I have both the colorvu and dark fighter on my house and the colorvu is better.
Review of the Hikvision OEM model IPC-T2347G-LU 'ColorVu' IP CCTV camera.
- Thread starter alastairstevenson
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larryhagman
Getting the hang of it
thanks, but depends on your lighting situation. I think I will try one, but not convinced i will prefer it to darkfighter as its very dark where i live, i.e. zero ambient light, sometimes from 4pm!
I'd rather have a genuine Darkfighter over a ColorVue any day. ColorVue has some serious limitations especially dealing with distances over 90 ft. Its nice to have full color 24/7 but in the end if the Darkfighter can capture clear and crisp video past 90 ft it's a win in my book. I also live in a area where there is close to zero ambient light and I have found that a Darkfighter is best for my application.
larryhagman
Getting the hang of it
Thanks Coney. That leads the murky subject of whether cameras are genuine DF or "powered by..". I was looking at these which all look like the powered by, although Hikvision are pretty deliberately confusing on the issue in my view!
www.cctvtek.co.uk
www.cctvtek.co.uk
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This is the white paper explaining Darkfighter tech
If your confused on your options I'd go to the Hikvision website and use their new product selector tool and filter the cameras from Darkfighters vs Powered by Darkfighter. Darkfighters are going to be much better than powered by darkfighter cameras overall. And if you think your going to get a good night vision view on a 6mp cam I'd think again.
If your confused on your options I'd go to the Hikvision website and use their new product selector tool and filter the cameras from Darkfighters vs Powered by Darkfighter. Darkfighters are going to be much better than powered by darkfighter cameras overall. And if you think your going to get a good night vision view on a 6mp cam I'd think again.
The "powered by Darkfighter" isnt as good. If you want to see a comparison between a powered by Darkfighter vs Darkfighter vs ColorVU take a look at this youtube video. These guys talk a lot before the actual comparison starts at about the 23:32 mark:
One thing I will point out is in this video you may notice a purple cast in a grassy area when they show the ColorVU in darkness. They accidentally had an IR light source turned on and this is what happens. As has already been mentioned, the ColorVUs dont like external IR lighting and this is why. Otherwise the ColorVU looks very good.
larryhagman
Getting the hang of it
Thanks, Yes i have seen that video, and didn't seem like a very good demonstration of the Colorvu compared to others I have seen which sold it to me much better! I use a lot of IR and its very dark here so I am gonna stick with Darkfighters, whether powered by or proper.
aristobrat
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In really dark situations I think that’s the best way to go.
I wish Hik made more affordable models that use the 4MP 1/1.8” image sensor that’s in the ColorVu (like the Dahua 5442 series). That sensor in camera models that use IR is hard to beat.
larryhagman
Getting the hang of it
Yes, me too. I guess that slows people down in the "chasing megapixels" addiction! I would go for a 2/3/4 mp darkfighter and wouldn't buy any higher reslutions than that as its more than enough for detail on faces and plates on my drive, but better NV
Precisely why my next purchase will be the DS-2CD5A46G0-IZHS
aristobrat
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I'm sure that will be a great camera, but the $519 price just seems bonkers to me.
Hikvision:
$209 = 4MP 1/1.8" ColorVu model
$519 = 4MP 1/1.8" varifocal bullet model (DS-2CD5A46G0-IZHS)
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$309 difference between the models
Dahua OEM equivalents:
$150 = 4MP 1/1.8" "Full Color" model (IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED)
$210 = 4MP 1/1.8" varifocal bullet model (IPC-B5442-ZE)
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$60 difference between the models
To me, a $60 upcharge for a model that has IR and a varifocal lens sounds more reasonable. Maybe even $100 more. But $309 more just seems really high, IMO.
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I also agree the price is much higher than the 5442. It would be nice to have a "Andy" that supplied Hikvisions at a reduced rate like Andy does. In the end I've only used Hikvisions and plan on sticking with them. I will use one of my suppliers from China when they are out of quarantine and get a substantial discount when purchasing the DS-2CD5A46G0-IZHS compared to B&H or another online retailer. I might even consider purchasing the 5442 at $229 and compare it to the DS-2CD5A46G0-IZHS.
triumph202
Pulling my weight
It would be good if they showed someone walking around in the area in that footage. In my experience, you need a minimum 1/50th (or 1/60th) exposure time to have any hope of getting a meaningful picture of a person (eg. a still shot from the video for ID purposes) at night. My Hik cameras all seem to have a factory default of 1/25th (or 1/30th). I haven't got a proper Darkfighter or ColorVu, so don't know if they're the same.
You can also get great video (from scenes like they were showing) on any camera by increasing the exposure time. But anything moving will be a blurred mess.
Bought this camera to test it out. I'm curious, is there no way to set the LED lights to auto turn on when motion is detected? Or do they simply turn on when there isn't enough light detected?
What do the filtering time and sensitivity adjustments do exactly?
Edit: Actually I see in your opening summary it mentions no ability to set it so that it turns on with motion only vs always on or off. Hmm.
What do the filtering time and sensitivity adjustments do exactly?
Edit: Actually I see in your opening summary it mentions no ability to set it so that it turns on with motion only vs always on or off. Hmm.
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triumph202
Pulling my weight
I don't have that camera, but I would think they'd need to be on in the dark all the time. They operate like IR light sources on other cameras and enable the camera to see in the dark. It can't detect motion if the light isn't on (it would need some kind of PIR motion detector to do that.)
Sensitivity would likely relate to the level of detected natural light when the camera's inbuilt light source will turn on. Filtering time is likely a delay to prevent unwanted cycling on/off of the LED lights eg. if the scene is suddenly lit up by a passing car's headlights.
I think @Sean Nelson from Nelly's Security did a comprehensive review of this model here,
I was a little skeptical myself with this model as discussed here --> Did We Really Land on the Moon?
However, I think this model and the Dahua 5442-LED model needs to be compared side by side to find the true winner
I was a little skeptical myself with this model as discussed here --> Did We Really Land on the Moon?
However, I think this model and the Dahua 5442-LED model needs to be compared side by side to find the true winner
I just picked up a couple of these today from a local store - we've got an issue with drug dealers dealing right outside our house so I want some higher quality clearer footage ASAP!
I think they're the same camera - the DS-2CD2347G1-LU.
The store only had 2.8mm in which is a bit wide for me tbh, the quality in motion at night with the LED off at 1/250 seems to instantly beat my trusty 5231 sat in the same location - very impressive indeed. With no motion they seem very similar - I've spent ages tweaking the 5231 so very happy to have an instant improvement with the new camera.
It's surprising how much bigger these are though but the quality so far is looking good - the 2.8mm is ok for now but do miss the motorised zoom of the 5231 as this would work better on a 4 or 6mm. I might try and buy some other M12 lenses long term.
I think they're the same camera - the DS-2CD2347G1-LU.
The store only had 2.8mm in which is a bit wide for me tbh, the quality in motion at night with the LED off at 1/250 seems to instantly beat my trusty 5231 sat in the same location - very impressive indeed. With no motion they seem very similar - I've spent ages tweaking the 5231 so very happy to have an instant improvement with the new camera.
It's surprising how much bigger these are though but the quality so far is looking good - the 2.8mm is ok for now but do miss the motorised zoom of the 5231 as this would work better on a 4 or 6mm. I might try and buy some other M12 lenses long term.
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alastairstevenson
Staff member
I've not swapped a lens on the ColorVu (yet) but I'm pretty sure it's an M16 lens like the 8MP models where I've done that.
triumph202
Pulling my weight
Do you have a fair amount of ambient night lighting e.g. street lights? Can you post some footage with movement?