Suggestions for small overhead cameras

[T-Halen]

Been using the Hikvision DS-2CD25x2 Mini Dome cameras with Surveillance Station on a Synology NAS.

Since those cameras have been discontinued, and the suggested replacements are kind of ugly, I've been thinking about looking elsewhere for the next project. Plus the IR Cut Filters have started to fail on several, making reliability an issue.

Is the Dahua IPC-HDBW2431F-AS-S2 a decent camera? How has the reliability been? Is there a different model you'd suggest?

If not the Dahua, who is making similar cameras with similar features, and will work with a Synology NAS for indoor use?

Requirements:
POE
IR for dark/nighttime
3 or 4 MP
2.4mm lens (or similar wide angle view)
Motion detection built into camera
Not too heavy (doesn't sag a 2x4 ceiling tile)

Thanks.

 

[looney2ns]

(13) Review-IPC-E3241F-AS-M Loryta (dahua) 2mp 2.8mm mini dome. | IP Cam Talk

 

[T-Halen]

Whatever is going on left-to-right in your video looney2ns, is pretty disturbing. Thanks.

 

[looney2ns]

No idea what you are referencing.

 

[T-Halen]

Okay, so no-one but looney2ns offered any input here. And his review of the 2MP version of this camera wasn't great...

Similarly over in the Hikvision forums, there were no suggestions either.

So is:
-This forum the wrong place to ask? Is there a better place?
-Are both Hikvision and Dahua products the wrong MFG's for what I'm looking for? What MFG should I be looking at?
-Something else? Am I asking for too much?

Thanks.

 

[flynreelow]

Okay, so no-one but looney2ns offered any input here. And his review of the 2MP version of this camera wasn't great...

Similarly over in the Hikvision forums, there were no suggestions either.

So is:
-This forum the wrong place to ask? Is there a better place?
-Are both Hikvision and Dahua products the wrong MFG's for what I'm looking for? What MFG should I be looking at?
-Something else? Am I asking for too much?

Thanks.

just search. this topic has been brought up about 450 times in the past month. all of the info is already in this forum.

 

[T-Halen]

I have searched the forum in different ways, but haven't come up with much. So let me ask it a different way.

I've got a couple of dozen Hikvision DS-2CD25x2 Mini Dome cameras, but recent mechanical failures (IR Cut Filter has failed on 4 in the last 4 months) have left me wondering if similar cameras from a different manufacturer are any good. The Dahua IPC-HDBW2431F-AS-S2 seems similar. A search of the forum doesn't turn up a single topic on this camera.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dahua IPC-HDBW2431F-AS-S2?
Thanks.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Okay, so no-one but looney2ns offered any input here. And his review of the 2MP version of this camera wasn't great...

why would anyone want to help someone so ungrateful? looney2ns is a long time member who has done a ton of helpful reviews. so go somewhere else if youre gonna be that way.

 

[looney2ns]

I was nitpicking about the focus, the camera is fine overall. Now that I watch video again, i barely notice it. Be sure to watch it in 1080p.

 

[T-Halen]

why would anyone want to help someone so ungrateful? looney2ns is a long time member who has done a ton of helpful reviews. so go somewhere else if youre gonna be that way.

Thank you for your suggestion. I have no problem with looney2ns. However, his review was for a different camera (different MFG, and resolution) than I was asking about.

I will admit that I wasn't clear about what troubled me in his video though. What concerned me most was in the nighttime (IR) shot, as he walked left/right around the right edge of the driveway, it looked (to me) that that there are separate "zones" of some kind and the image of him was lighter or darker depending in what zone he was in. Seemed to be a vertical line. Very odd. I should have just asked about it. But like I said, the camera wasn't the one I was interested in, so there's no real way to know if the problem would be the same in the other model.

Sorry that I come across as ungrateful. I'm just looking for a push in a good direction towards something that isn't Hikvision, given the hardware failures I'm having.

I'm beginning to think that I should stay away from these mini-dome/mini-wedge style cameras and either keep to a standard dome, or maybe look into a turret style.

 

[T-Halen]

Here is a screen shot of the video from looney2ns. There is a vertical line of some kind running through his body, and the left side of him (his right side) is darker, and the right (his left) is lighter. Don't know what would cause that.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I believe that vertical line is the sidewalk adjacent to the driveway. If you look at it, carefully, you can see it curving out to meet the driveway. The grass on the right makes it appear lighter versus the concrete/macadam in the center.

 

[wittaj]

Look at the body - you can see a faint line where part of him is whiter - never noticed that before - maybe an artifact of YouTube or bleed from another IR source?

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'll bet that's a shadow. It took me a little while to figure out that I was seeing a shadow caused by the IR on a camera about 100 feet from another camera on the inside of a fence.

Edit - Just watched the video again and it is, indeed, a shadow. It can be plainly seen as he walks left to right.

 

[T-Halen]

I'll bet that's a shadow. It took me a little while to figure out that I was seeing a shadow caused by the IR on a camera about 100 feet from another camera on the inside of a fence.

Edit - Just watched the video again and it is, indeed, a shadow. It can be plainly seen as he walks left to right.

I watched it again a couple of times, I think you are right, just a shadow from some other light source. Whew - that was a head scratcher, and had me turned off from this line of cameras.

 

[looney2ns]

Yes, it's faint IR light from a camera located in the back yard 60ft away, that I was too lazy to turn off.

 

[T-Halen]

Now that I can move on from that odd looking shadow effect in looney2ns' nighttime video, how about a few new questions.

Is there any reason to avoid the Dahua mini-wedge?
Has anyone done a tear-down of one of these cameras? If so, can you point me to it? I'd like to see what the IR Cut Filter looks like. (I'm obviously gun-shy after the Hikvision problems).
looney2ns, I apologize if I came across as being negative towards you, my concern was about that 'effect' that I saw in the night time video. How has the reliability of your E3241F been so far?

I'll have to do some research on Loryta vs. Dahua. I know whatever I get going forward, I'll want decent MFG support and warranty (something I don't get with Hikvision due to my own fault).

Thanks.

 

[wittaj]

Loryta is Dahua OEM sold by @EMPIRETECANDY here. Some of my cameras I have bought from Andy from his Amazon store come as Dahua cams in Dahua boxes with Dahua logos, and some are not logo'd - I think it depends on how many cameras Andy buys if he gets them with the Dahua Logo or not. But regardless, they are Dahua cams. If you get a camera that has Dahua on it, then the camera GUI will say Dahua; otherwise it will simply say IP Camera but looks identical except without the logo.

And the firmware is actually better because many members here provide feedback to Andy and Dahua makes modifications to the firmware and send back to him and then he sends out to his customers. These have been great improvements that Dahua doesn't even update their firmware and add to their website. So many of us are running a newer firmware than those that purchase Dahua cameras through professional installers. Smart IR on the 5442 series is one such improvement. Autotracking on the 49225 is another. Almost every other vendor the 49225 is not autotrack.

Regarding customer service from a manufacturer - we are not the user that Dahua and Hikvision is targeting so you will get the same service from either manufacturer (which is nonexistent). They have made a business decision to target the professional installers and authorized distributors of these cameras. I suspect many of them have been trained on all the settings or have installed enough to know what to do. But if you as an individual have an issue and call either company up for support and they will tell you to talk to the vendor you purchased from, if they even acknowledge you.

Contrast that with consumer grade stuff sold at the big box stores. You can call a Night Owl or Arlo or Reolink or Lorex or Amcrest or DLink or Google Nest or Ring and speak to a representative (now whether they can help you or not is another story), but they will not tell you to talk to Best Buy where you purchased it...and several of these cost the same or more as Dahua or Hikvision...

We are just fortunate enough to be able to get our hands on these brands.

So it comes down to vendor reputation and taking care of their customers and for the majority of us, @EMPIRETECANDY does that.

 

[pozzello]

the IR cut mechanism in any of these cams is just typically some off-the-shelf standardized thing. being a mechanical component (moving parts), they do fail, and can be replaced, if needed. however, by the time that happens ( a few years of use generally), one tends to upgrade rather than repair... That's the commoditization of this stuff at work, along with vast improvements in picture quality at a given price point over the last few years. If you're really worried about a failing IR-cut in a new cam, get one that stays in color all the time and doesn't even use a mechanical IR-cut (just a fixed filter)

 

[T-Halen]

pozzello: Thanks for some interesting suggestions!

Hikvision supposedly has 3 year warranty on their cameras, and several of these have failed within that time period. I took one apart, and then contacted Hikvision for repair parts, but got nowhere. (they won't warranty because of where I bought them (Amazon, etc...) and won't sell the parts).

Where or what would I look for if I was looking for a camera with a fixed IR filter? I scanned the specs of the IPC-HDBW2431F-AS-S2, but don't see any indication of how the IR Cut Filter might work. What terms should I be looking for?

wittaj: Thanks for a snapshot on Loryta. These cameras are for a small family run business. We kept costs low by doing it ourselves. Now that we've gotten burned a little, I'm looking to do things better. (ie, some real support from a MFG when things don't work like they should)