Which Hikvision camera

[sparksy]

Hi, I am about to purchase 4 IP Hikvision Cameras for my home. I was originally looking at 6MP Darkfighter Turret Cameras but reading up on this I have been it appears the Darkfighter only helps with night time imaging if you have another light source or efficient light in the area the Camera is looking at. So Now am I better just buying 8MP DS-2CD2385FWD camera which doesn't support Darkfighter or should i look at the new 4MP ColorVu Cameras which has the extra light to give better night time viewing but I'm concerned that the 4MP will not give the image quality that im after compared to the 6-8MP cameras.
Any info on this would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[Dan]

Hi, I am about to purchase 4 IP Hikvision Cameras for my home. I was originally looking at 6MP Darkfighter Turret Cameras but reading up on this I have been it appears the Darkfighter only helps with night time imaging if you have another light source or efficient light in the area the Camera is looking at. So Now am I better just buying 8MP DS-2CD2385FWD camera which doesn't support Darkfighter or should i look at the new 4MP ColorVu Cameras which has the extra light to give better night time viewing but I'm concerned that the 4MP will not give the image quality that im after compared to the 6-8MP cameras.
Any info on this would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

If you are want to record colour at night then we would personally recommend a ColorVu camera, but the ColorVu cameras do require the use of their built-in floodlight to achieve the best colour images at night. If you would rather use IR at night then we would recommend either the 2365G1 or 2385G1. This YouTube video gives you a good idea of how non-Darkfighter/Powered by Darkfighter/ColorVu cameras compare in both day & night when forced to stay in Day mode. What the video doesn't show you is the difference between standard & Darkfighter when using IR, and customers who have used both have told us that there is an improvement with the new Darkfighter models. (I should also point out the G1 Darkfighter turret also have fractionally larger sensors than the old FWD turrets so they can handle low-light scenarios better)

 

[sparksy]

If you are want to record colour at night then we would personally recommend a ColorVu camera, but the ColorVu cameras do require the use of their built-in floodlight to achieve the best colour images at night. If you would rather use IR at night then we would recommend either the 2365G1 or 2385G1. This YouTube video gives you a good idea of how non-Darkfighter/Powered by Darkfighter/ColorVu cameras compare in both day & night when forced to stay in Day mode. What the video doesn't show you is the difference between standard & Darkfighter when using IR, and customers who have used both have told us that there is an improvement with the new Darkfighter models. (I should also point out the G1 Darkfighter turret also have fractionally larger sensors than the old FWD turrets so they can handle low-light scenarios better)

Cheers Dan for your response to this and thanks for the info you have given me. I have seen that video clip before but never realised they didn't have the IR on with the the Cameras. I think I will go for the 2365G1 because I'm not sure I want the LED coming on all the time for nighttime recording. I don't need to be looking to far away with the Cameras so hoping the 6MP will be enough for my needs. Cheers

 

[gp116126]

Good evening Dan

This post is really interesting to me as I have been toying iwth replacing my current 2365G1 camera with the 2347G1 Colorvu. I have external street lighting and PIR lighting in the area that the 2365 covers but want to deal with a dark patch that is not lit unless the PIR lighting comes on. At the same time I can use the 2365 elsewhere so its win win, or so I thought.

An image of the area is attached with the dark patch shown mid to bottom right, covering half of the car. I was hoping the Colorvu would lighten this area up without the need to have its integral light on, as I do not want to annoy the neighbours too much.

I also now realise that the Colorvu does not have IR and I believe, though would be grateful if you could confirm that the integral light comes on when the lighting reaches a certain level and does not independently react to movement.

Your thoughts would be welcome and appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Dan]

Hi @gp116126

The ColorVu cameras do not have IR and you are correct that the White visible LED floodlight takes the place of the IR LED and will stay on all the time when it is dark enough for the camera to use it. (the time period the white LED is on at night is shorter than the traditional IR LEDs as the camera can go to much lower LUX levels before the LED is triggered)

As I say above the Hardware of the ColorVu cameras has been tweaked with a different sensor and wider aperture to achieve more detail in low-light (see Hikvision EasyIP 4.0 brochure for more details - p10-11), so it is possible that you will see more detail in that dark spot.

It is also possible to turn the supplement light off and just relay on the light already in the scene. (e.g. street lights/PIR lights) I would also look at adjusting some of the 2365G1 image settings, like exposure, shutter speed, and WDR, before you take it down as you may be able to get some improvement from the camera you already have.

 

[gp116126]

Thanks a lot Dan

As you say sensor size is larger on the colourvu, as also is the standard aperture F1.0 as opposed to F1.6. I note the difference in minimum lux levels for colour vision also. So as you say there should be more light coming into the Colourvu camera that would help.

I will also try the settings on the Darkfighter.

One further question however. The lux spec is shown with (AGC on). What is AGC?

Thanks again

 

[Dan]

AGC is Automatic Gain Control, this is a setting that automatically adjusts the sensitivity of the camera's sensors to capture as much detail in low light as possible, but too much gain being applied can have an adverse effect on picture quality as it does increase the noise you see on the picture.

I wouldn't take LUX as hard fact simply because there is no universal standard for LUX, so each manufacturer does their own tests and define their own lowest LUX levels. This can mean that one manufacture sets there LUX level based on the smallest glimpse of something being visible and another may base it on when a person is actually visible. The resolution, sensor size, aperture, and any other image improvement tech like Darkfighter are the features you should focus on.