Dahua and Qsee cameras

[coolxal 0]

So I was looking at some cameras for outdoor surveillance (about 4), and after reading around on this forum it seems that Dahua is a pretty good brand. I see these two cameras mentioned around here and they look pretty good for the price. ~$300 per camera.

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-0-MP-CMOS-Full-HD-Water-proof-IR-Network-Camera-IPC-HFW3200C-/200860295159?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2ec434dff7

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2-Megapixel-Vandalproof-IP66-Mini-Dome-H264-Network-IP-Camera-1080P-PoE-3-6mm-/200816538700?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item2ec199344c

 

Now I see that there are two primary styles of cameras, dome-style and bullet-style. Can anyone tell me the pros/cons of the two types? I like the compact and sleek design of the dome-type. Makes it stand out less (maybe people won't even know what it is assuming the outer dome is tinted). But it doesn't seem to support Nightvision. The bullet style one has like 40 IR LEDs.

 

Aside from the camera style, I've read that Costco sells a brand called Qsee that is essentially rebranded Dahua cameras (although i've also read that they're worse than Dahua). The only reason I would consider buying the Qsee over the Dahua off ebay is that Qsee is local and should I have any problems, I could return it to Costco. Buying a Dahua camera off ebay however is going to be troublesome if I need to return it.

 

The Qsees I'm interested in are these ones (They look the same except for the last one which has what appears to be remote panning/tilt).

 

http://www.costco.ca/Q-see-QCN8002B-IndoorOutdoor-1080p-IP-Camera-.product.100026667.html

 

http://www.costco.ca/Qsee-QCN8001D-High-Definition-IndoorOutdoor-1080p-IP-Camera.product.100026666.html

 

http://www.costco.ca/Qsee-QD6531Z-K-Pan-Tilt-Zoom-Camera.product.100021695.html

 

Lastly, do these cameras work with software NVR like Blue Iris?

 

Thanks.

[buellwinkle 0]

You are lucky in Canada to have access to thes Q-See cameras. The PTZ camera is analog. BlueIris will work fine with the first two you have links for. The equivalent Dahua that I reviewed are the IPC-HFW3200C (Q-see QCN8002B) and the IPC-HDB3200 (Qsee QCN8001D). The advantage to the Q-See is excellent customer service at Costco as well as good customer service and support from Q-See.

[testshoot 0]

I think observant people will recognize the domed style camera as readily as a bullet style as they are both prevalent. Some people are clueless and wouldn't notice either but anyone who is going to burglarize you will know to look for both types. The dome type are more attractive, or I should say, less obtrusive.

 

I am a new Costco Q-See owner and am just getting my cameras set up. It appears the Q-See is as you said, a rebranded Dahua. They put their own firmware in the devices which you may or may not be able to substitute for the Dahua version. The hardware is the same in either case.

 

The HFW3200C can be bought straight from China for $270 plus $55 shipping. IF you buy multiple cameras from China, I am guessing the shipping cost will be the same, i.e. you won't pay more and can split the shipping cost over the number of cameras you buy.

 

Do you really need the zoom function? If it is going to be used for unmanned surveillance, you can probably figure out the angle you want and install or get it with the right lens for the angle you need. Why I say that is because they are going to be selling the "S" version soon. Same "guts" as the C version, but with a fixed lens vs. a zoom lens. For cost comparison the "S" version is $145 plus shipping so you can see that there is a $125 difference to get the zoom feature.

 

I haven't considered the dome version as I know the areas I want to cover and the FOV needed for each one so I can get the bullets with the lenses I need for each instance.

 

The Chinese contact thought the "C" version would be available some time after Chinese New Year and another source said some time in February.

[MaxIcon 0]

The HFW3300C doesn't play well with Blue Iris, even set at 1080P, which makes it essentially the same as an HFW3200C (same software and hardware, just a slightly larger sensor).

 

Mine is OK if the scene is low contrast or not brightly lit, but when the sun is bright and there's a lot of detail and contrast (like a yard with bright sun on it), I get constant camera dropouts, pauses, and resets. Dropping the bit rate to the minimum helps, but doesn't completely fix it, and causes lots of pixelation when there's a lot of movement. Pointing the camera at the sky is no problem, and leaving it in my garage is no problem.

 

Many people report ghost images (dropped frames leaving visual blocks from previous images behind) with this cam and BI.

 

I tried it again this weekend, and during the day, it dropped out and reset constantly. At about 5:30pm, when the sun has my yard mostly in shade, the dropouts quit, and it ran fine the rest of the night.

 

If someone's had good luck with the HFW-3X00C cams and BI in a bright outdoor environment, I'd love to hear about it.

[coolxal 0]

So the Q-see cameras with their custom firmware won't work with Blue Iris or similar? Only with the Q-see NVR?

 

If that is the case, I guess I'll go for the Dahuas from eBay.

[buellwinkle 0]

Mine works fine with BlueIris. I can even put the camera video on a webpage via BlueIris and works fine.

[coolxal 0]

Mine works fine with BlueIris. I can even put the camera video on a webpage via BlueIris and works fine.

 

Oh I see, when you said "BlueIris will work fine with the first two you have links for" I thought you meant the first two eBay links to the Dahuas. But if the Q-sees work with BlueIris then that's great.

 

I think observant people will recognize the domed style camera as readily as a bullet style as they are both prevalent. Some people are clueless and wouldn't notice either but anyone who is going to burglarize you will know to look for both types. The dome type are more attractive, or I should say, less obtrusive.

 

I am a new Costco Q-See owner and am just getting my cameras set up. It appears the Q-See is as you said, a rebranded Dahua. They put their own firmware in the devices which you may or may not be able to substitute for the Dahua version. The hardware is the same in either case.

 

The HFW3200C can be bought straight from China for $270 plus $55 shipping. IF you buy multiple cameras from China, I am guessing the shipping cost will be the same, i.e. you won't pay more and can split the shipping cost over the number of cameras you buy.

 

Do you really need the zoom function? If it is going to be used for unmanned surveillance, you can probably figure out the angle you want and install or get it with the right lens for the angle you need. Why I say that is because they are going to be selling the "S" version soon. Same "guts" as the C version, but with a fixed lens vs. a zoom lens. For cost comparison the "S" version is $145 plus shipping so you can see that there is a $125 difference to get the zoom feature.

 

I haven't considered the dome version as I know the areas I want to cover and the FOV needed for each one so I can get the bullets with the lenses I need for each instance.

 

The Chinese contact thought the "C" version would be available some time after Chinese New Year and another source said some time in February.

 

Aesthetics wise, I do prefer the dome-style. I didn't really think about the minimalist design to catch unsuspecting burglars. Although one could argue that the bullet style (they look pretty big and intimidating IMO) might scare off potential thiefs.

 

Zoom I don't really care about, the night vision however I would like to have and it seems that the dome-style doesn't have night vision or at least not as good as the HFW3200C/QCN8002B. Although I do have motion sensitive flood lights in the locations I want the cameras to be.

[buellwinkle 0]

Yes, I have BI running with a Q-See Costco Special, a HFW3200C, a HFW3300C and an ACTi ACM-1231. Runs about 30-40% of CPU on my desktop which is a pre-i7 quad core. I have two more indoor cameras to add to it.

 

The HFW3300C is ticky, don't know why. I set it to VBR and 5120 bitrate and I get the full 15 fps on BlueIris. At it's default settings I was only getting about 2-3fps. If you right click on one of the cameras and click stats, you can see the actual frame rate.

 

The only problem with BI is if I set it to record pre-frame buffers, it doubles the CPU utilization which is annoying. Went from 30-40 to 70-80%.