Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+

I have the bullet version also and the picture quality at night is excellent, not seen anything better to date 10/10 for the 1/1.8” Sony Starlight + sensor it's a massive upgrade to what I had before.
ljw2k has a good light street as bigredfish, day and night pics looks amazing.
 
I believe bullets in general have better depth of field, but thats not a scientific opinion. I have 12 cams at home, 3 are turrets..I'm very happy with both.

As to the new turret, looking at the video by @Arjun it took some effort to move it. From my experience so far with other cams with this new ball I find them much easier to work with and I honestly dont think they'll move by themselves.

I'm actually looking to replace a CVI Starlight at my front door with one of the T5442TM-AS so if anyone wants to let one go at a good discount lemme know ;)
 
agree with @bigredfish that the turrets are generally rock solid both for install and in performance. The video seems to show some effort to move the dome portion which to be fair if I applied enough effort to some of the turrets I installed would move as well. You do have to be careful with the set screws on these as well. Too much over tightening and you will strip the screw and ultimately lead to a less than solid install.


I believe bullets in general have better depth of field, but thats not a scientific opinion. I have 12 cams at home, 3 are turrets..I'm very happy with both.

As to the new turret, looking at the video by @Arjun it took some effort to move it. From my experience so far with other cams with this new ball I find them much easier to work with and I honestly dont think they'll move by themselves.

I'm actually looking to replace a CVI Starlight at my front door with one of the T5442TM-AS so if anyone wants to let one go at a good discount lemme know ;)
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Many Thanks to gurus like @bigredfish, @Wildcat_1 and Empiretecandy for clarifying the loose eyeball issues.
Gives me confidence to place order for 13 units of T5442TM-AS when home network is ready.
ok, Here we go, when the ball part can be adjusted(Or called loosen) manually, i show you guys to see how stable it can be from this video.
 

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When I get home tonight, I will film a video of me moving the eyeball with two fingers. The issue is they used a different type of material that doesn't grab the eyeball as well as the 5231. It's a white bumper that is thinner than the 5231's bumper and it doesn't properly grab the eyeball. I would also like to note, this is not an attack on Andy, his customer service, or his products in general...one poorly built camera shouldn't taint anyone's choice to use Andy for future purchases. I will always use Andy to buy my camera's, he's by far the best/cheapest option for all of our camera needs.
 
From my experience, That is not be a problem at all, the ball part i tested can be adjusted when it's locked on all new cams, the camera is installed on the vertical wall or celing, not sit on the desk! Any wind even hurricane will not blown it, so if you afraid some guys climb to your wall to adjust it, I think No thief will be such stupid.
@bigredfish @wopi82 @looney2ns , Do you guys think this is a problem for installations? Their cameras are in the same lot, They make many GREAT reviews on the forum, if this is a big problem for the installation, they surely point out.
Using turret cameras, not only the better pics also easier installations.
For the IPC-HDW5231R-ZE, many guys told me they lost the lock screws, why? Because they climb to loosen the screws to adjust the direction, and lost the lock screw, because it's too tight. So that is why newer turret cams are smaller than before.

But if you install very low places, the turret not suit, better use dome ones with IK10, even use a hammer will not destory it.
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I don't see a problem, I definitely have not experienced the problem, then again I didn't see a problem with the old version. Arjun's Video looks to me like it is performing exactly as Andy is describing that Dahua says is by design, because of installer complaints. This is no different than if you were using a bullet as far as vulnerability of being moved. As has been said, a can of spray paint, can of silly string, or piece of tape can defeat a camera quickly. No matter, if you have installed and correctly positioned/overlapped your cams, by the time a bad guy does anything to defeat a cam, you should already have a captured a good id shot. I suspect over time and a little summer heat, the rubber grips will gain traction on the ball. If you have a major concern about it, put a piece of duct tape on the bumper, and move on. With respect, IMHO it's much ado about nothing.
 
From my experience, That is not be a problem at all, the ball part i tested can be adjusted when it's locked on all new cams,
Then it's not locked. That would annoy me. When I tighten something down so it won't move, I expect it not to move, not kinda sorta maybe won't move.

the camera is installed on the vertical wall or celing, not sit on the desk!
Yes: In areas that might be difficult to get to if the non-locked "locked" ball should move, over time, due to vibration.

For the IPC-HDW5231R-ZE, many guys told me they lost the lock screws, why? Because they climb to loosen the screws to adjust the direction, and lost the lock screw, because it's too tight.
With all due respect, Andy: That's silly. Because some people can't get the hang of "loosen it only so far as it takes to move the ball," rather than "back it out until it falls out and you lose it," Dahua has made the locking mechanism non-locking?

Then there's the rough casting/machining I saw in @Arjun's photo on page 19. Taken all together, one might be excused for suspecting Dahua of cutting some corners.
 
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Then it's not locked. That would annoy me. When I tighten something down so it won't move, I expect it not to move, not kinda sorta maybe won't move.


Yes: In areas that might be difficult to get to if the non-locked "locked" ball should move, over time, due to vibration.


With all due respect, Andy: That's silly. Because some people can't get the hang of "loosen it only so far as it takes to move the ball," rather than "back it out until it falls out and you lose it," Dahua has made the locking mechanism non-locking?

Then there's the rough casting/machining I saw in @Arjun's photo on page 19. Taken all together, one might be excused for suspecting Dahua of cutting some corners.

Thank you for saying this. This is exactly what I was thinking but couldn’t put it doe nicely. I don’t buy it that installers have been complaining that it’s hard to move a locked camera, well duh! When tightened down they shouldn’t move, period. It’s a bad design. If other want to look past is and just say it’s fine, that’s on them, but it’s clearly a design flaw and Dahua doesn’t want to admit it.


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Ok, so I finally got home and made a video. The set screw is as far in as I would be comfortable with setting it without stripping it. The camera is simply sitting on the ground and is not attached to anything. With minimal force I'm able to move the camera eyeball in all directions. Now, granted I don't picture anyone walking up and moving my camera or "shooting silly string" at my camera. I do, however, have concerns that over time I will be climbing a ladder to reset the eyeball. Again, this is just my 2 cents and nothing against Andy. He is passionate about his business, and I get why he would defend his products. This product however has some flaws the could be addressed by Dahua, or fixed by putting some tape on the bumpers. I will be going the tape route, and in the end it is what it is.
 

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Working now for me must have still been uploading. I can't see any problems with the camera as it looks like it needs quite a bit of force to move the ball which I doubt very much any weather wind or rain would move it once installed.

Copland said: 2nd attempt failed too...the file is a 23 sec mp4, anyone got any advice?

PS: Your second link also takes a while to load before I can View.
 
Yea working on the link...it shows it uploaded, but it won't play.

Worked fine for me I Tapatalk.

That’s exactly what mine did as well. I gave up on it and returned mine for a 5231 VF. I agree that Dahua should address it, but like you said, it is what it is.


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I can't see any problems with the camera as it looks like it needs quite a bit of force to move the ball which I doubt very much any weather wind or rain would move it once installed.

PS: Your second link also takes a while to load before I can View.

It doesn’t take much effort at all to move the ones we have, that’s the concern. Maybe others are lucky and don’t have that issue but my 5231 don’t move at all.


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