China vs US Region Hikvision Cameras

[suckerpunchnz]

Hi all!

I'm a newbie here, so please bare with me and do post links to any threads that may already have the answers I need. Sorry in advance!

I'm looking into getting some Hikvision cameras.
I understand from reading these forums that there are two versions of the Hikvision camera, US and Chinese?
What (if any) are the identifying factors between the two versions?
What is the difference between the two versions?

From what I can tell, you can hack Chinese versions and put US firmware onto them?
For a professional IT support person, is this difficult to do?
Are there any disadvantages\advantages to putting the US firmware on the devices?

And now for the reason behind these questions...
A Chinese friend of mine is visiting his home for a month and I'm wanting to use the opportunity and get him to bring back some Hikvision gear for me to install around my house.
Price comparatively, a camera on Taobao (Chinese Aliexpress like site) is $133 cheaper than the same camera on Aliexpress.
For six cameras, that's a significant saving.

I appreciate any help!

Thanks heaps,
Phil.

 

[zero-degrees]

Welcome @suckerpunchnz

1. Most Chinese cameras you see on eBay, AE, and Amazon are hacked China region cameras with English firmware. The limitation to this is that you can not update the cameras in the future with new firmware, if you do they will revert back to Chinese. HIK identifies there region in the SN of the hardware. Also your not putting "english" firmware onto a "chinese" camera, your just simply changing the language of the camera.

2. I'm not sure what cameras your looking at as they are obviously not the consumer HIK cameras if they are $133 cheaper per camera - most of the HIK cameras in there entry level group are $90-$199 on AE depending on what your getting, which according to your calculation would make them $0-$70. If the deal is that amazing I'll have one of our sales guys over there pick me up a bunch and ship them to me.

3. Customs entering and exiting china is not friendly ESPECIALLY when it comes to hand carrying electronics in and out of the country - EVERYTHING must be declared and it will be taxed accordingly. Also with all the IP issues when it comes to "electronics" in china these things are heavily questioned when going into or out of the country. There are also VERY strict tax laws on imports and exports in china especially for things created in country and while leaving the country with one or two items will normally fly, I don't believe your friend will be able to fill a suitcase with 6+ cameras. We tag all electronics with "Engineering Model not for Sales" when entering and exiting the country and do not serialize anything to even help further our point. We have a satellite office and contract factory in China and we deal with this often when going back and forth. Best thing would be for him to DHL them back and under estimate the value in hopes its not caught up in Customs.

HIK Firmware tool: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthrea...anguage-extract-files-and-create-own-firmware

 

[suckerpunchnz]

Thanks for your response @zero-degrees.

Are people developing firmware hacks to gain the English language as new versions of firmware are released?

The camera I was comparing between AE and Taobao was the DS-2CD2332-I. Presumably a consumer model?
AE Price = USD $139 (NZD $217)
TB Price = ¥375.00 (NZD $90)

So just to clarify @zero-degrees, the firmware tool you have provided a link to is basically the same tool people are using on the hardware that is then sold on AE?

Thanks!
Phil.

 

[zero-degrees]

@suckerpunchnz - the numbers don't lie in this case. Also I am unaware if there are tools to be able to update firmware to the latest version and then restore the english language. I"m sure someone has done it, but HIK has been trying to drastically cut back on hacked region cameras which is why most people with hacked firmware just leave it at the 5.x.x it comes with and never update. Honestly I don't mess with hacked region cameras, I find it easier to just purchase private label HIK cameras from a supplier in the US.

 

[Del Boy]

I don't think you are comparing like for like. I think the DS-2CD2332-I Chinese version they have stopped making (in order to stop the black market I guess), so you'll probably get a DS-2CD3335-I.

AE you should get a WR camera and $139 delivered to you seems very reasonable to me but some people will cause themselves trouble to say and extra $ or two.