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Upgrade time, Colorvu vs Darkfighter?

DrPhilG

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I have a HiWatch NVR and 7 cameras (well 6 currently as one is on the blink). I have these at the minute:
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Quality has never been great and I'm wondering if it's possible to get much better, or if my layout is just too difficult. I'm rural, with little or no ambient light unless there's a bright moon. Fairly wide back yard, and even wider front drive with about 25-30m from the house to the gate. These cameras were all cleaned just before these screenshots were grabbed from the app.

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I've been looking at the Darkfighter, and the Colorvu, both by Hikvision. I know that the Colorvu has an LED rather than just IR but for 1 thing, I'm not keen on lighting up the front of the house permanently. I'd prefer the cameras to be subtle. Out the back (3 cameras) no problem but the 4 at the side/front, not so good. Also not sure how effective the led would be anyway pointing down the driveway.

Also suggestions on where to buy. I'm told that a lot of the stuff you can get on Amazon or eBay are grey imports and can't be trusted for quality. Any recommendations?
 
@DrPhilG my Colorvu camera (DS-2CD2347G1-LU) is not overly bright. From seeing your pictures you would benefit from a Colorvu camera. Take advantage of the Use-IP 14 day try before you buy offer.

For me the light from the camera acts as a deterrent and you get a good colour image 24/7. To the naked eye the attached image below is very dim but the low light capabilities of the colorvu and supplemental white light brighten the image. in the next few days I am going to replace my old IR camera with another Colorvu to cover the front garden, cars and driveway.

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Thanks David. I'd happily put the Colorvu on the back of the house, but I don't want the front of the house to have bright LEDs. I know they're a deterrent but I don't want the place to look like a compound either!
 
Thanks David. I'd happily put the Colorvu on the back of the house, but I don't want the front of the house to have bright LEDs. I know they're a deterrent but I don't want the place to look like a compound either!
Point taken, the led light level can be adjusted to optimise the view. Sadly we’ve had the odd opportunistic thieves approach our property so need an obvious deterrent.
 
Don't suppose the led can be motion activated?
I've seen a youtube video where you can do that, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do it.
I get a bit of light from streetlights abut 30m away so I very rarely see my lights ever come on, I have the colorvu G2 4MP ones
 
Who is the best supplier to buy from? I'm an end user doing a home install and they're all trade only.

I'm thinking of getting a 4mp Colorvu and a 4mp Darkfighter to compare at different spots around the house and see what works best before upgrading them all.
 
i believe use-ip do a a 14 day try before you buy where you can try the camera out first, and if it's no good then they take it back
 
Interesting...

I'd love to buy one of each to see what suits my different areas best and then return what I don't keep.
 
I’m a diyer and use-ip supplied me.
Hikvision do not support selling to DIYers since around 2017. There is a post on here that talks about it. I ecpect, any company selling directly and OPENLY would be risking sanctions, or removal of support.
 
I've seen a youtube video where you can do that, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do it.
The Video I think you are referring to is from AUS and related to AUS variant of the camera. I think there is a post on here that confirms UK variants do not have that option.
 
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ColouVU over Powered by Darkfighter anyday. Lighting a scene doesn't just give colour it enables the camera to capture more detail than it would from motion images in dark conditions. Without light the camera has to have a wide slow shutter speed which causes motion blur.
 
First Image is colorvu and second is darkfighter. Could do some tweaking to the second image but i prefer colorvu for all round quality. 4K versions coming soon according to this Forum.

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She who must be obeyed has ruled out the Colorvu LEDs.

So the question is, what gives the best quality - Colorvu with the LEDs off, or Darkvision?
 
Hi @DrPhilG

This YouTube video shows you a comparison of a G2 ColorVu camera and an 8MP Darkfighter AcuSense camera.

Also, at the 22:35 mark in that video, you will see an explanation of how to set up the ColorVu light to be triggered by Smart Event.
 
Hikvision do not support selling to DIYers since around 2017. There is a post on here that talks about it. I ecpect, any company selling directly and OPENLY would be risking sanctions, or removal of support.
I did not know that, I can understand why they did it.
 
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