Intro
For this last set of tests I show the turret (5449H-ASE) full screen (since you’ve already seen the 5449TI-ASE bullet cam variant in this review + the 5442 separately in that review) and then overlay 2 way and 3 way side by sides. This testing is completed using the new test FW of 09-30. In my testing this FW still needs work on alignment (still needs to be adjusted more as I originally reported) as it gives the appearance of a soft edge but a portion of this is due to overlaid alignment in FW. The turret cam needs some work in FW separately as I mention below.
Day Comparison Testing
For daytime, the turret and bullet cam variants of dual lens are very close to each other in overall PQ but there IS a difference at night (more below). The 5442 still has a slight edge in sharpness primarily due to the always on approach of the fuzed Dual Lens alignment that will always give a slightly softer edge to the image (more so in 09-30 than previous FW). While not bad, this could improve (I've seen it better in early test FW) as alignment gets a little closer to overlap once the FW changes I’ve asked Dahua to work on, are implemented. Specifically I'm working with Dahua engineering and suggested a couple of approaches, 1) a closer auto alignment, adjusting the intelligence more 2) I've suggested a manual alignment option that could assist in fine tuning auto alignment (i.e. incremental up, down, left right etc) and 3) even the opportunity for the dual lens to fully disable the 2nd 1/2.8" lens in bright daylight which would sharpen the image further as overlay would be disabled in this full light situation.
Night Comparison Testing
In nighttime testing although I captured footage with light on scene, I purposefully left it out of this last set of videos as you can see how good that quality is in my original night videos (bulb, floodlights at difference levels etc)
HERE. You'll also notice there was more ambient background light from houses across the street in this test and the cams's loved soaking that up. Just remember, thats the only light, therefore the FOV where I am is totally dark and that shows how good these cams really are.
For night IR, the comparison story changes just a little when comparing Dual Lens turret vs bullet cam variant (you know I like to be thorough). In testing both the dual lens variants together, balanced the same and configured the same I do notice that the turret version see's a slight bump in it’s AGC (higher), therefore is slightly noisier at night and leans more to red in color even when white balanced initially the same. While I noticed this change over the course of testing the turret (would shift in and out of color balance just slightly), the bullet cam variant remains constantly cleaner, less noisy and truer in color to the intent of the fuzed image. Part of this difference seen in IR testing (as completed here) is thanks to the addition of the 2 extra LEDs (4 on bullet cam, 2 on turret) and also the underlying code as it differs slightly for turret (in 09-30 version of FW). To explain this further, since more illumination is available to the fuzed image on the bullet (due to the additional LED's) it relies on less AGC. That plus a slightly more aggressive approach by the turret specifically in code is what separates these 2 currently. I’ve reported these code differences back to Dahua to fix as well and asked them to dial back the AGC changes they seemed to have changed in this 09-30 version. If you purchase a turret version then you can dial in the turret to look more like the bullet cam BUT just be aware that in certain situations (mentioned below) that the extra LED's on the bullet cam will assist in IR mode.
Summary
Therefore in summary of these last comparison tests, my advice would be:
- In install locations with additional light (a bulb, floods etc) where you want color at night, then either variant of the Dual Lens cam (turret or bullet cam) would work
- If primarily installing in a darker location, have some light (always advocate for it) but will rely more heavily on IR AND want color at night, then consider the bullet cam variant of the Dual Lens as it handles darker FOVs a little better in the current FW (expect turret to handle the same after FW fixes) and benefits from the extra LED’s. If you do go with the turret version (which will work too) then as I mention above just make sure for now you utilize 08-28 FW and dial the camera in (reach out if you need assistance and I can help you match the bullet cam output). Again this is not a huge difference and certainly not a deal breaker, in fact some of you might not see it in the compressed video BUT as I saw it in the raw uncompressed footage, I wanted to make sure I mentioned it.
- In really dark FOVs where you cannot or don’t want to add ANY additional light AND don't need color then a traditional IR cam such as 5x42 (5442 or new 5842 that I just reviewed) is a great option
per your feedback you'll see that in this final set of tests I more closely matched the FOV's across all 3 cams + featured the 5442, hope that helps
As always all let me know with any questions
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Videos below and as always,
watch on YouTube and in this case
select 1440p for best quality
Daytime Comparative Testing - 09-30 Test FW
Nighttime Comparative Testing - 09-30 Test FW
The lens not just a glass, lol.
