Review - IPC-L26N WiFi Floodlight Camera

oapgt

n3wb
Jul 20, 2019
12
6
Georgia, USA
Link: 2MP WiFi Floodlight Camera

I didn’t see any reviews/info on this camera and I apologize if there is one. I found out a few weeks ago that Dahua had released/announced a floodlight camera that compliments the doorbell. Appears they’ve rebranded some products their own mini-line and are competing with Ring and others.

Anyways, Andy didn’t have it available yet and with business travel about to start up for me again, I searched and found it available through B&H Photo and ordered one. Shipping was quick and it arrived.

My biggest concern with any floodlight camera was installation. They really want you to mount them vertically and the light I was replacing was under the eaves of my house. The Ring can’t be mounted without physical modification and I was worried about this one as well.

Before I ventured up the ladder, I made sure I could make it work without modifying. There is a sticker that indicated ceiling mount and I was able to get it close enough so I set about installing it.

Installation was a breeze. The mounting plate is thick and provide good gaskets for a tight seal. About 45 minutes later and the light was mounted and turned on. I had to wire out a switch to ensure it never lost power.

Adding it to the app was difficult. Firstly, the Imou app (which I use with the DB11) didn’t really work well in adding it. The iDMSS app worked wonderfully though and once it was added on the iDMSS app, it showed up in the Imou app as well. Secondly, given how it was installed, scanning the QR code was a PITA. I think I had to scan it like 5 times thanks to the Imou app not working well.

The tech specs showed it supported up to 256GB micro SD but I went with just a 128GB because I have it linked to my NVR as well. It also uses H265 compression so it’s good quality and lower file sizes I believe.

I’ve attached pictures of the install location and also a daylight cam capture. Night capture is pretty good for my location (there’s a street light in front of my house) and I’ll try to take a capture and post it.

Using ConfigTool or even the NVR, there’s quite a few options for the video settings. Both apps give options for the light (PIR motion, Dusk to Dawn, and manual) and the siren is app activated and pretty startling when you’re outside near it. You can also override the light settings to turn it on if you need it on.

Audio quality on the speaker is also pretty clear. It’s loud enough you can hear it and crisp enough you can understand what people are saying.

I haven’t really seen any negatives yet. It connected easily to my Dahua NVR and the app experience is the same as the doorbell, which on a separate note the doorbell firmware update made a HUGE difference in my opinion on it.
 

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I have 4 x 35W LED Security Lights with Motion Sensor 3500 lumens and color temp of 5500K. But would be happy to convert all 4 if the L26N could come close, especially with wifi cam, mic/siren in the mix. I am reading the specs on this. 2000 lumens of color temp 3000k. What of the PIR range? Can take a couple night time pictures or even a video? I see this is 110 VAC hookup with is great since I went that route as well for my existing floodlights.
I also notice in the fine print at the bottom: LincX2Pro devices can work with third-party software only if the LincX2Pro device is added to a compatible Dahua recorder. LincX2Pro devices cannot be added directly to third-party software. Would this mean, not possible to interface with Blue Iris?
 
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Sorry i've been on business travel for the past few months (yes during the pandemic) and haven't been able to respond. Here's a night video I grabbed off the local SD card. I have a streetlight in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

1) PIR range is pretty good. Its mounted 10-11 feet high and the PIR triggers for the light at my front door which is probably 20-30 feet away and to the direct side. Straight on, it triggers up at the street which is about 14-20 feet away.
2) Motion triggering appears to be SW and not PIR. It triggers motion if my neighbors walk out of their house and that is easily 50 feet away if not further.
3) I use a Dahua NVR so I haven't tried ONVIF or connecting to Blue Iris. It just uses the standard Dahua protocol and connects to my NVR without issue. I can't confirm if it records sound or not, but it does record video.
4) I still haven't fully figured out the floodlight control inside the app. There's a button that appears to turn it on but I don't know if its enabling motion detection or manual override of the light.
5) There is a potential bug that I've noticed and haven't quite figured out. It loses track of time and the time zone. If I set the proper time zone (EST) and then reboot, the time is correct until it seemingly gets a time server response and it reverts back an hour. DST is setup properly, in fact, it has identical time settings as my DB11 doorbell which has no issues keep proper time. I'm trying to dive into whether its an issue on my local network or a true firmware bug. which I'll send it to Dahua for a response.
6) It has prompted me a few times saying that the SD card filesystem is corrupt and needs to be formatted. Since I also log on my NVR, I just format it every time.
7) There is an annoying prompt in the Imou app about cloud storage. I have it disabled but never enabled it, so it always asks if I want to enable it. I probably need to enable then disable it.
8) For those without an NVR, you can put a 256GB SD card and enable continuous local recording.
 

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So unless ConfigTool was lying to me, two things appeared off:

1) The default NTP server appeared to be not operational anymore
2) NTP syncing was disabled and the cameras weren't syncing

I've enabled NTP syncing and ensured proper timezone settings and everything looks good for now. As to whether it holds that way....we shall see.
 
Install trial for Blue Iris on a computer and then see if this flood light camera combination is visible on Blue Iris if you can
 
By the way not too shabby of night time video for that camera. As compared to other manufacturers this looks pretty decent
 
I am liking it. It’s been good while I’ve been gone on business travel.

It supports 2-way audio and it’s pretty clear on both sides even being 10ish feet above the ground.
 
Just an update, I noticed the LED panels were no longer turning on under motion. I’ve rechecked all of my wiring since I had just changed out other fixtures “in the path” but everything is good. Looks like maybe the relay is fried. I’ve opened a case with Dahua to see what will happen.

other than this problem, it’s been solid without issues.
 
Just an update, I noticed the LED panels were no longer turning on under motion. I’ve rechecked all of my wiring since I had just changed out other fixtures “in the path” but everything is good. Looks like maybe the relay is fried. I’ve opened a case with Dahua to see what will happen.

other than this problem, it’s been solid without issues.
still curious if this floodlight camera works with ONVIF. Unsure how to test ONVIF without Blue Iris. Maybe there are other methods? Wireshark or VLC?
 
still curious if this floodlight camera works with ONVIF. Unsure how to test ONVIF without Blue Iris. Maybe there are other methods? Wireshark or VLC?
never mind. Per B&H question/answer:
The camera is not on Synology's list and it isn't onvif so it isn't recommended to use with Synology.

Answered by Adam STAFF on May 28, 2020
 
I know this thread is a few years old but I just wanted to thank the op. I just got this floodlight. After a firmware upgrade went wrong this info helped me get he camera back online. Just wanted to say that the floodlight is ONVIF compatible despite information saying otherwise.