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Those look good. Pricier than the bottom-end M12 lenses, but not as bad as some; looks like the MP lenses are in the $45-70 range, with the non-MP down as low as $27. It's nice to see a vendor taking their M12 lenses seriously!

I updated my HFW3300C to the 2013-05-17 NTSC firmware, and all went well. I haven't had time to test if there's any improvement in the image or processing, but there were a few nice additions to the firmware: - Day/night configuration switching. You can set different image configs (contrast, WDR, sharpening, etc) for day and night modes, and have it switch at a given time. This is handy for reducing the trade-offs you have to make to get good images, and all d/n cameras should come with this. - WDR and HSC are now 0-100 sliders instead of weak/medium/strong settings. Dahua's WDR wasn't very good before, but this along with the config switching should help. - 90 degree CW/CCW rotation of the image is now possible, though only at 720p and below. This adds what someone called "corridor mode" recently. There are probably other improvements, but these are the ones that stuck out for me.

This does turn off the IR LEDs, but it also puts the IR filter in, so you can't use it with external IR illumination.

The PAL version of the full set of 20130517 files includes this in the readme: Supported Devices: HDB(W)3202,HFW3101C,HF3101,HFW3X00C,F728WP,HF3300,HDB(W)3300,HFW3300,HF3301,HF3500,HF3500A,HF3200,HDB3200C,HF3110,HDB(W)3110,HDB(W)3101,HFW3110,HF3100,HF3211-F,HDW2100,HD2100,HFW2100,HF2100,HFW3100,HDB3100C,HFW3(2)105(2100S),HDW3100S,HDW2105S,HDW3105S,HFW3200S,HFW3202C

There is a spec, but very few M12 lenses use it. It's the back focal length, and it specifies how far from the back edge of the lens the image will focus. You're probably hitting the IR filter housing; if you remove that, you can probably focus the lens! Different lenses will have different back focal lengths, even for the same focal length, depending on the design. It's hit and miss whether you'll find a lens that will focus in that distance. I've got a detailed post on what's up here, but it may be more than you care to know: viewtopic.php?p=222572#p222572 Most of the lenses I see that specify the back focal length and image circle are expensive ones, and I'm assuming you don't want a $200 lens for your camera. A few options: - Find someone local who sells these things and see if they have something to fit - Buy cheap ones until you get one that works - Buy from someone with a return policy The real solution is for vendors to offer extra lenses for their cameras that are guaranteed to work with them, along with the spec for what the FOV will be with the new lens. FOV calculators don't work for M12 lenses for these same reasons.

And they're back! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Avigilon-Cctv-Camera-Lens-4-12mm-Megapixel-/231013940548?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123#ht_121wt_1170

Yeah, humans are best for testing, but I don't have much luck getting my loved ones to stand around in the yard in the dark while I fiddle with cameras. Worked OK the first few times, but now they're always busy, it seems!

I recall the QSee uses port 85 by default, instead of 80, in case you haven't tried that. That's one of the differences between QSee and Dahua versions of the same cam. I also remember a post where someone tested flashing QSee firmware onto their Dahua and it worked, but when they tried to go back to the Dahua firmware, it wouldn't let them do it. I may be mis-remembering this, though.

Here's a comparison of the day vs night settings on the local forum: viewtopic.php?p=226232#p226232 The mount is similar on the 2100 and the Hik, though the Hik's no-tool adjustment is nice, if a little clunky. If it works well where you want to put it, that's great, but if it doesn't, there's no flexibility. For instance, I can't put mine directly under the eaves without blocking the FOV or losing adjustment range, so I had to mount them on the wall of the house, where they're more visible. YMMV, depending on your setup. Many cameras come with standard screw mounts that allow you to use any of a wide variety of mounts, extenders, elbows, whatever. My Vivotek and Messoa bullets are all like that, and it's very easy to tweak the mount as necessary. Panavise makes an assortment of medium priced mounts that are super flexible: http://www.panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&id1=14&startat=1&--woSECTIONSdatarq=14 The new generation of midrange Chinese cams all seem to come with the basic 3 hole mount, with no way to change it or extend it. Need it to stick out 6" further? Too bad. This is the trend now, and I wish they'd put a threaded hole in the body for those of us who want more flexibility.

Sounds good! They're not perfect, but they're my favorite value camera right now. Here's a thread I posted showing mine in a quasi-panoramic setup, with some optimizations for day/night performance trade-offs. http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=4828.0

You can't really control POE power costs, except for buying a modern one that uses low power when nothing's connected. Once you connect 10 cameras at 8W, you're looking at 80W plus whatever the conversion efficiency eats up, so 100W or more just to power the cams. Have you measured the actual consumption, or is that the max power? 170W is quite a lot unless you're running a big pile of cameras. Mine consumes quite a bit less than that with 10 cameras connected, and it's an old-school corporate 24 port switch.

You'll always see the LED light up due to the brightness of the LED at the emitter, I've found, but it'll be much brighter without the IR filter. All my cams leak some IR with the filter in. A better check is to use the remote like a flashlight. Without an IR filter, you'll see the beam spot on whatever you point it at, and you'll see little or no beam with a filter in.

Excellent! Thanks!

I don't remember seeing corridor mode on there. I have a post here where I've optimized my new quasi-panoramic setup for day and night trade-offs, and it includes using noise reduction for the night shots: http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=4828.0 I've posted a sample of the pics below. The noise reduction helps the Hik night noise a good bit. It does soften the day shots some, but they're still much sharper than the Dahua images, so I'm ok with that. I've only had this setup for a few days, and will get a better feel for it over the next week or so. Here are some of the pics for the local board. All are reduced by 50%. This is with firmware 5.0.0. Hik 3MP bullet, set for 1080p, default settings, bright daytime - it's way too dark in the shadows: WDR works well on this camera in the daytime, and brightens up the shadows, but causes trouble at night, bringing out the horizontal lines that the Hik shows when low-light images get noisy. Here's WDR=47 (what it goes to when you set 50) in the bright sun: After seeing the night images below, I reduced WDR and reduced contrast, which is what we did before WDR if the shadows were too dark. This helped the noise, and turning the noise reduction up to 100 (default is 50) cleared up more of the noise. Noise reduction softens the daytime image a little, but not as bad as the Dahua's default image. I may reduce sharpening next, as that highlights low light noise, but I'll check this out for a bit first. This is WDR=21 (what it goes to when you set 20), contrast=25, noise reduction=100. Night shot, with some local streetlights and house lights, default settings - not much noise, but too dark and no detail when there's no direct illumination: WDR=47; way too much noise: And WDR=21, contrast=25, noise reduction=100 - more details in the shadows, some noise but not too bad.

Agreed on getting the wall out of the pic. The other thing that helps is playing with WDR, contrast, and noise reduction settings. If it were me, I'd put some objects out there - a chair, some clothes, a sign or poster, a box full of stuff - and start making adjustments to see how everything comes out. Night and day adjustments are always a tradeoff, and you'll figure out what works for you soon enough.

This is a problem on many cams today. Short cables with fat connectors don't give you much flexibility. It should be a standard RJ45 cable, so you could re-make it, but then removing the camera would require cutting it again unless you put on a smaller connector that would fit through the hole. Too many times removing the camera and you'd run out of cable! I sometimes use a junction box for the cable ends, but that depends on where you mount it, again due to the short cable. The latest Hiks have a smaller, round connector that comes with a waterproof connection, and they may fit through your existing hole better, but you'd have to find someone with that specific version in stock - it doesn't appear the Costco versions are there. If it were me, I'd file the bracket and use a larger hole, but I always assume I'll have to move cameras at some point.

Heh! Yeah, that's low. Here in Silicon Valley, we have a tiered system, and anything I add is in the top tier, which is $0.336/kWh. My i5-3570k box runs 70% CPU and draws 90W, so it's costing $260/year to run just for the box. My UPS shows 120W, but it also has the POE switch and a server on it, so I'm not entirely sure I trust its readout. I'll fingerprint it more soon.

Yeah, that's what it sounds like, since this camera doesn't have IR LEDs. If there's a movable IR filter, you'll hear a click as it switches between day and night, as Buellwinkle says, and you'll also see it between the lens and sensor, with 2 wires going to it. The glued-on filter is the cheapest way of adding it. You could check by putting on a different lens to see if the daytime colors change, showing more purple where IR is strong. I have a few cams with no IR filter, and one cam I removed the fixed IR filter from, and they vary quite a lot in how much the daytime colors shift.

Heh! No need, Dahua built in a permanent back door. Best to keep your Dahuas off direct port forward! I suppose they could disable it in a new firmware release at some point. Too bad they never say what's in their releases.

No problem, I enjoy testing the different cams. Yes, the Hik 1080p FOV is the same as the 720p, just fewer pixels. You're right about the Dahua horizontal resolution; I thought it was wider, like the 3MP, but didn't check it, so that's normal. I'll update the post for that. My 2100 doesn't have WDR, and really needs it, so it's probably the older firmware. I'll update it and see how much that helps. Thanks for the corrections! I'll be pulling it apart soon to see why most of the LEDs died. I haven't heard of that happening with other 2100s, and am assuming I got a lemon. Unfortunately, no support for this one, so I'll need to try another LED board from ebay if the one in it can't be fixed.

Here are some comparisons, most of them reduced in size 50%. The Dahua is a few feet below the Hik, sitting on a ladder, and the cams are aligned so the image starts at the same point on the left: Hik at 720p, optimized for daytime shadows vs lower night noise - WDR=21, contrast=25: Dahua 2100 at 720p, default settings (no WDR on the firmware version in this cam; I'll have to update it and see if it helps): Dahua 2100 at 1.3MP - same horizontal resolution, more vertical resolution: Hik at 3MP, with the smaller FOV than the 1080p image: Finally, here's the Dahua, full size 720p, with contrast dropped to 40 to try to open up the shadows. Setting it to 25 like the Hik made it completely washed out. This image shows the softness in shadows that was the showstopper for me on the Dahua - it just turns stuff into fuzz. Even the half-size Hik images are better. The 2MP and 3MP Dahuas do the same thing. ETA: Updated for mroek's corrections.

I believe there are 2 versions - one with a lock ring, and one with a setscrew - but I haven't had mine apart for a while, and the differences between cameras gets fuzzy over time. Either way, you have to remove the IR board to get at the lock. If yours doesn't have one, you might not need to. One you've got the lock removed and Teflon tape on the threads, you can grab the lens and rotate it, either with fingers if they're not too stubby or gently with needle nose pliers.

It's not a bad idea to check the glass and lens elements for smudges or fingerprints. I had an analog cam that had haze on the back lens element that caused soft focus. This'll require taking the lens out, of course. I've posted a link to an IP8332 focus procedure below - it's a bit of a pain. If your Vivotek has a screw that locks the lens into place, these can also cause trouble, both by shifting the focus slightly as you tighten the screw, and by tilting the lens slightly when tightened. I don't see one in the procedure below, but Vivotek changed the design in that area a few times over the years, and most of mine have a screw. Whenever I take out a screw-locked lens, I leave out the screw and use a few wraps of Teflon tape on the threads to hold it in place. This holds it securely, makes it much easier to adjust (like not having to remove the IR board on the Vivotek), and there's no shift when you're done. Make sure the tape doesn't have any bits sticking out the back when screwed in. Best bet might be to re-focus so that it's the same at both edges. I like to use a Siemens star for this, as it makes it super obvious when your focus is the best it can be. Print it out and compare focus between the edges and the middle. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Siemens_star.svg/2000px-Siemens_star.svg.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_star Here's a post linking to the Vivotek re-focus procedure: http://www.forum.use-ip.co.uk/threads/how-to-adjust-the-lens-focus-of-the-vivotek-ip8332-bullet-camera.164/ So, if you want to replace the lens, that'll be trial and error. There are few specs for M12 lenses except the thread spec, so one 3.6mm lens will focus at a different number of turns than another, and that will affect the field of view. Some lenses need to be turned in far enough that they hit the IR filter assembly. You just never know until you try. These guys have had decent reviews from board users, and may have a better image overall than the original Vivotek lens, which is prone to purple fringing. http://www.m12lenses.com/M12-Mount-Mega-Pixel-Lenses-s/21.htm ETA: Sorry, I just remembered that the Vivotek has a 1/4" sensor, and the lenses at the link above are all for 1/3" sensors. They'll work, but the FOV will be different, since the image circle from the lens will extend well past the sensor edges, making the captured image a smaller FOV than the original lens. On the plus side, quality is always better in the center of the lens, so you'll get better image quality. You can use a 1/3" lens on a 1/4" sensor using the crop factor, which gives an approximate idea of the scale change. Using this setup, your crop factor would be 1.33, and you'd divide your current lens size by this to get the right size to use in 1/3". To match your 3.6mm 1/4" lens, you'd need a 2.7mm 1/3" lens. This doc has a good overview of some of the issues M12 lenses have, as well as a crop factor table: http://www.ptgrey.com/support/downloads/documents/TAN2010002_Selecting_Lens.pdf

Yeah, all of my systems use the on-CPU video currently. The 3rd and 4th gen Intel chips with HD4000 and HD4600 graphics are very good 2D performers at very low power, and even my older i3-540 box doesn't suffer from the on-CPU graphics. Adding a mid-range video card would increase my power costs by $150/year per PC and would increase the heat in the box without any improvement in performance.

On firmware 5.0.0, the Hik only has 720p, 1080p, and 3MP, so the only one that would match the 2100 directly is 720p. The 720p and 1080p are both the same FOV, so the 720p image is interpolated from the 1080p sensor capture.