Review- EmpireTech IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 4mp Varifocal Turret

[Björn0815]

That camera is awesome, you definitely didn’t make a mistake but it does need more attention illumination for where you have it aimed. I would turn off the camera IR and use an external illuminator because it will keep the bugs off the camera and greatly improve your nighttime viewing.

Thanks for the hint. What kind or model of external illumination would you recommend ? Maybe I will have at least a look at it.

 

[Chokolinho]

Thanks for the hint. What kind or model of external illumination would you recommend ? Maybe I will have at least a look at it.

https://www.amazon.de/Univivi-Beleuchter-Reichweite-90-Grad-Weitwinkel-Infrarot-Flutlicht-Sicherheitskamera/dp/B0CTQ8C73Q?crid=3K0EP2381RDTV&sprefix=ir%2Billuminator%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-56&th=1

 

[MTL4]

Thanks for the hint. What kind or model of external illumination would you recommend ? Maybe I will have at least a look at it.

I use this one with mine and it makes a huge difference in how far I can see and also prevents IR image washout from hitting nearby objects like gutters, downpipes, etc. I have heard of the power supplies on them occasionally going bad but I replaced mine with an LED power supply and hardwired them. It's a must have upgrade for nighttime viewing on a larger back yard IMHO.

https://www.amazon.com/Tendelux-Illuminator-Infrared-Security-Adapter/dp/B09FQB2K78?th=1

 

[CamCrazy]

Thank you very much for your reply's @wittaj @CamCrazy

@CamCrazy I’d say that’s only because of the configuration view in the web interface – the image actually looks better in reality (see attachment).
Okay, but I think the main problem is that you can’t first mount the junction box and then attach the camera on top. You kind of have to do everything in one go because the shape of the turret camera blocks the screws of the box cover. I think that’s not the case with the base of a bullet camera, which makes installation easier.

Sorry, I can see that looks fine on the normal image output. It is a very large overview, light will always be required for that, suspect you will need some very beefy IR to cover properly. Similarly with floodlight you would be looking 6000-10000+ lumens, unless you slow the shutter speed down and accept some motion blur.

Yes indeed, that junction box might as well have been designed by Rubik! quite the puzzle to construct, there is a sort of art to it, even then not ideal. Just wait until you install one and forget one of the layers - been there and done that, you only make the mistake once.

 

[JPmedia]

You could also test with the camera mounted to a junction as that would increase the distance from the soffit. I would also experiment with moving the camera location as close as possible to the outside edge of the soffit. Those 2 things should help make a significant improvement

 

[alekk]

I use this one with mine and it makes a huge difference in how far I can see and also prevents IR image washout from hitting nearby objects like gutters, downpipes, etc. I have heard of the power supplies on them occasionally going bad but I replaced mine with an LED power supply and hardwired them. It's a must have upgrade for nighttime viewing on a larger back yard IMHO.

https://www.amazon.com/Tendelux-Illuminator-Infrared-Security-Adapter/dp/B09FQB2K78?th=1

Ditto what @MTL4 said - I have the smaller version of this and it's GREAT!

 

[MTL4]

Ditto what @MTL4 said - I have the smaller version of this and it's GREAT!

I actually use both. The smaller DI10 one for areas where I need more focused light and the larger DI20 one when I need to project alot over a bigger area.

 

[alekk]

I believe the field-of-view is basically the same for both - right?

I've debated getting the bigger DI20 ... I don't expect it to turn night into day (in the IR spectrum) ... but in your experience, is it a LOT more that ends up making a significant difference?

 

[Keizer]

Thanks for the hint. What kind or model of external illumination would you recommend ? Maybe I will have at least a look at it.

Tendelux user here also with my T54IR-ZE-S3 cams. Be careful the Tendelux units pack a punch and you can get hot spots if you over do it.

Here's a shot of one of my cams.

 

[MTL4]

I believe the field-of-view is basically the same for both - right?

I've debated getting the bigger DI20 ... I don't expect it to turn night into day (in the IR spectrum) ... but in your experience, is it a LOT more that ends up making a significant difference?

It really depends on how big the area is your trying to illuminate. If you have a large back yard and the treeline is 60-100ft away then I would definitely go with the DI20. A smaller urban or suburban property might do better with the Dl10 since most of what you're trying to capture isn't that far from the house but again it really depends on what you're trying to do. Both the Dl10 and the Dl20 have the same 90 degree light projection but one has twice the power of the other so the Dl20 definitely projects alot further (the cone of light is also alot larger the further you go out). The IR light cone is brightest in the center and fades off a bit towards the sides so you want to make sure the areas you want to illuminate have some overlap at the edges so there's no IR dark spots. Post up a pic of what you're trying to illuminate and we can certainly give you some suggestions if that would help.

 

[alekk]

Here's a pic just after I installed the DI10 ... the middle of the driveway is about 50 feet away from the camera ... so while this is lit up decently (albeit slow shutter speed with lots of gain/NR - still fiddling with the 5442-S3), more light is always better.

I don't "really" need to light up the other side of the street (100+ feet away) ... and in trying to do so, you can blow out the foreground - it's all about balancing the light, inverse square law, etc.

I see the light falloff on the edges (although impressive that it's not that much - IR illuminator is on right side roofline, so the left side is further distant) so I could put a 2nd DI10 (located on the left) to "help" with the left side and add overall light. Or replace the DI10 with a DI20 and presumably get a similar scene, but be able to go with faster shutter and less gain/NR. Or LOL do that ... and reposition the DI10 to "help" on the left! ;-)

Note there is also the WAF - Wife Acceptance Factor - not sure how she would feel about multiple illuminators on the side of the house. Obviously visible during the day ... and at night, those red lights are (slightly) seeable from the sidewalk.

What 'ya think?

 

[MTL4]

Here's a pic just after I installed the DI10 ... the middle of the driveway is about 50 feet away from the camera ... so while this is lit up decently (albeit slow shutter speed with lots of gain/NR - still fiddling with the 5442-S3), more light is always better.

I don't "really" need to light up the other side of the street (100+ feet away) ... and in trying to do so, you can blow out the foreground - it's all about balancing the light, inverse square law, etc.

I see the light falloff on the edges (although impressive that it's not that much - IR illuminator is on right side roofline, so the left side is further distant) so I could put a 2nd DI10 (located on the left) to "help" with the left side and add overall light. Or replace the DI10 with a DI20 and presumably get a similar scene, but be able to go with faster shutter and less gain/NR. Or LOL do that ... and reposition the DI10 to "help" on the left! ;-)

Note there is also the WAF - Wife Acceptance Factor - not sure how she would feel about multiple illuminators on the side of the house. Obviously visible during the day ... and at night, those red lights are (slightly) seeable from the sidewalk.

What 'ya think?

That's pretty much the perfect situation for a Dl10 IMHO. The Dl20 would definitely light up those trees on the other side of the street but you'll likely get some white washing of images in the foreground (especially reflection off the 2 trees in the yard on the left and right). I'd say it looks good and to stay with what you got unless you think there's something you're missing.

 

[wittaj]

Here's a pic just after I installed the DI10 ... the middle of the driveway is about 50 feet away from the camera ... so while this is lit up decently (albeit slow shutter speed with lots of gain/NR - still fiddling with the 5442-S3), more light is always better.

I don't "really" need to light up the other side of the street (100+ feet away) ... and in trying to do so, you can blow out the foreground - it's all about balancing the light, inverse square law, etc.

I see the light falloff on the edges (although impressive that it's not that much - IR illuminator is on right side roofline, so the left side is further distant) so I could put a 2nd DI10 (located on the left) to "help" with the left side and add overall light. Or replace the DI10 with a DI20 and presumably get a similar scene, but be able to go with faster shutter and less gain/NR. Or LOL do that ... and reposition the DI10 to "help" on the left! ;-)

Note there is also the WAF - Wife Acceptance Factor - not sure how she would feel about multiple illuminators on the side of the house. Obviously visible during the day ... and at night, those red lights are (slightly) seeable from the sidewalk.

What 'ya think?

View attachment 233788

A comparison on and off with say a 1/120 shutter would be helpful.

Personally, I never saw much of an improvement with these. I have 4 bought over different time periods and they just never seemed to be enough once I sped the shutter up, or maybe I was expecting too much.

 

[bigredfish]

A comparison on and off with say a 1/120 shutter would be helpful.

Personally, I never saw much of an improvement with these. I have 4 bought over different time periods and they just never seemed to be enough once I sped the shutter up, or maybe I was expecting too much.

This

Ive had good luck with the 200ft one though

 

[CCTVCam]

Hello everyone,

I recently replaced a Hikvision DS-2CD2185FWD-I with an IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3, hoping it would perform better at night. Unfortunately, I made the beginner’s mistake of focusing too much on megapixels and not enough on other factors. As we all know, more megapixels are not always the solution—especially in my case, where the area is completely dark.
That said, the overall result is better than before, and I no longer have the annoying reflections I used to get with the Hikvision dome camera.

My question now is: is there anything else I can do to improve the illumination on the left and right sides, or would I need additional external IR illuminators? There is already a motion-activated spotlight on the wall (not active in my screenshot), but I’m still curious whether there’s anything I can tweak in the camera settings themselves.

I’ve tried both manual and automatic settings for the built-in illuminator, but they don’t seem to make much difference. At the moment, I have the exposure set to 1/100, which seems like a good compromise: I can still recognize people walking past the camera at night, and the image doesn’t get too dark.

As for the junction box, I personally think the DH-PFA130-E is poorly designed. It’s quite fiddly to work with, because you have to hold the camera “ball” in position with one hand right until the end while tightening the cover with the other. Only then can you screw the camera onto the lid of the junction box, since the camera itself covers the junction box screws. Apart from that, though, the camera is definitely an improvement over the previous one.

I’m also thinking about installing an EmpireTech PTZ6C4G-45X or an EmpireTech PTZ6C2M-45X on the right-hand side under the eaves, so that I can zoom in on different areas. If I’ve understood correctly, these models are supposed to perform very well even in complete darkness, right?

The camera is also mounted too high. It's fine if an over view is your aim. However if you want facial shots, you want it around 7ft.

 

[MTL4]

The comments on the additional IR illumination are really interesting and it shows how each person might be using their camera systems differently. So for instance in my case I have a huge back yard I need to light up at night (there is zero street lights where we live) but my camera system is essentially used as an overview (ex how much snow fell, are there bears/moose/skunks outside, where’s the dogs or which one destroyed the newspaper flyers this time, what time did the kids get home, etc). We don’t need to worry about package thieves or trying to ID the meth head that broke into the car. So it really does depend alot on what exactly you’re doing with it. Just an observation for @alekk to consider anyway when deciding what IR lighting and camera placement is best.

 

[camdensnyder]

Here's a pic just after I installed the DI10 ... the middle of the driveway is about 50 feet away from the camera ... so while this is lit up decently (albeit slow shutter speed with lots of gain/NR - still fiddling with the 5442-S3), more light is always better.

I don't "really" need to light up the other side of the street (100+ feet away) ... and in trying to do so, you can blow out the foreground - it's all about balancing the light, inverse square law, etc.

I see the light falloff on the edges (although impressive that it's not that much - IR illuminator is on right side roofline, so the left side is further distant) so I could put a 2nd DI10 (located on the left) to "help" with the left side and add overall light. Or replace the DI10 with a DI20 and presumably get a similar scene, but be able to go with faster shutter and less gain/NR. Or LOL do that ... and reposition the DI10 to "help" on the left! ;-)

Note there is also the WAF - Wife Acceptance Factor - not sure how she would feel about multiple illuminators on the side of the house. Obviously visible during the day ... and at night, those red lights are (slightly) seeable from the sidewalk.

What 'ya think?

View attachment 233788

Where do you mount the IR booster in relationship to the camera?

 

[Björn0815]

I have 11 5442 S3s and viewing all cams in the browser using UI3, I see pulsing about every 5 seconds or so. When I click to view an individual camera, no pulsing since it's using the main stream via direct view.

Substream settings...
View attachment 197911

I have also these "pulsing" / "breathing" every 7-10 seconds despite the following settings :-(

 

[Björn0815]

The camera is also mounted too high. It's fine if an over view is your aim. However if you want facial shots, you want it around 7ft.

Yes, its a bit to high (+-9 feet) but I use it a bit for both purposes

 

[Keizer]

Where do you mount the IR booster in relationship to the camera?

I only have experience with the Tendelux IR units so keep that in mind with what I tell you. I have found that the Tendelux units create a hotspot no matter how you mount the darn things. So what I did was install the camera where I wanted it, and then install the IR unit behind/before the camera so any hot spot is out of view of the camera. The Tendelux units provide plenty of IR further out beyond the hot spot they can produce so have your camera aiming out past the hot spot.

Here's a quick sketch to illustrate.