buellwinkle

Up against other 3MP cameras I have from Dahua and ACTi, I would say the pixilation point is the same. It could be the sensor, which may indeed be shaped in the HDTV aspect ratio may be over sized to accommodate both formats. I'll be getting the dome version from Hikvision in a few days. Can you send me where you got the charts you used for your testing. I can then take the 3 different 3MP cameras and you can see them side by side. I guessing if I have the file with the test pattern, I can send it to Staples to print in on larger format paper. Also getting in the ACTi 3MP IR domes as some have asked to compare the domes to the E32 I tested.

There's true autofocus like what you expect from your digital cameras or camcorders and that's only on the PTZ speed domes and they make several. If you are talking motorized focus and zoom for varifocal lenses, that's different and they do have some models with that, the 2MP IR dome, I think it's a 3202 model, that has this feature and played with it briefly. Personally, on cheaper brands it's more annoying than it worth. It inevitably focuses on the wrong thing, it takes 20-30 seconds to focus so it's mostly an install only feature. What you have to do is click on it's auto focus feature, it does the best that it can, then you use + and - signs to do fine tuning which is tedious. For me, I put the camera up on my 32" HDTV, set the iris open and bench focus it by hand and it takes me a few minutes at most and I find that works for me and I save the extra cost this option adds to a camera. The exception is Axis, the P33 fixed dome has features to select the zone you want to focus on and while it's slow, I find the most accurate and I feel comfortable just installing and aiming the camera and focusing from my desk. None of this exists on cameras with fixed focal length lenses, those usually come pre-focused from the factory and in a few cases I had to manually focus them. Common focusing problems are; 1. focus with iris not fully open, causes blurry images at night. 2. focus on distant objects to make a pretty picture, but close in objects are out of focus. Important to understand the prime objective, to get a clear image of any activity that affects you, not the house across the street. 3. cheap or defective optics. Sometimes some cameras just can't be focused perfectly. I've spent days trying to get perfect focus with tech support on an $1,100 camera that just couldn't be focused to my tastes.

I hear ya, we had 5 car break-ins on one street last year and now that street security has been enhanced with a 6' spiked fence, access control and a Mobotix D14 to watch over the area. No break-ins since

Good to see you figured it out. Just be glad Hikvision, unlike Dahua publishes documents like this. One reason I like Hikvision better than Dahua although both make good cameras, Hikvision seems to understands our needs better.

Wow, didn't know Pleasanton had so much crime, looked like such a nice place when I was there last.

Look at all the products they have on their website, www.dahuasecurity.com.

These are Costco.com exclusive, not available in the stores.

I have no idea and don't have access to an NVR or DVR. This is why I included the link to the CGI manual, it has every possible URL command that they publish.

Does motion detect recording work with the RTSP feature? Are the recordings smooth?

Holy cow, $200, where are you buying this from, the Nordstroms Christmas Catalog, special gold plated edition? Try Amazon, BOSCH SECURITY ( CCTV ) SYSTEMS OD850F1 D.SYSTEMS A OUTDOOR DETECTOR, it's $118. The Optex is about $71. For about $24 you can get a Bosch indoor unit and probably work fine outdoors if it's under an eave or sheltered in some way, use some silicone around the edges.

Just saying from having access to both and assuming you load the Hikvision firmware on the Swann, they look and function identically. Without taking them apart which I can't as they are not mine, I can't tell if there are any difference in the guts.

PM sent for sources from China for Dahua PTZ cameras. Which ONVIF version is it? Also, you do realize this camera is not PoE, it's 24V.

It's not that the camera is huge, but that is a midget doing the unpacking.

Glad it all worked out. Many people overlook support as the #1 place to get help from, maybe because a lot of us have less expensive, for the most part unsupported cameras, LOL.

The issue with Dahua is that the noise reduction is on day or night and it can make some fine detail look blurry, so not sure going above 4k bit rate will help much. I have mine set at 5k mostly because it was a sweet spot with BlueIris software, but didn't notice any quality difference. On my 3MP cameras, I set to 6k and I can notice a difference between 4k and 6k.

Bosch makes an assortment of PIR detectors of varying quality and features from $25 to $100.

The problem with unknown brands is you may not be able to get common NVR software to work with it, especially PTZ and support and service may be difficult. Price is not that good because it's just VGA resolution. So here's the competition - Dahua - about $700-1,100 depending on resolution ACTi - about $2,000 for 1080P for the KCM-8200 Panasonic - range from $1,000 to $2,000 depending on resolution Axis - range from $1,000 to 4,000 depending on resolution/features

They had issues with performance where an i7 would handle 2 cameras. They likely limit resolution to limit CPU use. This product has been around for a long time and has some cool unique analytic features. Are you looking for NVR software or specifically analytics software?

They sell those at Costco too, $299 for the 2-pack. Not all that good, certainly not equal to the Hikvision cameras. The biggest complaints from many is color balance is not good and changes during the day, the IR cut filter keep getting stuck, noise reduction is strong both day and night sometimes blurring fine detail in objects, like grass looking like a green blotches than grass and the IR LEDs are very bright and exposure does not correct quickly so people that enter the field of view are overblown, appear like ghosts and the IR LEDs come on different times than the IR cut filter. Then you have to realize that 3MP is more than twice as many pixels as 1.3MP. If you are not sure what that means, to be able to identify someone's face, you need their face to be at least 80-85 pixels high, at least 40 pixels wide. With a 1.3MP camera, say with the 3.6mm lens, that means to ID someone, they have to be at most 3-4m from the camera (see, Americans can convert to meters) and with a 3MP camera, it will work at about twice that distance, say to 7m. For example, from my driveway is 26' long, with my 3MP camera, I can ID someone on the sidewalk, can't even come close with 1.3MP. What prices have you been getting from China on Hikvision? I found that even with shipping, it's about the same as Costco charges for the Swann/Lorex mix but could be Canada has higher import duties from China than the U.S. (1.9%) so the camera prices may be higher for you. Also, consider ACTi cameras. They have 1, 3 & 5MP cameras, supported by just about any NVR software, comes with free NVR software (albeit for Windows only) and free IOS app and their prices are not that much higher than these cheaper Dahua and Hikvision cams. With offices in the U.S., they are at least a quicker service and support option than getting this from China. If you still want the HFW2100, let me know, I have 2 of the Q-See version from Costco that I can sell you. One is brand new in the box, never used.

May be best posted on the analog camera section of this forum.

Bullets, like Piñatas can be easily vandalized, for example, even a simple tap with a broom handle can turn the camera the other way, a smack with baseball bat and it's over. I've had crows land on bullets and shift the camera. But they are easy to point, don't have as many glare issues that domes have, don't have as many IR bleed issues as domes have. Domes can't be shifted, you can barely tell where a dome is pointed, and most vandal domes can take a hit from a baseball bat and still be recording, hence the name vandal dome. The dome is dispensable and replaceable. But it's not problem free. They are a PITA to aim and focus as you have to get it perfect in 3 axis and I've had the aim and focus shift when attaching the dome cover on some models as the rubber donut that separates the IR LEDs from the lens have to be tight against the dome. You can get glare streaks, for example, reflecting back of chrome on a car it can create a star effect or streak. You can also getting fogging from the sun hitting the curvature of the dome a certain way. Then with an IR dome you are pushing light beams across a reflective curved surface, no matter what, their will be some amount of light fogging from the illuminators and in some cases, enough to show you a ring of pearls as I call them, which is the reflection of the IR light ring on the image. Then even if it's good at the start, over time it can degrade as the rubber donut degrades. Personally, on my projects where I use vandal domes, I don't use IR domes at all.

That should work. Can you install windows over the OS-X or do you have to use Fusion, Parallels or bootcamp?

The E32 is a great bang for the buck. I actually installed mine with one of the mounts ACTi sells for it's older bullets that didn't come with it. On a breezy day, the mount they provide flexes.

I hear you, but why deal with a company that does not want to deal with you when there's so many good choices out there. I tried to get Avigilon involved in a project and they were very unresponsive at the corporate and local level.

That's easy to do and you can do it for free. I wrote an article on how to do this at http://www.networkcameracritic.com/?p=1290 Alternatively, BlueIris provides a streaming feature in their software and it's cheap, under $50 per server. If you want a more commercial solution, check out Wowsa, I believe it's under a grand for a single camera license. Alternatively, you can use a streaming service. Depending on your tolerance for advertising, it can be free. Check ustream.tv as one such service.