Olderisbetter
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Wifi cameras can also be knocked out by criminals using wifi jammers, The trouble with technology is criminals will try and get around it.
One of those posts (I think it might have been Knighty but may be mistaken) put up some fantastic shots of his Dahua cams, on the back of that I ordered a similar model but the 4mp version from China on ebays 20% day a while back (also prompted on here) so only paid £50 delivered and took 2 weeks. I can confirm they are a good picture quality.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dahua-IPC-HFW4431R-Z-2-8-12mm-motorized-lens-IR-80M-Bullet-camera-H-265-POE-4MP/192025677833?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
View attachment 144083
Hey everyone. So I've got five cameras running now. Two are the Dahua Starlights, and the other three are low cost Hikvisions.
There is a huge difference. Without infared lights, the Hikvisions go black in the late evening and rely entirely on IR to see anything. On the Starlights I've actually disabled infared as they don't need it ! Even in the pitch of night they give a good picture. The other differences are.... with the strong sun we're having, in the afternoon there are big shadows. The Starlights show good picture in and out of the shadows, the Hikvisions don't. The other difference is the resolution, although both are apparently 2 MP, the Dahuas have about 30% higher resolution. I'm thinking the Hiks are eggagerating their resolution.
So I've been looking at one of those for my last camera for the porch. They are actually Chinese market Dahua cameras that have had the firmware hacked to English. I'm curious if they give performance similar to the international Dahuas. Apparently they are a bit risky though because if you reset them they revert back to Chinese.
Got them thanks! So the cheaper Dahua you have handles shadows pretty well but it's night vision seems about the same as the Hikvisions.I've just snapshotted you three different shots at different times of the day, I've sent them by PM as I'm at work and its has my street address stamped on it and I dont have time to edit it out. Cant comment on resetting it as I've not tried.
Got them thanks! So the cheaper Dahua you have handles shadows pretty well but it's night vision seems about the same as the Hikvisions.
One of those posts (I think it might have been Knighty but may be mistaken) put up some fantastic shots of his Dahua cams, on the back of that I ordered a similar model but the 4mp version from China on ebays 20% day a while back (also prompted on here) so only paid £50 delivered and took 2 weeks. I can confirm they are a good picture quality.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dahua-IPC-HFW4431R-Z-2-8-12mm-motorized-lens-IR-80M-Bullet-camera-H-265-POE-4MP/192025677833?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
View attachment 144083
Maybe for positive identification, i.e. to get someone identified and prosecuted. My strategy has been different, I've set up alerts. So I've basically told Blue Iris what's normal behaviour, e.g. someone crossing my alley, and what's not normal behaviour, e.g. someone near my windows. I then get alerts and can check what's happening.I was told you need be able to read a news paper in the available lighting for the images to be good enough to use.
Yes it is quite wide, here's a couple more shots, one at night without the caravan and one zoomed right in and you can easily read a number plate
View attachment 146492 View attachment 146493
Maybe for positive identification, i.e. to get someone identified and prosecuted. My strategy has been different, I've set up alerts. So I've basically told Blue Iris what's normal behaviour, e.g. someone crossing my alley, and what's not normal behaviour, e.g. someone near my windows. I then get alerts and can check what's happening.
I think for good coverage and positive ID you'd need a lot of expensive cameras.
you can log into the cameras and change their day/night settings, change how they compensate for light etc. there's automatic and then 3 different settings, plus a little slider to set how much effect they have
I can never remember what each option does, I google them each time - but the picture/feed updates instantly, so you can try a setting and see what difference it makes - you can watch the picture change/adjust as settings take effect
the two cameras behind my factory are in a pretty dark area overnight, I fiddled their settings a bit and it made quite a bit difference
I'll try some supplementery lighting. One thing I've noticed with cameras is that the lights shine in the same direction as the lens faces so you get reflections that give false movement alerts. Having a seperate infared light seems to reduce that problem a lot.Don’t forget to check moving images. If the exposure is high then the cameras can look good in the dark, even the budget versions, but if someone walks through the field of view then it will be a blur and completely useless.
Even small amounts of supplementary lighting can reap huge rewards. I’ve found the solar LEDs from Banggood or Amazon allow a really crisp picture (starlights in colour mode, no IR), cost about a tenner and can be stuck anywhere.
Alternatively a small 5w led mains fed on a dusk to dawn sensor also costs very little and works great, discreet being dim but very effective.