Worlds First Review - Dahua DH-IPC-HFW5449T1-ASE+D2 - Dual Lens Full Color 2.0

[Wildcat_1]

Ok here it is without further ado, the night test. I’ve attempted to push this cam to the limits in this test, starting with additional light then reducing down to zero light. I finish by showing creatively what this camera is capable of as it searches for light, finds whatever is available and then fuzes the image from both sensors together to produce the final image.

Bear in mind the bugs I mentioned that still need addressing around alignment but hopefully you’ll see that this camera is incredibly unique in what its aiming to do, the issues it is trying to address and how this may stack up to be an additional way to monitor those darker FOV’s or those where ideally you want color + detail + usable recognition criteria.

Take a look and prepare yourself for a different perspective on night surveillance

As always, make sure you choose YouTube to watch this, select 1440p. Unfortunately even though I keep this in native and edit in ProRes then upload in as high a quality as possible, YouTube will always re-process and degrade the image further This is a longer video so I added timestamps in the description and on the video for ease of jumping about.

Lets go…………..

 

[wittaj]

WOW - this performs much better than I expected! I was expecting the night video to be a crappy easy to tell colorization like the old movies that were colorized, and it is not!

What I wasn't expecting to see but now like after watching your various tests is having the camera then show the IR B/W image when the object is outside the viewing area of what can be obtained in color is a great addition and fixes a limitation of current cams that are either in color at night or B/W with IR blinding.

The B/W image is a little processed and looks more cartoonish at the moment, but hopefully that can be tweaked in firmware. But blending the two together outside of those areas is incredible.

I think we have another winner on our hands!

Watching you go from color to B/W compared to the 5442 really brings out the true strength of this camera and fixes a trouble area most don't really recognize they have in some fields of view.

Another great job @Wildcat_1

 

[user8963]

how is it even possible?

 

[sebastiantombs]

Looks like Dahua has a real winner with this one. Great video comparison, Wildcat. I do think we need to start a Go-Fund-Me to get you a new sweatshirt though

 

[Wildcat_1]

Looks like Dahua had a real winner with this one. Great video comparison, Wildcat. I do think we need to start a Go-Fund-Me to get you a new sweatshirt though

Hahah and there was me thinking I could sell Wildcat merch

 

[alwaysoff]

Hmmmm this or the IPC-Color4K-X ?

 

[Wildcat_1]

Hmmmm this or the IPC-Color4K-X ?

hahah or both

 

[bradner]

This is an amazing camera but I guess not too stealthy with the LED lighting but even without them it's great but what's the point of buying a cam with B/I lighting and not using it. Did I miss what the pricing range this cam is going to be in?

Great vids thank Wildcat! Nothing is invisible now!!

 

[Wildcat_1]

This is an amazing camera but I guess not too stealthy with the LED lighting but even without them it's great but what's the point of buying a cam with B/I lighting and not using it. Did I miss what the pricing range this cam is going to be in?

Great vids thank Wildcat! Nothing is invisible now!!

thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.

When I put the cam into full darkness you could barely make out the IR LEDs (as stated in the video, I purposefully didn’t use soft light or white light directly so you could get a few for what’s possible when pushing the cam) which was nice so pretty stealthy

Nice thing is with a cam like this you have options, IR Auto, Soft White, Warm White all onboard then if you want, can add any additional light you have at location. The camera needs very little but is certainly flexible should you wish to throw light it’s way

With regards to price, I have that question out there and will update as soon as

 

[alwaysoff]

hahah or both

Maybe they'll make a 4K version of the dual lens cam! One can wish, right

 

[bigredfish]

Damn impressive camera!

Beyond the obvious fusion which appears to work far better than I thought it would, NO IR washout!

Andy, take my money$$!!

 

[The Automation Guy]

Awesome video!

I do have a couple of requests for future videos: 1) can you zoom the 5442 to more closely match the 5449 focal length? I think that will help level the playing field and make it easier to compare. 2) In your nighttime comparison with the 5442, I appreciated the fact that you kept the 5442 in color mode and you definitely need to continue doing that in any future videos. However, would it be possible to include some comparisons with the 5442 set to IR mode too? I'd like to see how well the 5449 compares to the 5442 in IR mode as well as color mode.

Thanks for getting this together. I know it takes a lot of time to do this.

 

[toastie]

That's some amazing camera you have there. My thanks to Dahua and Andy for making this possible.

 

[Parley]

Maybe they'll make a 4K version of the dual lens cam! One can wish, right

Maybe a 1/1.2" for the main lens with a 1/1.8" for the secondary lens.

 

[Wildcat_1]

Awesome video!

I do have a couple of requests for future videos: 1) can you zoom the 5442 to more closely match the 5449 focal length? I think that will help level the playing field and make it easier to compare. 2) In your nighttime comparison with the 5442, I appreciated the fact that you kept the 5442 in color mode and you definitely need to continue doing that in any future videos. However, would it be possible to include some comparisons with the 5442 set to IR mode too? I'd like to see how well the 5449 compares to the 5442 in IR mode as well as color mode.

Thanks for getting this together. I know it takes a lot of time to do this.

Thanks for the feedback. To address your requests:

1. On the focal length Yes can attempt to match closer its just hard to get a 'true' match on the vari hence I mention it at full wide (which would be a constant, true value) then try to mount the test cam(s) as close as possible. Either way will see what I can do on the next 1
2. WRT an IR vs IR, can absolutely do that. Primary reason to focus on full color this time was a) to show how dark the FOV was (from a not possible to see color, no light perspective) while b) showing how this cam handles in 'color' mode which is its primary claim. I will however absolutely put together an IR vs IR cap together even if a short one as part of this review.

Currently testing the first 'new' FW for this cam that Dahua just provided me. I will see if this improves the splicing or not (my hunch is it won't due to new FW built just before my feedback). If it does improve then will get the IR vs IR captured soon, if not then may be a few days but rest assured I'll get the video even if I have to just set a separate cap for the 5442 in the same lighting conditions.

HTH and thanks for the kind words, glad the videos help !

 

[Wildcat_1]

Maybe a 1/1.2" for the main lens with a 1/1.8" for the secondary lens.

Hahah, you know I'm in full agreement of that one @Parley Not only has Dahua proved that 1/1.8" is more than capable BUT also reduces further noise now so would be a great combo.

 

[CCTVCam]

A real winner in the making. Just needs the fix plus a turret and varifocal adding.

 

[jaocbsmith23]

when will this be available?

 

[Wildcat_1]

when will this be available?

Awaiting ETA update. With China on a national holiday may take a few days for update.

 

[Wildcat_1]

Quick update on this cam. I did try the interim version of FW BUT unfortunately it didn't (as expected based on build date) fix the alignment issue. Therefore I'm awaiting Dahua's dev team return for the next FW to test with based on my feedback. Will then look at getting an updated video once this is fixed + the comparison of 5442 IR vs 5449T1 that @The Automation Guy asked for.