Hikvision ColorVu CCTV - Will I be swapping my 8mp powered by darkfighter?

Hikvision ColorVu CCTV - Will I be swapping my 8mp powered by darkfighter?

After numerous comments and messages with people messaging saying I should swap my cameras for ColorVu.

This videos explains my thoughts.

Tools used in this video can be found on the DIY Journey Amazon Storefront:

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[desmondmcintosh]

Good honest no nonsense appraisal without annoying music in the background. Thumbs up.

[MANUTDFORLIFE]

Great video. I am an installer who has installed both and totally agree with you.

[ppdolina]

I agree with 4MP cams being the minimum as anything lower would make face and number plate ID near impossible when you crop in. Thanks for your SWOT analysis on the ColorVu. I hope 8MP cams will one day cost £68

[bragonletendre]

Nice Video! Not too long, with clear and honest explanation!
I thought IR would be the right solution - same case than you, full black mode, but was hesitating with colorvu.
really happy you made this vid! It helps me to pick the right one! 🙂

[chrissmith]

Thank you, this is very helpful as I have been looking at the ColorVu as an alternative to an 8mp

[kinggeneral]

Thanks for the review. I took your advice buy the best you can afford, I bought two 4 mp for the rear and two 8mp for the front.

[jamiemundy]

Good video Rob. Agree that a well placed floodlight and camera will overpower ColorVu, but appreciate that it’s not always possible.

[aries]

Informative review. As you alluded to, I think it's very situation specific. I'm in a busy street and I've got a fair amount of ambient light, so much that I don't even need the built in LED (I have it triggered just for the visual deterrent). The guy that sold me it recommended a bright flood light but I think my neighbours would have not been happy so that's why I went for the 4MP Colorvu. I'm thinking of replacing it for a 8MP Colorvu because I'd like the extra resolution for zooming in on number plates. The 4MP is just not always able to pick up plates.

[zerobow]

Nice one, the problem is the stock 1/12 shuttered image "looks nice" at night but you need 1/100 or so to grab people moving. I use 4mp DF cams and use motion detect lights which is a good combo. I used to use IR & IR floods etc but colour is where its at.

[DbleWinners]

Thank you for the video! I’ve got a colourvu but do want to also add some additional lighting for the house!

[bal]

Thank you for the great video. Very informative...Decisions.. decisions. Still trying to decide on either the 8MP Colorvu bullet or the 8MP Powered by Darkfighter.

[robertrosenberg]

Sorry to disagree (I always like your videos). I bought one of the gen2 colorvus when they came out before christmas. I back onto a huge park and installed it on a plinth facing out into the park. I have it on low illumination mode having watched one of Dave's vids and it is stunning. No LED on - must just be the aperture built in. My wife and kids cannot believe on playback at midnight that i'm not cheating but the video looks as though it was filmed on a cloudy normal day not the middle of the night. Obviously no lights on in the park - honestly I am amazed at the image - happy to share it with you. I couple it with a 8MP turret with the strobe light and warning sound which is on the back of my house like yours is and I like the deterrent of that. Its important to put the correct cameras in the right place of course. But please think again about the colorvu - I was blown away after playing with the settings

[jorgeluisgonzalezt.]

Very helpful information. Thanks for uploading content like this.

[TomsManShed]

Hi Rob...nice review...I have Colourvu cams and love them...like you say it depends on individual requirements. I have security lights as well front and back but not on the shared drive I have ...having one there being triggered by cats/dogs/foxes etc (yes we have recently seemed to acquire a regular basil brush visitor at night :) ) would shine straight in the neighbors bedroom window.

So I have the LED on the Colorvu just to come on when triggered by motion...this is a new option on the latest firmware (as of March 2021) but only for the G2 a very worthwhile addition as you can also set motion triggering zones, min and max size etc for the LEDS WITHIN the main recording triggering zone.

You can't unfortunately set the LED brightness if using this function though...but after experimenting I found that in my particular case covering one of the LEDS with tape got the brightness just perfect to record face details very well of anyone walking up the drive but not trigger them with animals as I have set the min size to be bigger than a low in height critter.

I did a review of the new firmware features on my channel...as you probably know DVS (who you mentioned) also showed the firmware in a vid when it was in Beta but it is now released publicly so like I say a worthwhile upgrade

[NICK-jkuv]

Another great video, thanks for your point if view in them. Id be in a situation to have them at the colourvu at the front and the 8mp round the back...

[anelectrician]

Excellent Upload !
I agree with your choice !

[IJ_uk]

Also, cameras seem to have a low shutter speed set as default so it allows better images at night. But movement can be blurred. I've played around with the shutter speed and intensity of the IR light.

[moogs]

Thank you for providing this. Hikvision makes this very hard to interpret. I dont want to have little white lights on all around my house. I want good IR with the option to have it come on on detection, but have a great night IR image mostly under low lux. DS-2CD2387G2H-LIU is the only model I can find that does all of this with audio.

[boigoe]

I totally agree.... I bought a hikvision ip system 8 cameras (2cd2385 g1) for my shop and its awesome...my outdoor cameras are colour due to street lamps giving out 8mp at the same time...as for the indoor cameras in pitch blackness they are supers...excellent black and whites

[anonymous]

So just to clarify:

If there is ambient light / flood light then colourvu would be ideal, but if pitch black darkness then infrared led?