Worlds First Review - Dahua - IPC-Color4K-X / DH-IPC-HFW5849T1-ASE-LED - Full Color 4K Camera

[bp2008]

Was trying to bring some cams to do BF this year, but bad luck the chips for this model has been badly delay, have to delay to DEC. Esp the 3.6mm. 2.8mm will get some stock in next week, so can do some, not too many just 20.

It is awesome that you share this information. Most vendors are very vague or do not tell their customers anything.

 

[enilm]

Are you guys using the illuminators on this bad boy? I only have one of these cameras and it's used as a basic overview of the front of the house and street. I don't have any sort of lights for it. It's not for any main door entrances or driveway. Again just an overview of what's going on out there.

I've noticed the illuminators are very bright. Obviously it gives a clearer picture but not sure I like people seeing this from the sidewalk.

 

[wittaj]

All cameras need light, whether it be visible light or IR light. But this camera doesn't see IR light, so you need visible light.

Now this camera doesn't need as much light as some other cameras, but it does need light. I have enough light that I run with the illuminators off.

Are you trying to IDENTIFY or OBSERVE? If just observe, you could run with auto/default settings and if you have any light at all, you will be able to see something is going on (but it will be a blur). Otherwise, you need to add light, either external or the camera light.

 

[enilm]

Yes I understand all cameras need lights. For my other cameras I have some sort of light, whether it be a motion sensor flood light or whatever.

But like I said since this is an "overview" camera. I really didn't want to put more lights on the house. But I'll look into getting an IR light.

Thanks boss

 

[wittaj]

IR light will not help this camera. It does not see IR light, so you either need to add more light or use the camera light.

 

[enilm]

Dope. You did write that on the first post. My bad. I'm tired. LOL

Thanks for the quick replies

 

[wittaj]

We have all been there LOL.

 

[NightLife]

Are you guys using the illuminators on this bad boy? I only have one of these cameras and it's used as a basic overview of the front of the house and street. I don't have any sort of lights for it. It's not for any main door entrances or driveway. Again just an overview of what's going on out there.

I've noticed the illuminators are very bright. Obviously it gives a clearer picture but not sure I like people seeing this from the sidewalk.

I just went through this, though my case use may be different. My 4K will be a critter camera of sorts. Problem is our house is flooded in a certain monochromatic 'color' which probably wrecks havoc with the white balance at night. In the end I hit Amazon and scoured their wares. I found what I think will serve my own purposes nicely. I purchased 2 light units, 120VAC, 3500 lumens @ 5000K each. On each unit there are 3 panels and what I love is that the 3 individual panels have a remarkable freedom and range of movement so I will be able to aim the light precisely where it's required. Bye bye shadows, and brutally changing WB etc.

Right now I have everything pretty decently dialed, but accept there are still shortcomings. I had to resort to using the LEDs built in the camera for now, but I don't think in my case that is optimal. Plus I think that not only should the LED lighting I bought help balance my scene at night, and give my settings more stability, I will be happy not to have to use the built in LEDs - I feel that the upward scatter of that lighting lends to lighting up snow and rain. I will be further ahead placing the LED lighting I need to light up my scene to the side, 25' from the Color-4K-X.

Once it's set up perhaps I can return with some before and after shots at night, which will reveal how limited (in my view) the built in LED lighting is. Also remember in unlit, or even poorly lit areas the LED lighting doesn't throw light out very wide, so with the 2.8mm I have it again doesn't serve it very well. It creates a tunnel of light, but the flanks of the scene are deep in shadow, especially since my lot has bedrock which starts on flat lawn and climbs upwards to about the height of the camera but to the side. Hard to explain, but TL;DR - get the supplemental lighting if you can. In my case I don't have neighbours near this camera to worry about where my light points (it points into forest), but that can also me a concern - you may feel that to adequately flood your area with light that you may end up pointing those lights onto the street etc. It would be good if you could restrict your aux lighting to your property. I have no idea, but that might be an ediquette thing, where cameras, and lighting is concerned. I'm new at this, but the other guys here will know.

 

[Wildcat_1]

Dope. You did write that on the first post. My bad. I'm tired. LOL

Thanks for the quick replies

If you need any help configuring then just reach out.

 

[JesseSR]

I just wanted to double check on a couple things with these cameras from the expects here. Can some people chime in on my 3 questions?

1. Andy told me today that the IVS issues that some of you guys reported (can't remember the exact thread) with these cameras have been fixed on the "current" firmware. Is that an accurate statement? (I need these to be -accurate- for both vehicle detection and person detection with tripwires and intrusion boxes)
2. These cameras do NOT see IR, correct?
3. Which of these two statements is true, a) These cameras -need- at least SOME natural light to work at night, OR, b) the 4 LEDs on the cameras is enough to work at night time

I'm in process of ordering 7 of these to replace SOME of my current 5442T-ZE and DF1241N-D2F2 (thermal) cameras .
May end up ordering another 3-4 of them as well.

 

[bigredfish]

I am running FW version
V2.840.0000000.1.R, Build Date: 2021-06-11

My $.02 - worth exactly what you paid for it

1- IVS on mine works as good as any other Dahua camera. Is it 100% perfect? No. Does IVS take in many instances FAR more time and effort to dial in than most initially think? YES. We've all watched too many episodes of CSI. Reality is at roughly $200, they do pretty well.
2- Correct, As intended. There is no IR cut filter in this camera
3- Both. The camera like ALL cameras needs some light source. The LEDs built in are limited in intensity and distance and therefore only illuminate a small immediate area. External light help extend the distance and in most practical applications is necessary

Three pics to demonstrate - all at 1/60 exposure. (this matters greatly. The faster the exposure the better you are able to freeze motion and get good clear still images of movement. I consider 1/60 the absolute minimum with good light. I typically run mine at 1/250. The faster the exposure, the darker the image, so its a constant trade off. This is true of ALL cameras)

1- No external outward facing light, LED's OFF


2- No external outward facing light, LED;s ON - Manual - 100% Far, 55% Near


3- My normal garage lights on (two 100watt bulbs), LED's ON Auto- 85%



I would think hard about which locations will truly benefit from the ColorX vs say a 5442ZE. You sacrifice IR as well as the Variable focus. A Good IR image is better than a shitty color one. Again this applies to ALL cameras not just Dahua. Unfortunately the whole unfortunate "Full Color/Night Color" marketing lingo has lead many to beleive there's some type of magic going on here, but thats really only on TV and in the movies.

 

[bigredfish]

And for a bit more comparison, here is the companion 5442-NI 3.6mm fixed running 1/120 vs the Color4K (5849T1) running 1/250.

The garage coach lights are on and the 5849 is running twice as fast shutter speed as the 5442

5849


5442-NI

 

[bigredfish]

I know what you're thinking, "bigredfish, the image is nice but kinda dark"

Remember the camera is running 1/250 shutter, fairly fast for nighttime, and the job of this camera is to watch the vehicles. Other cameras provide other coverage.

So just a second later, as she trips the PIR sensor 3500 lumen floodlight,


View attachment 4116PLocal_ch1_20211210194922_20211210195004.mp4

 

[Wildcat_1]

I just wanted to double check on a couple things with these cameras from the expects here. Can some people chime in on my 3 questions?

1. Andy told me today that the IVS issues that some of you guys reported (can't remember the exact thread) with these cameras have been fixed on the "current" firmware. Is that an accurate statement? (I need these to be -accurate- for both vehicle detection and person detection with tripwires and intrusion boxes)
2. These cameras do NOT see IR, correct?
3. Which of these two statements is true, a) These cameras -need- at least SOME natural light to work at night, OR, b) the 4 LEDs on the cameras is enough to work at night time

I'm in process of ordering 7 of these to replace SOME of my current 5442T-ZE and DF1241N-D2F2 (thermal) cameras .
May end up ordering another 3-4 of them as well.

If you need any help dialing in, just ping me in DM and I'll look to assist. You'll like the cam, just make sure you plan your install location and remember additional light is always a good thing as I discussed in my review and others have also shared. Last thing to remember is the shallow Depth of Field on this cam so again planing your location, distance and height to target along with critical focus point is key. Personally I still prefer the 2.8 over the 3.6 for overall PQ if you're looking for a model recommendation.

HTH

 

[integlikewhoa]

Can blueiris control the day night switch in the camera vs. the basic camera GUI? Time control doesn't seem to work as well as sunset and sunrise times in BI. I'm not sure if its the way the camera setup in blue iris (Genric/ONVIF and RTSP) but none of the controls seem to work threw blueiris like lights on and off and day/mode.

 

[sebastiantombs]

It can be done with BI but requires some programming knowledge. This works very well with Dahua cameras and is basically point and click -

Sunrise/Sunset Utility

Dahua day/night switch utility - DahuaSunriseSunset

I wanted to use stronger noise reduction at night and weaker during the day, but Dahua seems to have made a mess of the profile management. On most cameras, there doesn't seem to be a way to have the camera switch automatically between Day and Night profiles when the camera changes between...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[integlikewhoa]

It can be done with BI but requires some programming knowledge. This works very well with Dahua cameras and is basically point and click -

Sunrise/Sunset Utility

Dahua day/night switch utility - DahuaSunriseSunset

I wanted to use stronger noise reduction at night and weaker during the day, but Dahua seems to have made a mess of the profile management. On most cameras, there doesn't seem to be a way to have the camera switch automatically between Day and Night profiles when the camera changes between...

ipcamtalk.com

Thanks that was easy and is done. Is there any documents or list of other commands that can be done. For example turning the external lights on/off or auto on it. It would be nice to change the BI IR button to the external lighting on this camera.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Have a look around the forum. There's probably someone who has done things like that using the day/night utility, but normally things like LED lights in a camera are controlled by the camera day and night profiles. To control other lights you'd need a Sealevel device and use MQTT. Those an be controlled through Blue Iris.

 

[goetter]

My Color4K arrived, and generally works well. I upgraded from a HFW2231T, and it's quite the improvement.

That said, I need quality optimization. My goal — like most everyone ^_^ — is max quality of moving objects like people (faces) and cars (plates). From the video being recorded, I suspect it's spending the vast majority of video quality budget on the grass (moves in the wind ), and the textured driveway pavement. Which I don't care about at all.

I'd love to get better detail on the far away license plates, and further-away figures (such as ones just entering my property).

I've attached a full-res snapshot. And my settings.
System Version V2.840.15OG002.0.R, Build Date: 2021-09-08
This is a 3.6mm.

I considered ROI settings. Are they effective? I'm not using IVS or any related settings. I continuously record to BI.

 

[gansle]

i have 2831 4k and i cant read plates in daytime over 50” away so at night no chance.