Acti E31 E32 E33 D31 D32 Whats the scoop?

[Razer_SE 0]

So, not exactly related to the cameras mentioned, but new firmware and ISP firmware is out for many of the ACTi cameras like the 5611, 5211e, and the 3911 hemispheric cameras. I installed it om my hemispheric cameras and found two huge features, first you can now record the entire non dewarped fisheye view! Man, it is about time on that one.

 

Second, the night images are night and day better, I mean truly amazing and or shockingly better in my case anyway. I cannot believe the changes, I just installed two in hallways a couple of week ago and there is almost no light there and they have been recording all night long since they were installed. Looked pretty bad actually so we were going to install another light. Installed the update yesterday and changed nothing else on the cameras other than tweaking the motion some more and they did not record, and the few seconds I did get recorded were much better, I actually called someone else into my office to show them the difference it was so big lol. Whatever, I'm happy. I'll try to attach an example of what I see as the difference.

 

Installed it on 5-6 of my 5611 and 5211 cameras today to see if the new ISP makes any difference there at night.

[buellwinkle 0]

Huge difference.

[thewireguys 3]

So, not exactly related to the cameras mentioned, but new firmware and ISP firmware is out for many of the ACTi cameras like the 5611, 5211e, and the 3911 hemispheric cameras. I installed it om my hemispheric cameras and found two huge features, first you can now record the entire non dewarped fisheye view! Man, it is about time on that one.

 

Second, the night images are night and day better, I mean truly amazing and or shockingly better in my case anyway. I cannot believe the changes, I just installed two in hallways a couple of week ago and there is almost no light there and they have been recording all night long since they were installed. Looked pretty bad actually so we were going to install another light. Installed the update yesterday and changed nothing else on the cameras other than tweaking the motion some more and they did not record, and the few seconds I did get recorded were much better, I actually called someone else into my office to show them the difference it was so big lol. Whatever, I'm happy. I'll try to attach an example of what I see as the difference.

 

Installed it on 5-6 of my 5611 and 5211 cameras today to see if the new ISP makes any difference there at night.

 

 

Lets see someone walking down the hall way.

[Razer_SE 0]

No video of that as of yet anyway as it has only been overnight and no one was there last night, I want to see it too. Usually these are in a better lit location, or totally lit all night so it's never been an issue before these two cameras.

 

Nice part for us anyway is that once they are done here there will be lights kicking on when someone enters the hallway automatically so I'll have more light to work with when people are in there. At least it's not recording all night when noone is there.

 

The image during the day looks better to me also, less artifacts and generally looks sharper to my eye. Take what I can get. I'm also working with Axis m3007 cameras right now and I think in the end the axis will be better for the same money. Still testing my first one of those but I really like it so far and it will likely be my go to for hemispheric in the future from what I've seen so far.

[650HPAMG 0]

Expecting my E33 next week, I received it for a good price I think, under $310 shipped. Not retail. Will know soon enough if I want to pick up a few more. Curious how well their well regarded NVR compares to BlueIris.

[EarlT 0]

I finished my review on the E32 on my blog. This camera does have very good WDR. With the video of my car pulling into my driveway, you can see that the camera is not overwhelmed by the headlights and you can see the grill detail pretty well. Most people expect this from WDR, to be able to see objects that would otherwise be overwhelmed by bright lights, be it headlights, street lights, house lights. In contrast to the Dahua 3MP I have side by side, the headlights overwhelm the image, no chance of reading a plate.

 

If you compare that to my review on the KCM-5611 with their better WDR, you can see better detail on the truck tires, its' just better overall, but that does not mean that E32's basic WDR is not very good, just not as good.

 

Will start working on the E33 (5MP) next week.

 

 

Saw your review of the E33 and wanted to thank you for those reviews. Is it possible to disable the IR in them via HTTP commands like I can in a KCM-5611?

[PluffMud 0]

Does anyone know what the sensor sizes are for these cameras? It appears to be missing from the data sheets but I could have just overlooked it.

[buellwinkle 0]

I'll ask about the sensor size later this week when I'm at ISC but maybe Ando can respond.

 

As for the IR, even better, you can turn the IR LEDs off separately from the IR cut filter as menu choices.

[EarlT 0]

That's nice to know. Not a fan of bugs flocking around the front of my cameras.

[night_solstice 0]

Anyone know if these models work with Blue Iris?

[buellwinkle 0]

Yes, I put it on BlueIris initially but I didn't have the CPU power to do so and I backed it out but they do work.

[night_solstice 0]

Thanks! I've tried a few different NVR softwares, but keep going back to BI so nice to know the cameras will work with it.

[ctbaker 0]

I see that buellwinkle put up his review of the E33 camera (Thanks for the review!). By the looks of the long distance out of the focus area of the video having a "water color" or cell shaded affect, I am thinking that the 3MP cameras deliver a better quality picture.

 

E32 daytime sample video

 

 

E33 daytime sample video

 

 

Is the issue with the 5MP video from the E33 something that can be addressed with firmware or is it a camera sensor issue?

 

I am thinking of grabbing either the E32 (fixed lens) or E42 (vari-focal lens) 3MP camera to try out and then build the rest of my system with a combination or E-series or L-series cameras (once the L-series is released).

 

I found another E33 video on youtube at 1080p and it looks much better than the E33 footage that buellwinkle posted. Comments?

 

 

Thanks!

[Q2U 0]

...I found another E33 video on youtube at 1080p and it looks much better than the E33 footage that buellwinkle posted. Comments?...

 

Yes, Buellwinkle is a real (albiet a most proficient) user who probably put an hour (at most) into recording and posting his video, whereas "Use IP Ltd" is a company selling the camera who probably spent 2 days testing light levels to obtain the most optimum video possible.

 

Buell wants truth. "Use IP Ltd" wants silver.

[buellwinkle 0]

This one is easy to explain. Look at the video, you can see that WDR is not turned on, dark areas like shadows have no detail. Yes, if you want to avoid that effect, turn WDR off, turn NR off and it will give you a better looking picture during the day but then why get the E33, the D33 is less expensive and the only difference is WDR.

 

I'm testing the Axis P3367 now, 5MP, WDR, and with WDR on the image looks grainy during the day, without it looks crystal clear and this 5MP camera costs maybe 4X as much as the E33. It seems that 5MP brings out the flaws in WDR that you don't see or at least notice with with lower resolution cameras.

 

I found another E33 video on youtube at 1080p and it looks much better than the E33 footage that buellwinkle posted. Comments?

 

 

Thanks!

[mobbarley 0]

I'm testing the Axis P3367 now, 5MP, WDR, and with WDR on the image looks grainy during the day, without it looks crystal clear

 

This camera has axis' dynamic contrast - it works well but is not as good as dynamic capture (Q1604) which uses multiple exposures.

[NSAcheif 0]

thank you so much for the information here, read over it and watched all the sample videos.

 

I have a synology 5 bay system and am going to be pulling the trigger here soon on either an E33 or E32.

 

http://store.immediasys.com/5mp-fixed-bullet-camera-ip66-poe-only-cmos-d-n-4-2mm-wdr-e33/ $304

http://store.immediasys.com/3mp-fixed-bullet-camera-ip66-poe-only-cmos-ir-d-n-4-2mm-wdr-e32/ $270

 

Any better place to get them? (price)

 

Also any recommendations on accessories? I'll be placing this above my garage, it will be full exposed to the elements, no overhang as I live in a townhome. My neighbors camrea was tampered with so a lock or something to prevent some one from turning the camera would be desirable.

 

i did come across this: http://store.immediasys.com/silver-camera-bracket-pmax-1103/

[RustyJL 0]

It looks like a cheap place to get them but I'd say they are violating ACTI's policy

 

http://www.acti.com/corporate_old/mapPolicy.asp

 

So I would say you would get no technical/after sales support and any warranty would be void.

 

List of authorised resellers in USA

 

http://www.acti.com/corporate_old/disti2.asp?CATEGORY=United States

[buellwinkle 0]

Yes, they have a long list of unauthorized resellers. But that authorized list is just wholesale distributors. But warranty and support doesn't matter to some people.

[MR2 0]

http://www.acti.com/corpweb/CKKS/ProductMatrix/ProductMatrix.aspx

 

new interesting products, loving the upgrade to 10mp... Might have to trial a few if the price is right, wish it was more than 6fps though... 10 would make me quite happy.

[buellwinkle 0]

Should have their first one next Monday.

[MR2 0]

Should have their first one next Monday.

 

I look forward to your review!

 

it's nice to see 10mp becoming common, quite curious what the pricing vs Zoom quality will be like, I could go some of the 10mp to cover an area, or I can just go heaps of 3mp units that are considerably cheaper

 

this would be a steal bar the lack of night vision:

 

http://www.use-ip.co.uk/acti-e97-10mp-indoor-mini-dome-camera-with-basic-wdr-and-fixed-lens.html

[MR2 0]

Well, my E97 arrived.... so far:

 

1, It seems like a pretty soft image and is not that much of an improvement over a 3mp cam, still tweaking however.

2, this thing gets HOT it has a metal heatsink and even the plastic lens gets remarkably hot to touch

3, the frame rate is quite ordinary, they quote up to 6fps but I think we'd be lucky to see 1-2 fps, this is in fairly bright light too(outdoor, overcast day)

 

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t370/mgoodwinmr2/10mpnative_zps7ec8872c.png

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t370/mgoodwinmr2/10mpzoomed_zps136a5fd3.png

[thewireguys 3]

I have a feeling this is going to be a very over hyped camera.

[MR2 0]

Just packed it up and sent it back, after 3 hours in an Air-conditioned office the base plate of the unit was too hot to touch, this is not a camera for our environment that regularly gets to 40+ degrees C.