least a mounting plate even for soffit mounts.
 
J Sigmo said:
Since the bases of these turret cameras do not provide any seal, how are you guys sealing where the cable enters the electrical box?

I have two of the 2331s, and have not mounted them yet. The cameras themselves are sealed. But where the cable will enter the house, building, or electrical box will need to be sealed. Yet I want to leave enough slack in the cable to let me adjust the camera aim (rotate the ball in the socket, so to speak).

And, particularly when going up into a soffit, I want a seal, but will also want to be able to access the connections in the future.

I may need to use electrical boxes even for soffit mounting just to maintain access while also allowing me to seal things.

The bullet cameras I've used up to now mate tightly against the soffit when you mount them, so you have your seal, but you can access the connections by just unscrewing the base of the camera from the soffit (or other surface), and then the hole is revealed and accessible again.

Perhaps I need an electrical box, or at least a mounting plate even for soffit mounts.
Click to expand...

There is a rubber grommet that the cable passes thru. Kind of annoying because you have to remove the camera mount plate and then remove the front of the PFA130-E to access the cable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J Sigmo
Burton_Flooring said:
There is a rubber grommet that the cable passes thru. Kind of annoying because you have to remove the camera mount plate and then remove the front of the PFA130-E to access the cable.
Click to expand...

Ahh! I looked up that PFA130-E, and see what that is. The photo I saw didn't show it clearly, but I'm guessing that the grommet has a slit in it so you can slip it over the cable. So that grommet is the secret.

Like you say, it would be a bit of extra effort to get at the connections later because the mounting screws for the cover plate will be covered by the camera's base.

It would be nice to have a mounting plate that is larger than the camera base for direct mounting to a soffit or wall. The camera base would mount to the plate, but the plate would stick out a bit farther than the edges of the camera base for access to screw holes through the plate. The same sort of grommet could be used to make the seal.

For a weatherproof box setup, it would be neat if they made a version with a larger box so that, again, the cover plate's mounting screws would be accessible without removing the camera base from the cover plate. It would be big, but handy. I'd buy some!

For soffit mounting, I may just make some oversize flat plates with tapped holes for the camera bases, a large center hole for the cable, and screw holes that will be well outside of the camera base area for easy installation. I could stuff the cable-hole with duct seal or seal it with RTV or the like, or get some one-hole stoppers and slit them to allow them to be placed onto the cable, or something like that.

Some 1/4" Lexan or aluminum would be good for this. Lexan drills and taps well, actually. Use water as the lubricant for the tap, and don't go too fast or the plastic melts and can trap the tap - permanently! Ask me how I know! ;)

For soffit mounting, it's not so much direct water impingement that I worry about, but those pesky paper wasps that like to find any opening and build a nest!
 
Burton_Flooring said:
I did the same thing! But with the 4231EM-ASE. Complete w/ Camo. It was a pain to paint the thing, (requires like 8 coats to prevent chipping). But it turned out pretty good in the end.

View attachment 33033

I advise putting an expansion coupling between the top of the pipe and the camera (as shown, it's the 8 inch section below the camera) as it allows for the tree growth.

View attachment 33034
Click to expand...
The installation is fantastic, can share us some pics day and night ,that would be great.
 
EMPIRETECANDY said:
The installation is fantastic, can share us some pics day and night ,that would be great.
Click to expand...

Here you go :-)
NVR_(2MP) IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE_main_20180907124847_@7.jpg

NVR_(2MP) IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE_main_20180907010010_@7.jpg

(I have since adjusted the shutter speed range to 0-8.33ms, aka 1/120th, to help with blur. It's amazing how different the shutter setting needs to be for different cameras/target distance)



I also need to adjust the camera slightly up and to rotate to the right to compensate for Dahua's ridiculous "spot-light" style IR beam, lol. But it is still my favorite line of cameras :-)

Thanks @EMPIRETECANDY for providing the hardware! We can now actually ID someone at this location thanks to you :-)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Soladaddy, looney2ns, awsum140 and 1 other person
Burton_Flooring said:
@J Sigmo You might check out PFA122 waterproof junction box for the HDW2231R-ZS. It is a slightly larger, square junction box that has all the waterproofing of PFA130-E.
Click to expand...
That's more like it! Thanks.

I could just drill out the back for the Ethernet cable to come through from the soffit, and drill mounting holes as well. Then seal (caulk or a foam gasket) and screw the box to the soffit and have good sealing and a convenient place for the connectors and some cable slack to live.

That would make for an attractive and very easy to service installation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EMPIRETECANDY
J Sigmo said:
That's more like it! Thanks.

I could just drill out the back for the Ethernet cable to come through from the soffit, and drill mounting holes as well. Then seal (caulk or a foam gasket) and screw the box to the soffit and have good sealing and a convenient place for the connectors and some cable slack to live.

That would make for an attractive and very easy to service installation.
Click to expand...

Don't need to drill out back, there is a plug in the back for just that purpose.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J Sigmo
@Burton_Flooring If I wanted to attach camera to tree, do you have tips for screwing into tree without harming/killing it? Or there are no worries about this if screws are 2" or less?

P.S. Nice paint job.


Burton_Flooring said:
I did the same thing! But with the 4231EM-ASE. Complete w/ Camo. It was a pain to paint the thing, (requires like 8 coats to prevent chipping). But it turned out pretty good in the end.

View attachment 33033

I advise putting an expansion coupling between the top of the pipe and the camera (as shown, it's the 8 inch section below the camera) as it allows for the tree growth.

View attachment 33034
Click to expand...
 
actran said:
@Burton_Flooring If I wanted to attach camera to tree, do you have tips for screwing into tree without harming/killing it? Or there are no worries about this if screws are 2" or less?

P.S. Nice paint job.
Click to expand...

Of course it will depend on the tree species, but in my experience, a couple of screws in a tree won't harm it. The tree will grow around the screws.
 
  • Like
Reactions: awsum140, actran and J Sigmo
I agree. My folks have a locust tree that is 61 years old. About 40 years ago, it split. They installed a length of 1/2" all-thread completely through the split area with big fender washers and nuts on the outsides and clamped it back together.

At this point, it is all completely encased by the tree. It didn't bother the tree at all.

And I've seen a lot of tree houses built using nails, lag screws, etc., and never seen the trees care at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: awsum140 and looney2ns
I use deck screws in trees to mount cameras. They don't corrode and can be taken out, if needed, with minimal effort.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J Sigmo, actran and looney2ns
awsum140 said:
I use deck screws in trees to mount cameras. They don't corrode and can be taken out, if needed, with minimal effort.
Click to expand...
That seems like a good choice. The coated deck screws would shield the metal from direct contact with the fluids in the tree, protecting both the tree and the screw by presenting an inert surface to the tree's "workings".

And I always prefer screws to nails, etc., because they can be removed (or tightened) easily and don't work themselves out due to expansion and contraction or movement caused by wind, etc.

Do yourself a favor, and spend a bit extra to get square drive or torx drive screws. I hate Phillips heads, especially when working up on a ladder where you need one hand on the ladder, leaving only one free hand to operate the driver!
 
Burton_Flooring said:
@J Sigmo You might check out PFA122 waterproof junction box for the HDW2231R-ZS. It is a slightly larger, square junction box that has all the waterproofing of PFA130-E.
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd mention that I've got some of those PFA122s on order. Those look like exactly what I want. They'll make a seal around the cable going from the cameras up into the boxes, and have plenty of room for the cable and connector inside of the box itself. And with the cover screws NOT behind the camera's mount itself, it will be easy to install and open for future work on the system. I'll just seal the boxes against the soffit (or wall) and have a good, solid, clean installation.

And in my case, the extra thickness of the box will get the camera just a bit lower, enough that the drip-edge of the soffit (the fascia board) will be that much more out of the way, so it won't be in the field of view, and potentially reflect the camera's IR light back, messing with exposure, etc.

Oddly, with shipping being free, getting them from B&H was the cheapest way I found to get this small batch of them. I didn't see them on Andy's store. But the next time I order a batch of cameras from him, I'll ask if he has them.

Thanks for the recommendation.
 
J Sigmo said:
Just thought I'd mention that I've got some of those PFA122s on order. Those look like exactly what I want. They'll make a seal around the cable going from the cameras up into the boxes, and have plenty of room for the cable and connector inside of the box itself. And with the cover screws NOT behind the camera's mount itself, it will be easy to install and open for future work on the system. I'll just seal the boxes against the soffit (or wall) and have a good, solid, clean installation.

And in my case, the extra thickness of the box will get the camera just a bit lower, enough that the drip-edge of the soffit (the fascia board) will be that much more out of the way, so it won't be in the field of view, and potentially reflect the camera's IR light back, messing with exposure, etc.

Oddly, with shipping being free, getting them from B&H was the cheapest way I found to get this small batch of them. I didn't see them on Andy's store. But the next time I order a batch of cameras from him, I'll ask if he has them.

Thanks for the recommendation.
Click to expand...

Yes, on camera mounts, sometimes Andy doesn't have the ability to make any money on them shipping from Hong Kong. I also got mine through B&H. These are great mounts, but beware of the rubber gasket getting pulled off the front plate screws, once they're gone, they're gone, lol. Also, the rubber gasket that seals everything in, can get easily pulled out of place (it's not glued in) so if you're doing a bunch of "fiddling" with the box before you are ready to put the front cover on, it's best to just remove it until you're ready so you don't get crud in it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J Sigmo
Does the ipc-hdw2231rp-zs have optical zoom? I am trying to decide if it’s worth the extra money to go to the IPC-HDW5231R-ZE or just stick with the 2231. I did not see anything spelled out in the 2231 spec sheet.
 
um, yes. the vari-focal lens on the 2231 is motorized to change the optics.
I can't speak to whether the 5231-ze is better, as I haven't used that one.

fwiw, I gave up trying to get clear face shots of passers-by at night with this cam.
went back to a hik 2332 turret with 16mm lens swap and extra IR.
Not saying it's not a decent cam, just that it won't do what i need in that location...
 
  • Like
Reactions: archedraft
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom