Blue Iris

I am planning to install 5 cameras with BI and would like to get some camera recommendations. My priority is best nightvision. In terms of resolution, is 4K a necessity or 1080p is sufficient?

Thanks in advance for the time and effort.

Cameras with better night vision tend to have a bit fewer pixels that those with lower quality night vision. You can find cheaper 8k cameras out there now but their night vision is likely not up to snuff.

I have the older Dahua Turret cameras and am very happy with them. I can create a temp account on my BI instance so that you can check them out and compare.

Maybe someone else can create an account for you and let you check out their cameras. Or maybe I can post a full quality video of a night scene to YouTube.

I have heard that Turret cameras are less susceptible to spider webs and they don't have any IR reflections. I've not had any problems with my Turrets.

HeneryH wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 3:46 pm Cameras with better night vision tend to have a bit fewer pixels that those with lower quality night vision. You can find cheaper 8k cameras out there now but their night vision is likely not up to snuff.

I have the older Dahua Turret cameras and am very happy with them. I can create a temp account on my BI instance so that you can check them out and compare.

Maybe someone else can create an account for you and let you check out their cameras. Or maybe I can post a full quality video of a night scene to YouTube.

I have heard that Turret cameras are less susceptible to spider webs and they don't have any IR reflections. I've not had any problems with my Turrets.

Thanks for the offer to help. I believe Dahua and Hikvision are widely preferred brands in this forum. Would you be able to link any good models from those?

I'll try to pull together the latest lineup and references.

There will be:

Same 2M sensor on each of these below but with different features:

• Fixed focal length

• Variable optical zoom

• Variable optical zoom with sound

• Maybe other types of features add on

Dahua now has 4M sensors but I would have to check on their night vision capability, they were originally noticeably worse night performance.

HeneryH wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:19 pm I'll try to pull together the latest lineup and references.

There will be:

Same 2M sensor on each of these below but with different features:

• Fixed focal length

• Variable optical zoom

• Variable optical zoom with sound

• Maybe other types of features add on

Dahua now has 4M sensors but I would have to check on their night vision capability, they were originally noticeably worse night performance.

Thank you very much

Wondering if you had a chance to look at the cameras

I'm sorry. The model numbers have all changed and I have to do some more research to get familiar with them.

photocrazy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:17 am I am planning to install 5 cameras with BI and would like to get some camera recommendations. My priority is best nightvision. In terms of resolution, is 4K a necessity or 1080p is sufficient?

If nightvision is a priority, I would go with the Dahua Starlight series. Dahua places the "Starlight" name on cameras that have a .009 LUX rating or lower. I have been told the Dahua Technology Pro Series N52BF3Z 5MP Outdoor Network Bullet Camera has fantastic nightvision. If $$$ are an issue, you can't go wrong with a Dahua 2MP Starlight bullet or turret.

I for one would not recommend Amcrest. I've has (2) 2M wireless cameras for about 4 years now and honestly I've never been able to keep them online for more than 2 weeks at a time EVER! I have to cycle power on the camera sometimes every day, sometimes once a week, but never less frequent that once every 2 weeks. They've been like that since new, I've had numerous chats with their tech support since new and no resolution. About a week after the warranty ran out one crapped out all together, Amcrest wouldn't replace it. I've read many others that had the same issue and most never got a resolution.

I've got friends with cameras that cost half as much and they are rock solid. I have the cameras set to reset themselves if they go off line, sometimes that works about half of the time, but still never exceeds the 2 week maximum uptime. These are security cameras that can't be trusted. Now my brother and his employer has some, that's why I bought mine, theirs work just fine.

My line of sight wireless distance is about 15', so interference isn't the issue.

UPDATE.. I still stand by my reported issues other than the camera that completely crapped out. Turns out that somehow I configured my wired and my wireless IP the same. When you do that, wired always wins. Once I fixed that, my "dead" camera came back to life.... operator error! As far as power issues, I installed GOSUND WIFI plugs and I cycle power twice a day on every Amcrest camera. I still get an occasional offline issue, but its way better that it was.

reddawg wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:04 pm

photocrazy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:17 am I am planning to install 5 cameras with BI and would like to get some camera recommendations. My priority is best nightvision. In terms of resolution, is 4K a necessity or 1080p is sufficient?

If nightvision is a priority, I would go with the Dahua Starlight series. Dahua places the "Starlight" name on cameras that have a .009 LUX rating or lower. I have been told the Dahua Technology Pro Series N52BF3Z 5MP Outdoor Network Bullet Camera has fantastic nightvision. If $$$ are an issue, you can't go wrong with a Dahua 2MP Starlight bullet or turret.

I checked the prices for that model and it is on the expensive side. Since I need 5 cameras, I am looking on a cheaper pricepoint. That is why I am willing to settle for 1080P