Trying to find compatible cameras for Lorex branded DVR. LNK7000 series

[bjl95mustang]

So I've been using Lorex for years now since I usually get one of their black friday systems cheap. Tech support and customer service sucks tho.

My current system is a LNK7216 IP DVR. Since this last phone app update everything has been running smoothly and the DVR has been reliable.

My issue is with the cameras failing. the system came with 4 4MP cameras and I tried to add T8M cameras from Nellys to it. They work but instead of Onvif they say private. As soon as I try to change any of the camera settings they act up and I loose night IR. I also have one that is clear during the day but shows alot of static at night.

In the span of a year I have gone through 3 Lorex branded cameras that failed. These specific cameras see to be hard to come by and I'm trying to see if they are fully compatible cameras for this system or should I dump it and get something else? I also want to add a couple more cameras so with the cheapest 4k Lorex Cameras coming it at $160 on ebay I'm getting close to a new system cost.

Lorex Camera and System compatibility tool

Find all Lorex cameras and DVRs products that work with each other

www.lorextechnology.com

4K Network Video Recorder with Lorex Cirrus

A 4K (8 megapixel) NVR with FLIR Secure™ remote connectivity.

www.lorextechnology.com

 

[wittaj]

First, don't chase megapixels. Do not chase 4k - at night the 1080 (2MP) cams will be your better bet. Just ask my neighbors with their 4k cameras that didn't provide the money shot to get their stolen belongings back from a thief in the middle of the night, yet my older 2MP camera did capture the money shot that ID'd the thief for the police to find and make an arrest and fortunately still had all the stolen stuff.. Meanwhile, the perp didn't come to my house but walked past on the sidewalk at 80 feet from my house and my 2MP varifocal zoomed in to a point at the sidewalk was the money shot for the police.

In fact my system was the only one that gave them useful information. Not even my other neighbors $1,300 4k Lorex system from Costco provided useful info - the cams just didn't cut it at night. His system wasn't even a year old and after that event he has started replacing with cameras purchased from @EMPIRETECANDY on this site based on my recommendation and seeing my results - fortunately those cams work with the Lorex NVR. He is still shocked a 2MP camera performs better than his 4k cameras... It is all about the amount of light needed and getting the right camera for the right location. I have 33,000 lumen radiating off my house and that isn't enough for the camera to stay in color because the sensors are so small in cameras - several of my cams I force into color at night just to get those details, but very few have enough light to truly run in color based on the optics of the camera deciding if it should run B/W or color.

It is also about taking the cameras off of auto settings like shutter. 4K can look great even at night with auto shutter - but that is a non-moving image that looks nice. Or maybe not - that static you see at night is probably really noise on that 8MP camera because there isn't enough light... Once you manual the shutter so that you do not get ghosting or blur, then folks see how difficult 4k really struggles at night.

It is simple - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything other than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything other than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy into the 4K hype. - they will stuff that 8MP onto one of these sensors and will then need more than quadruple the light compared to the lessor sensor. Simple physics.

Now with that said, Lorex is made by Dahua, so any Dahua, Lorex, Amcrest, or the cameras from @EMPIRETECANDY here that are Dahua OEM will work with this NVR.

 

[bjl95mustang]

Thanks,

I'm going to try one of the amcrest and one of the starlight from empire and see how they work.

 

[bjl95mustang]

I have another question.

Lorex only shows specific Lorex branded cameras as compatible with each specific dvr. Would all Lorex branded cameras work across the board?

I know they are all made by the same company and is this just a marketing thing?

 

[mat200]

I have another question.

Lorex only shows specific Lorex branded cameras as compatible with each specific dvr. Would all Lorex branded cameras work across the board?

I know they are all made by the same company and is this just a marketing thing?

FYI - Lorex has at least 2 different OEMs they use.

One OEM is Dahua, and Dahua recently purchased Lorex from FLIR. If you had one of those kits, we have various threads covering how to get a Dahua OEM camera to work with those Lorex branded Dahua OEM NVRs.

And the other OEM is the one which made your kit @bjl95mustang - thus the challenges you have finding cameras which work with your kit.
We have less information on that OEM and how to get other cameras to work with that kit.

What works with LNK7000 Series HD Security NVR?
Models: LNK71082T, LNK72163T, LNK72324T, LNK72328T

 

[Flintstone61]

Looks like somebody found a few cameras for you....cool. I ran into a wall with Nighowl/ hikvision dvr's before I came here. it was a guessing game on which cameras would work on the either of my 2 DVR's....You might like the control you have over this problem with a Blue Iris PC and POE switch.
I have Amcrest/Empiretech/Hikvision(Jidetech) feeding into my switch and blue Iris works with all of them. The prepackaged systems leave me wanting. and they play a game with "only these cameras" work with these systems. When they die,
they hope you buy a whole new Locked in system with the same limitations.

 

[bjl95mustang]

Yeah,

I bought an amcrest and empire camera. I’ll see how those work. I know what Lorex brand replacement cameras work but I can only find 1 and it’s on eBay for too much. Plus I’ve had 3 fail so its not been cost effective to pay that much for each camera. I’m at the point it would be cheaper to buy a new system with 8-10 cameras for the cost of adding and replacing the cameras on my current setup.

 

[bjl95mustang]

What OEM is this DVR?

I was playing with the cameras that stopped working and I finally figured out what happened on one of them. The camera randomly grabbed a completely different IP. Mine starts with 10 and the rest of the cameras are 10, but this 1 specific camera switched to 192...

I used one of the available Ip camera configurators and was able to get into the basic network settings. It was set to a static of 192. I set it to DHCP and plugged it back in and it re assigned to a 10 and started working again.

Just curious of who made this system and why only a specific camera would do that.

FYI - Lorex has at least 2 different OEMs they use.

One OEM is Dahua, and Dahua recently purchased Lorex from FLIR. If you had one of those kits, we have various threads covering how to get a Dahua OEM camera to work with those Lorex branded Dahua OEM NVRs.

And the other OEM is the one which made your kit @bjl95mustang - thus the challenges you have finding cameras which work with your kit.
We have less information on that OEM and how to get other cameras to work with that kit.

What works with LNK7000 Series HD Security NVR?
Models: LNK71082T, LNK72163T, LNK72324T, LNK72328T

 

[Datwyl01]

So I've been using Lorex for years now since I usually get one of their black friday systems cheap. Tech support and customer service sucks tho.

My current system is a LNK7216 IP DVR. Since this last phone app update everything has been running smoothly and the DVR has been reliable.

My issue is with the cameras failing. the system came with 4 4MP cameras and I tried to add T8M cameras from Nellys to it. They work but instead of Onvif they say private. As soon as I try to change any of the camera settings they act up and I loose night IR. I also have one that is clear during the day but shows alot of static at night.

In the span of a year I have gone through 3 Lorex branded cameras that failed. These specific cameras see to be hard to come by and I'm trying to see if they are fully compatible cameras for this system or should I dump it and get something else? I also want to add a couple more cameras so with the cheapest 4k Lorex Cameras coming it at $160 on ebay I'm getting close to a new system cost.

Lorex Camera and System compatibility tool

Find all Lorex cameras and DVRs products that work with each other

www.lorextechnology.com

4K Network Video Recorder with Lorex Cirrus

A 4K (8 megapixel) NVR with FLIR Secure™ remote connectivity.

www.lorextechnology.com

I have the same NVR and am running 9 cameras. What finally worked for you?

I have 3 original cameras that are foggy at night - 1 is foggy all day. Back in November I purchased 3 new 4k cameras off of ebay but didn’t take the sellers 1yr warranty, thinking the Lorex warranty would be okay. This May 1 of those cameras went out (I noticed the IP address changed from 10 to 192 as mentioned by another person in this thread). I called Lorex who determined the camera failed but would not honor the warranty because the ebay seller was not an authorized seller. That same afternoon the other two 4k cameras failed (coincidence?) - also showing a change in IP.
I can’t afford a new system but definitely don’t want to keep buying cameras that will add up in cost.

 

[Datwyl01]

What OEM is this DVR?

I was playing with the cameras that stopped working and I finally figured out what happened on one of them. The camera randomly grabbed a completely different IP. Mine starts with 10 and the rest of the cameras are 10, but this 1 specific camera switched to 192...

I used one of the available Ip camera configurators and was able to get into the basic network settings. It was set to a static of 192. I set it to DHCP and plugged it back in and it re assigned to a 10 and started working again.

Just curious of who made this system and why only a specific camera would do that.

What IP camera configurator dis you use?