Hello,
I've been using Shinobi for many years now with a decent number of some Chinese market Dahuas with very few issues. Due to stormy weather I've recently had a few go down and the replacements I chose weren't quite as satisfactory, so I'm reaching out here in hopes I could find something that is a bit of a better fit.
I wanted to address two points to start with: 1. Why are Chinese market cameras which are reflashed with English firmware typically so hated in here, and 2. What are the hot models of the present time?
1. I've read the wiki, and I've browsed various articles here over the years - I'm aware of the obvious answers in relation to why Chinese cameras are disliked. You don't always know what modifications are made to the cameras, they pose an additional security concern, they may not be up to spec with what was advertised, sometimes you can't update the firmware, and perhaps a few others. But here's the thing - Plenty of people run Chinese cameras without any notable problems whatsoever in regards to video quality and features, the cameras should have no networking access besides the NVR anyways, and so long as the camera functions as advertised, I'm not sure why I'd ever want to try to update their firmware. My personal experience has always been fine with them, but perhaps I've always just been lucky, or have always bought from decent enough sellers/models.
I'm not trying to start an argument about this point, but I want to actually understand the arguments against Chinese cameras. I get that for some people it's just a safer play to buy from someone like Andy where you know for sure what you'll get, but other than that, I'd like to know and understand the reasoning behind this. To be completely clear, I'm just looking for an educational explanation on this point, thank you.
2. All of my previous models up until late have been pretty small in terms of sensor size, with a 1/2.8" sensor being the standard size. I was recently hoping to get my hands on larger sensors without completely breaking the bank. I know Dahua has some, "starlight" models that people seem to like, and in particular I think it's the 5443 model that is mentioned frequently (please correct me if I'm wrong), and I think the 6MP version is getting some attention as well as of late. Both of these are on a 1/1.8" sensor, I think?
Outside of, "the" starlight from Dahua, I couldn't find too many larger sensor models from Dahua. I did find a few from Hikvision, and I found a little bit of info on them from here, but not much.
Here's a few:
DS-2CD2347G2-LU
IPDS-2CD2386G2-IU
DS-2CD2386G2-ISU/SL
DS-2CD2347G1-LU
DS-2CD2385G1-I
DS-2CD2386G2-IU
Most, if not all, of these are 1/1.8" sensor sizes, so definitely a lot better than 1/2.8". I thought one of these was a 1/1.2" but I can't seem to find whatever model it was that I'm thinking of.
Now I get it, don't chase the Megapixels, sensor size is the priority and yadda yadda, but that doesn't inherently make megapixels bad. A lot of my cameras are looking at fairly well lit areas, and the ones that aren't have typically done pretty well with the built in IR lighting (again, all Dahua models, so I'm not sure how this would compare to Hikvision) due to fairly close areas that they're covering. But here's my question - are any of these models considered, "good" from this forum? The only bad experience I have had with an IP camera first hand was with some el cheapos I was helping a friend with - they were marketed as 4k, and had an output of a 4k resolution, but they had so much noise, poor compression, and just generally all around bad quality even in daylight.
I get how for a given sensor size, you have so many individual light sensors that translate to the pixels in the camera's output, and thus how simple physics dictates that the more light sensors for a given area, there's less actual light for each sensor to use, but of course reality is a little more complicated than that. Different designs and engineering tricks can be used to help get more light on a sensor without increasing the sensor size, such as RYYB optical design, though I doubt something like that to be currently available in these cameras.
-----
So, that being said, I'm looking for a few models to pick from for two different purposes: Some of my camera areas are very well lit, and some aren't.
Thank you all so much! I appreciate this a lot.
I've been using Shinobi for many years now with a decent number of some Chinese market Dahuas with very few issues. Due to stormy weather I've recently had a few go down and the replacements I chose weren't quite as satisfactory, so I'm reaching out here in hopes I could find something that is a bit of a better fit.
I wanted to address two points to start with: 1. Why are Chinese market cameras which are reflashed with English firmware typically so hated in here, and 2. What are the hot models of the present time?
1. I've read the wiki, and I've browsed various articles here over the years - I'm aware of the obvious answers in relation to why Chinese cameras are disliked. You don't always know what modifications are made to the cameras, they pose an additional security concern, they may not be up to spec with what was advertised, sometimes you can't update the firmware, and perhaps a few others. But here's the thing - Plenty of people run Chinese cameras without any notable problems whatsoever in regards to video quality and features, the cameras should have no networking access besides the NVR anyways, and so long as the camera functions as advertised, I'm not sure why I'd ever want to try to update their firmware. My personal experience has always been fine with them, but perhaps I've always just been lucky, or have always bought from decent enough sellers/models.
I'm not trying to start an argument about this point, but I want to actually understand the arguments against Chinese cameras. I get that for some people it's just a safer play to buy from someone like Andy where you know for sure what you'll get, but other than that, I'd like to know and understand the reasoning behind this. To be completely clear, I'm just looking for an educational explanation on this point, thank you.
2. All of my previous models up until late have been pretty small in terms of sensor size, with a 1/2.8" sensor being the standard size. I was recently hoping to get my hands on larger sensors without completely breaking the bank. I know Dahua has some, "starlight" models that people seem to like, and in particular I think it's the 5443 model that is mentioned frequently (please correct me if I'm wrong), and I think the 6MP version is getting some attention as well as of late. Both of these are on a 1/1.8" sensor, I think?
Outside of, "the" starlight from Dahua, I couldn't find too many larger sensor models from Dahua. I did find a few from Hikvision, and I found a little bit of info on them from here, but not much.
Here's a few:
DS-2CD2347G2-LU
IPDS-2CD2386G2-IU
DS-2CD2386G2-ISU/SL
DS-2CD2347G1-LU
DS-2CD2385G1-I
DS-2CD2386G2-IU
Most, if not all, of these are 1/1.8" sensor sizes, so definitely a lot better than 1/2.8". I thought one of these was a 1/1.2" but I can't seem to find whatever model it was that I'm thinking of.
Now I get it, don't chase the Megapixels, sensor size is the priority and yadda yadda, but that doesn't inherently make megapixels bad. A lot of my cameras are looking at fairly well lit areas, and the ones that aren't have typically done pretty well with the built in IR lighting (again, all Dahua models, so I'm not sure how this would compare to Hikvision) due to fairly close areas that they're covering. But here's my question - are any of these models considered, "good" from this forum? The only bad experience I have had with an IP camera first hand was with some el cheapos I was helping a friend with - they were marketed as 4k, and had an output of a 4k resolution, but they had so much noise, poor compression, and just generally all around bad quality even in daylight.
I get how for a given sensor size, you have so many individual light sensors that translate to the pixels in the camera's output, and thus how simple physics dictates that the more light sensors for a given area, there's less actual light for each sensor to use, but of course reality is a little more complicated than that. Different designs and engineering tricks can be used to help get more light on a sensor without increasing the sensor size, such as RYYB optical design, though I doubt something like that to be currently available in these cameras.
-----
So, that being said, I'm looking for a few models to pick from for two different purposes: Some of my camera areas are very well lit, and some aren't.
- Would it be worthwhile to get a quality 8MP camera for my well lit areas, such as perhaps one of the above models?
- And are there any decent 6MP models with 1/1.8" sensors that would work for fairly low light, or am I just looking at 4MP at this sensor size?
- Is there ever a situation to not use IR from a camera like this in low light? In other words, if I had say a 2MP 1.8" sensor, would it ever be better to run that camera without IR as opposed to with IR, despite the low light?
- Any other models that would be good to recommend to me, with a budget of ~100-150 per camera (open to Chinese resells, at least without a reason that makes sense to me against this)
- Any general advice or recommendations for me?
Thank you all so much! I appreciate this a lot.
