dahua hfw2100 night vision

[ayryq 0]

I finally got my first IP camera installed yesterday, mounted on my garage facing my backyard. It's a Dahua IPC-HFW2100.

Here's a picture from just now:

And here's an image from last night:

 

They advertise 20m night vision. It's 45 feet from my garage to the fence, so maybe 60 feet on the diagonal where I've aimed the camera. But I did expect to be able to see the toy in the foreground.

 

Playing with a tablet out in the yard I was able to see myself illuminated if I stood in front of the camera, and the IR LEDs are glowing red, so they're on.

Is this night-time performance "normal" or should I expect better?

 

(I hit the "default" button on the web interface but I won't be able to see if that changes anything until tonight.)

 

Thanks,

Eric

[rayt 0]

something is wrong if this is all you see. possibly defective something

[grege 0]

Did you walk out and make sure your IR was on?

[rayt 0]

actually, i believe the problem you have is the ir filter not engaging, give the camera a light tap and see if it turns that on

 

i believe this is/was a common problem with the hfw2100

[buellwinkle 0]

The IR cut filter is stuck. Some people have used a magnet to shake it lose. What I've done in the past is shake the camera while switching from day to night mode on the web interface.

[ayryq 0]

Well, shaking and magnets didn't help. I emailed the seller - this is still new - and he asked me to try a shorter cable from my POE switch, and to try a power adapter instead of POE. So I'll see tonight if I can find a matching power adapter in my big box o' old transformers. Has anyone run into trouble with underpowered POE?

[lowpro 0]

You can also try turning the camera upside down. I also had the same problem and had to send the camera back to get it swapped out.

[luckyfella 0]

I had the same exact issue and it was one of 6 cameras all on the same POE switch. The camera in issue was not the longest run. My seller sent me a new one, I swapped out the camera, and it's been fine ever since. Do not listen to your seller, you have

a bad camera and it needs to be replaced.

[ayryq 0]

To be fair to the seller, I'm as interested in sending the camera back as he is - i.e. not very - so I offered to try some troubleshooting before I did that. The problem is I cannot do much troubleshooting as I have no other POE supplies to swap, nor any other POE cameras to test on my switch. Too few data points. I will try a shorter cord tonight and if that doesn't help, we'll have to swap it.

 

I wonder what percentage of 2100s have this problem.

[ayryq 0]

So, tonight, following the seller's suggestions I unscrewed the camera from where I had it mounted, unplugged it, brought it into the garage and hammered a nail through one of the mounting holes. I hooked it up with a 1ft CAT-6 patch cord to a different port in the POE switch.

 

When the sun set, my garage was fully visible on the camera, and a license plate on the far wall was glowing brightly.

 

I doubted that the problem was the wire, so I moved it back to the back yard and hooked it up. Well, all the movement must have unstuck something, because now the night-vision works great. I can switch back and forth between day and night mode, so (as far as I can tell) the IR filter isn't just stuck "off" now.

 

So here's the $168 question: now that it's working, will it continue to work? I.e., was the stuck IR filter a problem just because it was new, and now it'll be fine indefinitely? Can those of you who succeeded with the bashing, magnetizing, and shaking confirm that your camera is still working?

 

Oh, here's a picture of the backyard now. Looks like I may need to clean the front after all the handling today:

[jmcu 0]

I did the smacking, magnet, shaking to get my IR filter unstuck on my cam about 2 months ago. It worked great. About 2 weeks ago, I have no night vision. Tried to free it up again and couldn't get it to come back on.

It wasn't a 2100, but same issue...

[lowpro 0]

Mine would work for a few days and then get stuck again. The replacement that I received hasn't had an issue.

[buellwinkle 0]

I would send it back, sounds like it's going to happen again, why wait for the warranty to end.

[ceksenior 0]

For what its worth. Both my hfw2100's exhibited this same problem when I had day and night set to auto.

 

Once I updated to the Software Version 2.210.0000.0.R, build : 2013-03-13 which had the new config file upgrade to set parameters seperately for day and night, I was able to force camera into night mode on a set schedule. This completely eleminated the issue.

 

I know some people want it to work automatically when it gets dark. But this has worked for me. They are quirky cameras, and definately have there issues.

 

This comment might burn me in the end but Its how I see it. It's a love hate relationship with these cameras. Kinda like Marriage...

[ayryq 0]

Well, I have in writing from the seller that there is a one year warranty from him. I guess if it makes it through without "sticking" until next July 31 I can expect that it's fixed, and if it happens again in the next year, even once, I'll plan on sending it back.

 

By the way, the Amazon seller, DSC Technology, has been good to work with and I would certainly not hesitate to purchase from them again based on this experience.

 

Eric