Del Boy

DS-2CD2120F-IW or DS-2CD2132F-IS are good units. I've heard people use them in the cold but I'm not personally 100% sure, I think they will be ok.

As long as it's PoE 802.3af (and obviously 8 ports) with UTP Cat5 minimum cable then 200ft will be ok.

What country are you in? I would say the best option is to obviously throw out the existing rubbish. 2nd best option get a hybrid DVR/NVR and install a few extra new decent 1080p cameras. The only problem is that once your boss sees them... they'll probably get rid of the analog rubbish.

Hi, I'm a bit busier on the other forum but have become addicted to this hobby. I hope to be able to help people here and be part of the community! (Also will need some help too now and then!) Del Boy

DS-2CD2132F-IS does not necessarily mean 3-axis. F actually means it has an SD Card slot. 2132 2015 model is 3-axis. Most DS-2CD2132F-IS (chinese versions) are 2015 models and hence have 3-axis, but some are old 2014 chinese versions which don't have 3-axis. It's the 2015 model which is key, not the F.

I have used a 6mm HFW4300S for numberplate recognition with no problems. In fact, the number plates are smaller than yours in my image. The key is tweaking the shutter speed. Also have a PTZ with an auto-iris and zoom which has no problem catching number plates. My other observation is I'm catching numberplates at less of an angle but have no problem with cars doing 40mph.

+1, there are brands that can match Hikvision and Dahua, some that are even better but Zmodo and Foscam aren't two of them. There's a reason this stuff is cheap on eBay and amazon. Sure it's better than analog rubbish... but only just!

Rather than waste money on wireless or wired adapters, get an NVR and stick it in the garage attic, then connect it to your network with a wireless AP. Few main advantages 1) More reliable 2) You're not going to be using up your wireless bandwidth as you'll be only using on demand to view NVR recordings or live-view 3) Better range 4) Cheap storage 5) Expand it later when you discover need (from footage) to have an additional camera However... you could just get a DS-2CD2132F-WIS, a 12V PSU and 64GB card to record to. That would be the easiest and cheapest solution and covers what you need. If it's outdoor, get a 4mm lens. This is an IP66 outdoor cam. DS-2CD2132F-IS(W) Specs here.

Your best bet is to ask the seller how to do it. They should have instructions.

Sorry Pete, I have no idea!

You can over-volt it slightly. Don't go OTT though. Try 10% and see if that works.

Is the unit grounded via the power plug?

What's the AWG of the wire you are using? This makes a massive difference to the line loss. Cheaper wire I've used has been 26AWG but the 22AWG stuff goes much further. I'd rather invest in thicker wires than shielding to start with.

Hi Lazertech, Sounds like sub streams are working but mainstreams aren't. Try turning down the mainstream bitrate on all the cameras. If you have them all at 8000kbps for example, the NVR might not be able to cope (worrying if only 2 cameras). Might not fix it but worth a try. Cheers, Del Boy

Agree with above. I'd rather spend $200 on 2 cameras, one 12mm and one 6mm, both pointing the same direction. 12mm just for the number plates and 6mm to capture the whole frame. PTZ cameras can be good if they can autofocus quick enough, as you can see working well in this video: acXks5JXvQY Night-time, I think some BLC would help too: y6ISLsFYHBE I used a Dahua HFW-4300S 6mm and it was sharp enough to capture the field-of-view and the number plate but the cars were going slow coming through a gate. It was also out of the way of the headlights, when I tried the camera lower like the video above, it couldn't capture a number plate at all. Cheers, Del Boy

Just because lots of folks buy something doesnt mean its better...for example, the 2332 turret is a much better camera than the 2032..folks still go to the 2032 to save 4 dollars... The 2232 as others have said have better ir light and will also resist spiders more than the 2032.. 100% agree. 2032/2132 is the most popular but IMO the worst in the Hikvision range! One thing of note. 2232 is a lot bigger than 2032. As said above 2032 is a great small jack-of-all-trades bullet camera. I personally think Dahua is better for night-vision 4300C > 2332 and they are similar cameras. When I started out, I got one of each, one 2032 and one 2232. I ended up fitting the 2032 as the night-vision on that was good enough for the distance I needed and the 2232 wasn't much of an improvement at that range (<10m). If you're not adverse to domes/turrets, the 2332 is a great little camera. Cheers, Del Boy

DS-2CD2232-I5 has EXIR technology (basically IR arrays instead of LEDs). The IR being further away from the lens and not part of the same bit (behind the same glass) helps make a better image. I would normally recommend DS-2CD2232-I5 if you have lighting issues (i.e. dark rear garden) but don't expect miracles!

Hi, Why do you want to upgrade? Telnet is a sharp-tool. Like any sharp-tool, if you don't know what you are doing it's easy to have your eye out. If you brick it using Telnet, then chances are, it's unbrickable, unlike TFTP which you can recover from. Cheers, Del Boy P.S. 5.1.5 is better in my opinion than 5.3 anyway

+1 on that advice. Hikvision cameras use Hikvision NVR However, Hikvision NVR, you can use Hikvision compatible cameras. Cheers, Del Boy

Hi Chris, I found this issue with v3.3.2 too. Best not to touch cameras and NVR firmware if it's working is my advice. And push is very useful! Cheers, Del Boy