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Huh. They never said that to me after I told them the cameras didn't work several times. Maybe because I wanted to trade them in for a different model. Now that I want to return them, they are Ghosts like the Deer!

Don't need good luck with the AG though... Companies are TERRIFIED of the AG. They can crush a company like a Bug, and from my experiences, it seems that they like their work.
 
HAHA that bad huh? I went with Reolink because I could use my Computer to view (Before I knew what Blue Iris was)... AND... I emailed Lorex questions because I could just get them at Costco. Lorex took a Month to get back to me and didn't have a record of my questions.

So, just because me Caveman and need to be sure, punch a hole in wall and run ethernet from camera down to powerline adapter and that's it, right?

That is like POE only cheating?
 
Many get burned by the Reolink - they have great marketing and tend to be responsive....until the return window closes.

Lorex or any other customer service 1-800 number is sadly someone that doesn't even know the product going down a checklist. We help way more people here than those that call those numbers.

Ask your questions here and you will get a response that isn't from some checklist LOL.

Yeah powerline is like POE but cheating LOL. But it beats wifi any day of the week. It does add another fail points, so it shouldn't be looked at as the clear answer, but sometimes we have that pesky spot that getting POE to is just too much effort and this is easy.

I started with wifi cams, then moved to analog, and now IP cams. Have a spot that I said oh use a powerline until I get the time to run ethernet. 8 years later or whatever it is and still going.

Powerline adapter works great for the temp cameras that go out with holiday decorations as well.
 
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You have helped more in a couple of hours than the entirety of me wanting and owning cameras. Reolink is okay in responses until they know you reach the point where the things are Bricks. Then they back off.

All that said, I'm just dumb enough (Hello... Said Caveman) and Stubborn enough to try Reolink again... Their RLC823S2 looks insane with 16X Zoom.

Even though they spell it wrong twice on the page...

Reollink RLC-823S2​


I have the Altas PT Ultra's, and it drives me crazy how horrific they are, but again... The RLC823S2 looks insane.
 
They sell you on static images at default settings.

You need faster shutters at night than the default 1/12 or slower if you expect to get ID quality images.

Reolinks suffer from firmware designed to provide a bright static image in low light conditions. But that comes at the expense of not getting clear captures at night.

Reolink gets lots of ghosting and blurring, and sometimes the invisible man LOL.

If all you care about is to look around, then probably ok. But if you plan to be able to use them in the event something happens and you need to get the police involved, think again....


What you mean a missing hand isn't normal LOL :lmao: (plus look at the blur on the face and he is barely moving and this should be ideal indoor IR bounce and it struggles):

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How about missing everything but the head and upper torso :lmao:

The invisible man, where can he be. Thank goodness he is carrying around a reflective plate to see where he is LOL (hint - the person is literally in the middle of the image at the end of the fence holding a rectangular reflective piece of metal)

I've seen better images on an episode of ghost hunters :lmao:


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And of course, this is an example from Reolink's marketing videos - do you see a person in this picture...yes, there is a person in this picture.... Could this provide anything useful for the police other than the date and time something happened? Would this protect your property? The still picture looks great though except for the person and the blur of the vehicle... Will give you a hint - the person is in between the two visible columns:

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Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watcha gonna do
Watcha gonna do
When the camera can't see you


Here is the unofficial Reolink thread.

You can see all the attempts people have provided to demonstrate the quality of Reolink, and they are all a blurry mess at night or missing body parts or other messes.

We have challenged someone to provide a clean capture of someone moving at night with a Reolink and as you can see with over 20 pages, nobody has yet to provide a usable image with motion at night.


Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Most will say these don't cut it.
 
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THAT's who makes the Ghost shows! "Did you hear that sound"??? "It must be somebody!".... Then they show a Reolink Video!

I'll try to make a video in a few nights to see what I get. I'm more frustrated with it recording a Deer clear as can be and then losing interest and quitting after 8 seconds. It's also only clear at about 8 Feet.
 
Rightone47 said:
You have helped more in a couple of hours than the entirety of me wanting and owning cameras. Reolink is okay in responses until they know you reach the point where the things are Bricks. Then they back off.

All that said, I'm just dumb enough (Hello... Said Caveman) and Stubborn enough to try Reolink again... Their RLC823S2 looks insane with 16X Zoom.

Even though they spell it wrong twice on the page...

Reollink RLC-823S2​


I have the Altas PT Ultra's, and it drives me crazy how horrific they are, but again... The RLC823S2 looks insane.
Click to expand...

8MP on a 1/2.8" sensor designed for 2MP will perform horribly at night regardless of who makes it, especially on a PTZ.
 
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Rightone47 said:
THAT's who makes the Ghost shows! "Did you hear that sound"??? "It must be somebody!".... Then they show a Reolink Video!

I'll try to make a video in a few nights to see what I get. I'm more frustrated with it recording a Deer clear as can be and then losing interest and quitting after 8 seconds. It's also only clear at about 8 Feet.
Click to expand...

It is only clear to about 8 feet of an object not in motion because they shoved too many MP on a sensor designed for much less, so it needs a ton more light to be effective.

PTZs will struggle with animals.

PTZs will struggle with any object moving if it stops long enough - might be 4 or 5 seconds or 8 or 10, but it will spin back to the set preset if it stops moving.

Relying on PTZs only are a recipe for disaster.

PTZs with motion tracking are a compliment to an existing fixed camera system and not replacements for fixed cameras.

So with only PTZs and no additional fixed cameras - what happens when 2 or more people come up to your house - the PTZ is only catching and tracking one of them, not all of them.

PTZs are not perfect and can lose tracking. Then you miss the person.

What happens when the PTZ is looking left and a perp comes from the right?

That is why PTZs are not a replacement for fixed cameras - they are a compliment to an existing system.

If you rely on a PTZ only it will miss many instances, especially when it is off tracking something else.

You are much better off using fixed cams as spotter cams to point the PTZ to where the action is and then let the autotracking take over from there.

See this thread on how a PTZ compliments a fixed camera system.
 
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Yeah, I hear you on the tracking part. I would have both in an optimal setup, and I will go that far when I find cameras that work. As far as 2 perps tricking the cameras so one can break in, that one knows He will be shot, so nobody volunteers to be that one.

It's all for property damage / Meth heads trying to score Pawn shop stuff from cars that happens around here.
 
As I said in my first post, many find 4MP to be the current sweet spot with these cameras and the tech in them.

Sadly, they are generations behind and iphones, dashcams, and drones have better sensors/SOCs inside them.

So to get 8MP to work, a lot of playing with the firmware is done and it usually introduces artifacts and other stuff, especially as the available light drops.

Many people here had the trusted 54IR 4MP camera and "upgraded" to 8MP and ended up reverting back to their 54IR 4MP camera.
 
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Here is an example someone posted with an 8MP on the 1/2.8" sensor versus 8MP on the proper sized sensor (1/1.2" sensor) - which image looks better to you?



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Of more importance is that the top picture is default settings, so a horribly slow shutter of maybe 1/12 so any motion would be a blur. The 2nd picture is a 1/100 shutter and will get a clean capture. The faster the shutter speed, the more light that is needed. That bottom picture at 1/100 shutter is impressive. If the top camera was set to a 1/100 shutter it would be a very dark image.


Almost any camera can do well in the daytime with enough light, even cameras that are 8MP put on a sensor designed for 2MP. But keep in mind that usually the processor and other stuff are still designed around 2MP, so the camera struggles trying to keep up with 8MP worth of data.

So buying an 8MP camera on the same sensor as the 2MP processor means that the processor is potentially working 4 times as hard for the 8MP camera.

Here is a real world example with a deer. Even with a floodlight, there simply wasn't enough light to make the 4MP on the sensor designed for 2MP to go into color. Imagine how much darker trying to squeeze 8MP on it will be and without a floodlight, forget about it.


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And a 4MP on the proper 1/1.8" sensor camera (different deer LOL but same field of view when the camera was replaced to a better camera) that the camera was able to go to color based on the larger sensor (this is just the regular 54IR camera that I forced into color instead of using infrared):


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Which do you think is the better image? The same thing applies whether it is a 4MP versus 8MP on the sensor sized for 2MP, except the 8MP would need way more light.
 
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I'm not going to match your Deer, but mine is fine from up close. It doesn't become a Ghost until 20 Feet. When I see camera ratings on this site, will there be pictures or videos from 30 Feet or so?
 

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