Why the hate for Reolink?

J

JonSnow

Getting the hang of it
Dec 10, 2019
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45
Winterfell
I bought one a few months ago and really liked the quality so bought another during Bllack Friday.

When I bought them they were on sale, so price wise I haven't found anything cheaper in my region. People on here seem to like Hikvision and Dahua, which would be double the price of Reolink in my area. I'm using These camera with Blue Iris and they seem fine to me. Easy to configure and work great with ONVIF and even the camera motion detection and audio work.

These are my first cameras so i don't really know the difference between a good or bad camera, I can still return one of them and stick the other in a garage or something.
 

Reolink IP Cameras

Hi, has anyone used Reolink Ip Security Cameras, I was looking at their RLC-410 or RLC-410W, RLC-511W??
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com
 
JonSnow said:
I bought one a few months ago and really liked the quality so bought another during Bllack Friday.

When I bought them they were on sale, so price wise I haven't found anything cheaper in my region. People on here seem to like Hikvision and Dahua, which would be double the price of Reolink in my area. I'm using These camera with Blue Iris and they seem fine to me. Easy to configure and work great with ONVIF and even the camera motion detection and audio work.

These are my first cameras so i don't really know the difference between a good or bad camera, I can still return one of them and stick the other in a garage or something.
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reolink cameras are not compatible with blue iris because they lack the ability to adjust the iframe intervals. Despites the lies by reolink.
Reolink using subpar sensor which perform poorly in low light - dahua and hik do as well, but they sell models that are exeptional in low light.
Reolink lies to its customers as to the firmware issues and why they don't allow this setting.
Reolink compensates users for fake reviews on amazon.
reolink creates fake accounts on forums such as this one and pretends to be end users praising these cameras, then lies about it when caught red handed.
Most of their form factors have small ir leds that surround the lens. This will cause lots of spider web issues.
Reolink cameras should be avoided at all costs.
 
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pardon my ignorance, but why is the iframe interval important? "you know nothing Jon Snow"

I did google its importance but didn't quite understand it, does it reduce bandwidth, choppiness?

Low light seems okay to me when compared to like a Wyze cam, maybe i need to order a hik or dahua to see what a I'm missing.

I also notice the Red IR LED rings on both cameras, and it seemed odd to me at first but thought thats normal, so Hik and Dahua don't have these LEDs? I assume the bright red at night is what attracts the spiders?
 
JonSnow said:
pardon my ignorance, but why is the iframe interval important? "you know nothing Jon Snow"

I did google its importance but didn't quite understand it, does it reduce bandwidth, choppiness?

Low light seems okay to me when compared to like a Wyze cam, maybe i need to order a hik or dahua to see what a I'm missing.

I also notice the Red IR LED rings on both cameras, and it seemed odd to me at first but thought thats normal, so Hik and Dahua don't have these LEDs? I assume the bright red at night is what attracts the spiders?
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wyze is also crap in terms of image quality. The wiki and threads discuss the rest.
You want the larger IR leds away from the lens like on turret and some bullet models.
 
Rebelx said:
Definitely do it!! Hik darkfighter or Dahua starlight (or starlight plus) models with turrent form factor. Avoid bullet/dome for now.
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What about this generic hik?

5MP PoE Security IP Turret Camera - Compatible as Hikvision DS-2CD2355FWD-I Ultra HD 5MP Turret Onvif IR Night Vision Waterproof 2.8mm Lens Best for Home and Business Security 2 Year Warranty (Black): Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

Find thousands of tools and home improvement products at low prices. Shop online for power tools, hand tools, hardware, building supplies, and more at Amazon.ca
www.amazon.ca
 
JonSnow said:
What about this generic hik?

5MP PoE Security IP Turret Camera - Compatible as Hikvision DS-2CD2355FWD-I Ultra HD 5MP Turret Onvif IR Night Vision Waterproof 2.8mm Lens Best for Home and Business Security 2 Year Warranty (Black): Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

Find thousands of tools and home improvement products at low prices. Shop online for power tools, hand tools, hardware, building supplies, and more at Amazon.ca
www.amazon.ca
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That's a decent camera. For a bit more money, you could get a Dahua Starlight with better night vision sensitivity.
Hikvision said:
Image Sensor 1/2.5" Progressive Scan CMOS
Min. Illumination 0.01 Lux @ (F1.2, AGC On), 0.0 Lux with IR
Lens 2.8mm @ F1.2, angle of view: 102°
Click to expand...
 
SharpTJ said:
I have 5 reolink 410 running just fine in blue iris... Why do you think they aren't compatible?
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Their MJPEG firmware introduced 'tearing' and 'jaggies' into video recordings. When asked why they don't provide adjustable I-frame settings, they were evasive with tons of double-speak. They have not been reliable as a vendor, and use sub-standard components in their cameras.
 
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VorlonFrog said:
Their MJPEG firmware introduced 'tearing' and 'jaggies' into video recordings. When asked why they don't provide adjustable I-frame settings, they were evasive with tons of double-speak. They have not been reliable as a vendor, and use sub-standard components in their cameras.
Click to expand...
That's weird, I don't see any of that in mine... They actually look just as good as my LTS cameras in BI
 
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VorlonFrog said:
Their MJPEG firmware introduced 'tearing' and 'jaggies' into video recordings. When asked why they don't provide adjustable I-frame settings, they were evasive with tons of double-speak. They have not been reliable as a vendor, and use sub-standard components in their cameras.
Click to expand...

Do you recall which model had this problem?

The 410 and 420 on the latest firmware seems fine, although still no iframe setting from what i could find.
 
SharpTJ said:
I definitely have the direct to disk box checked... I simply added them the exact same way I added the LTS cameras.
Click to expand...
Then you will suffer tearing of the video. Even without this issue low light performance is terrible.
 
fenderman said:
Then you will suffer tearing of the video. Even without this issue low light performance is terrible.
Click to expand...
What do you mean "tearing?" I have gone back and watched video and haven't noticed anything out of ordinary.

The last week I have had a spike in CPU usage, but in don't think it is related to the Reolink cameras....
 
I have a Reolink 410 running that I purchased before I really knew what I was doing and before I started running Blue Iris. It does work on Blue Iris, although the stream can be finicky at times (probably because of the i-frame issue). What I mean by finicky is that the stream will fail sometimes after I mess with the "camera" settings in BI. In fact sometimes it even stops working when I mess with other cameras in BI too. I usually have to reboot the physical camera for it to start working again. However, once it is running it is stable.

That being said, I would never recommend that someone buy a Reolink camera. I use mine in a non-critical role and it works just fine, but I would not want to trust it in a critical role (ie providing ID quality images) in my system.

Here is my take on the whole situation...... If you feel compelled to have cameras in the first place, isn't it worth the extra money to get a camera that is universally recommended on forums like this. I'd rather have fewer cameras that actually provided a usable image (especially at night) than more cameras that only provide a false sense of security. If a camera can't provide clear enough images to properly ID a subject, the camera is ultimately a failure. In the opinion of most "experts" on this forum, the Reolink models aren't going to provide ID quality images at night and I can confirm that has been my personal experience as well.
 
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FYI - @Saltster did a good review and write up when he picked up a Reolink kit and tested it under daytime and night time conditions.

Recommend checking out his thread on it:
PoE Camera Install and Camera Placement

In particular see the low light image captures
PoE Camera Install and Camera Placement

Remember to also check out his conclusion and see what he replaced the Reolink kit with.

notice that the Reolink camera has significant challenges capturing moving subjects in low light conditions. ( yes, this is a challenge for many cameras traditionally. With some tuning you can do significantly better using better cameras like the Dahua OEM starlights or Hikvision dark fighters. ) { in general Reolink uses more affordable components and thus under performs better cameras in significant ways )
 
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