Review-Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE
- Thread starter looney2ns
- Start date
I've temporarily installed my IPC-HDW5231R-ZE at my brothers house.
He might be interested in getting a system himself in the future.
(consisting of 2 camera and the most simple/cheap NVR; which we could hide somewhere in the house instead of putting it next to the TV)
We could go for two IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE camera's, instead of the varifocal.
It would save about €80 and apparently they perform roughly the same.
We could use my varifocal te see what lens he needs (2.8, 3.6 or 6mm) and if portrait mode would be better.
But how can you tell which focal length (in mm.) you are with the varifocal camera?
He might be interested in getting a system himself in the future.
(consisting of 2 camera and the most simple/cheap NVR; which we could hide somewhere in the house instead of putting it next to the TV)
We could go for two IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE camera's, instead of the varifocal.
It would save about €80 and apparently they perform roughly the same.
We could use my varifocal te see what lens he needs (2.8, 3.6 or 6mm) and if portrait mode would be better.
But how can you tell which focal length (in mm.) you are with the varifocal camera?
rufunky
Pulling my weight
- Dec 2, 2015
- 672
- 233
Could also buy one of each fixed focal length, they won't go to waste and bonus greater coverage.
I have plenty of the varis and like them but they were the first reasonably priced Starvis. Don't buy them anymore.
So I have this camera for some time now when I upgraded to this from a Hikvision DS-2CD2132F-IWS.
Some thoughts:
- I solved the Hik's biggest issue; IR reflection on the dome. This is definitely the biggest advantage of the Dahua.
- Therefore; the low-light capabilities are also better. I'm still trying out to get the best (or least worst
) settings. More on that later.
- The optical zoom is nice but in my case probably more usefull when deciding which lens to use on non-zoom camera's. I know many/most of you don't like it; but in my case 2.8mm is probably the most usefull.
I don't think zooming in gives me more usefull shots and it severally limits the overview of the situation.
- It has audio. Cool!
- The plugin needed for webbrowsers is irritating at the least. In the end I ended up using Pale Moon and use that browser solely for the Dahua.
- The profile (management) is terribly confusing. I'm still not sure how that all works. You have the day and night profile which is self-explanatory, but then there's normal which has it's own settings. What?
I've set it to normal therefore it's going to use the same settings both during the day ánd during the night; hence making the day and night settings useless. (correct?)
When googling about this; it turn's out you can only switch between day and night settings when using the profile schedule.
That's useless also; since sunrise and sunset times varies during the year.
- Is 5 seconds pre-recording the maximum? I wish I could set this longer; say like a minute or so.
5 seconds is way to short.
- The way I've set it up; IVS works fine. Just as with the Hikvision; I use tripwire. I've set a zigzag line over the first 3-4 meters of the driveway (with 1 line going over the public road/driveway edge) so when anything/anyone goes up the driveway; it starts recording.
With heavy fog/heavy rain it records more than it should; but I can live with that.
I've I would have used a NVR I would have set it to 24/7 recording and this IVS setting but the costs for a NVR ánd WD Purple Drive are a bit high considering I only have 1 camera.
I now use a 128GB Samsung SD-card.
- I'm still working with the night settings. Day settings are pretty much done and you can't do much wrong there anyway. I've searched around and found out that I should use settings like these:
Manual mode with shutter speed at 1/100 or highter. Gain and 3D NR grade as low as possible. Backlight set to off and IR to SmartIR.
(I also use H.265, 30 fps, VBR, quality set to 5, 2048kbps bitrate, with 60 I frame interval; I may change these settings in the future, but don't see any reason why at the moment)
Results are better than the Hikvision, but I would like to get better results than this. License plates are completely washed out/overexposed but as I understand from this forum; the settings that are usefull for a nice/usable license plate image are completely useless for everything else.
I believe this wasn't much of a problem with the Hikvision but that could be the less sensitive sensor and/or less powerful IR of that camera. I could be mistaken though; I haven't found my previous Hikvision recordings with a car/license plate back.
Faces are also a bit washed out; I definitely need to work on the night settings.
- I'm using both the Dahua app (gDMSS Lite) and tinyCam Pro. Both have there advantages; the Dahua app can zoom and view recordings. TinyCam is much faster to open (gDMSS doesn't remember the camera and I have to select the camera every time when I open the app) and has some other usefull/less usefull features that I like.
I use IPC-HDBW1320E as the camera model in TinyCam since the IPC-HDW5231R-Z(E) is not selectable in the app. Therefore no zoom control. Would have been cool if Dahua placed a speaker in these camera's.
I'm not sure If/why is would upgrade to gDMSS Plus.
- In the near future; I'm want to use my Qnap NAS to store recording too. The Hikvision was pretty hard to configure for this (problems with HDD size, weird file/folder organisation etc.) I'm not yet shure if you can set it to overwrite the recordings on the NAS when it reaches a certain size.
Some thoughts:
- I solved the Hik's biggest issue; IR reflection on the dome. This is definitely the biggest advantage of the Dahua.
- Therefore; the low-light capabilities are also better. I'm still trying out to get the best (or least worst
) settings. More on that later.- The optical zoom is nice but in my case probably more usefull when deciding which lens to use on non-zoom camera's. I know many/most of you don't like it; but in my case 2.8mm is probably the most usefull.
I don't think zooming in gives me more usefull shots and it severally limits the overview of the situation.
- It has audio. Cool!
- The plugin needed for webbrowsers is irritating at the least. In the end I ended up using Pale Moon and use that browser solely for the Dahua.
- The profile (management) is terribly confusing. I'm still not sure how that all works. You have the day and night profile which is self-explanatory, but then there's normal which has it's own settings. What?
I've set it to normal therefore it's going to use the same settings both during the day ánd during the night; hence making the day and night settings useless. (correct?)
When googling about this; it turn's out you can only switch between day and night settings when using the profile schedule.
That's useless also; since sunrise and sunset times varies during the year.
- Is 5 seconds pre-recording the maximum? I wish I could set this longer; say like a minute or so.
5 seconds is way to short.
- The way I've set it up; IVS works fine. Just as with the Hikvision; I use tripwire. I've set a zigzag line over the first 3-4 meters of the driveway (with 1 line going over the public road/driveway edge) so when anything/anyone goes up the driveway; it starts recording.
With heavy fog/heavy rain it records more than it should; but I can live with that.
I've I would have used a NVR I would have set it to 24/7 recording and this IVS setting but the costs for a NVR ánd WD Purple Drive are a bit high considering I only have 1 camera.
I now use a 128GB Samsung SD-card.
- I'm still working with the night settings. Day settings are pretty much done and you can't do much wrong there anyway. I've searched around and found out that I should use settings like these:
Manual mode with shutter speed at 1/100 or highter. Gain and 3D NR grade as low as possible. Backlight set to off and IR to SmartIR.
(I also use H.265, 30 fps, VBR, quality set to 5, 2048kbps bitrate, with 60 I frame interval; I may change these settings in the future, but don't see any reason why at the moment)
Results are better than the Hikvision, but I would like to get better results than this. License plates are completely washed out/overexposed but as I understand from this forum; the settings that are usefull for a nice/usable license plate image are completely useless for everything else.
I believe this wasn't much of a problem with the Hikvision but that could be the less sensitive sensor and/or less powerful IR of that camera. I could be mistaken though; I haven't found my previous Hikvision recordings with a car/license plate back.
Faces are also a bit washed out; I definitely need to work on the night settings.
- I'm using both the Dahua app (gDMSS Lite) and tinyCam Pro. Both have there advantages; the Dahua app can zoom and view recordings. TinyCam is much faster to open (gDMSS doesn't remember the camera and I have to select the camera every time when I open the app) and has some other usefull/less usefull features that I like.
I use IPC-HDBW1320E as the camera model in TinyCam since the IPC-HDW5231R-Z(E) is not selectable in the app. Therefore no zoom control. Would have been cool if Dahua placed a speaker in these camera's.
I'm not sure If/why is would upgrade to gDMSS Plus.
- In the near future; I'm want to use my Qnap NAS to store recording too. The Hikvision was pretty hard to configure for this (problems with HDD size, weird file/folder organisation etc.) I'm not yet shure if you can set it to overwrite the recordings on the NAS when it reaches a certain size.
If you have a computer running 24/7, you can use this: GitHub - bp2008/DahuaSunriseSunset: A Windows Service which changes the profile of dahua cameras between Night and Day at each sunset and sunrise.
To change day/night profiles based on sunrise/set.
You will need to set up separate profiles for best results.
In timy cam, you can setup the cam as ONVIF, and you will have full control. But understand, the varifocal lens is not intended to be used regularly. It is simply meant to setup your field of view at time of install, then leave it alone.
To change day/night profiles based on sunrise/set.
You will need to set up separate profiles for best results.
In timy cam, you can setup the cam as ONVIF, and you will have full control. But understand, the varifocal lens is not intended to be used regularly. It is simply meant to setup your field of view at time of install, then leave it alone.
Yes, I've found that. Unfortunately I don't have a Windows PC running 24/7. Only a Qnap NAS.
So, until Dahua solves this problem, I guess I'll have to stick to Schedule mode; changing the sunrise/sunset times every so often...
Indeed. I've set both to manual. Day on 1/1000 shutter speed, gain and 3D NR I have yet to play with.
Night settings is 1/100 shutter speed (or 1/120; I'm not yet sure) Still messing around other settings.
I'll try that. Thanks.
I know. After some testing, my sweet spot is still 2.7mm. In contrast what everybody else here is saying; I like 2.7mm.
If I was to attempt to connect a Dahua star light cameras like the IPC-HDW5231R-Z* to a Hikvison NVR via ONVIF would I have full control from the NVR?.
How many IVS rules can you have for tripwire and intrusion.
Thanks
How many IVS rules can you have for tripwire and intrusion.
Thanks
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Jan 17, 2017
- 15,500
- 26,081
Hi DGWASW,
ONVIF specs do not cover the extended Dahua or Hikvision advanced features like Dahua IVS rules if, thus why for a more optimal setup it is recommended to connect Hikvision NVRs with Hikvision Cameras, and Dahua with Dahua.
If you only need what is covered under ONVIF specs you should be good.
Ordered four from Andy a few days ago. Looking forward to setting them up with BlueIris next month.
Just started my home surveillance journey with 2 of these from Andy EMPIRETECANDY - fastest international delivery I've ever experienced. I ordered late Friday night, and they were on my doorstep first thing Wednesday morning.
Glad I did my homework on this forum, the cameras are exceptional - thanks for the advice!
Now to build a BI server...
Glad I did my homework on this forum, the cameras are exceptional - thanks for the advice!
Now to build a BI server...
in 2018, we will provide more good reliable cams and fast service for all guys who support us.
Looking at getting a couple of these myself, @EMPIRETECANDY do you have free tax support service to Norway as well?
Just ordered 3 -ZE’s from Andy last night. I still want a PTZ and want to get the 12m bullit for a license plate reader yet. I have 4 other name brand POE bullits I purchased last month on a sale before I found this site. Let’s just say they don’t have a named forum here and from what I read they never will. Haven’t installed those yet,but since I have them I am going to still try them out. I’ve have a synology 712+ but don’t care for the idea of having to buy licenses for cameras to add to a NAS I outright own. They should have knocked the initial cost down in my opion if they are doing that,and I should have done better homework back then. Actually I have had the NAS for several years and purchased it just for the survalance aspect of it but didn’t know it was only good for two cameras at the time. I am going to skip all that and start with Blue Iris.
Hi pls68 so what was the outcome? I’m curious to know if the labels should be readable at that distance?
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So was there an issue with the particular piece you received or overall ZE has some bugs? Any major advantage in getting ZE functionality wise? I’m trying to declare death between the two.
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my ze had a focus issue which should be sorted out by now. The ze has a little longer zoom range.
The older model has more of a mickey mouse face (lens plus two separate ir) whereas ze has one solid black block in the center which might be more noticeable. You won't make anything wrong with both models.