Where to buy Hikvision?

rhosk · March 2017

Hi all,

I liked the cost/specs of the Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW recommended on the blog. However, I'm having a hard time finding a reputable dealer online. Any recommendations would be great!

I'm in Colorado, USA. I had planned to buy online but if anyone knows a local seller, that would also work.

Thanks much!
Ryan

Ben · March 2017

I'm not sure about local sellers, but it's available from many online outlets including Amazon and B&H. It's a great little camera and very good value, retailing at around $140 at the moment.

rhosk · March 2017

Thanks, Ben! Most of the listings on Amazon are sold-by third parties but fulfilled by Amazon, and I've heard rumblings of white/gray-box units. I've used B&H in the past so I'll check that out.

guykuo · March 2017

The gray market units are a problem if you ever want to update the firmware. You may lose your english menus or even brick the camera. The gray box "international" units are often tweaked by the seller to force display of english menus.

rhosk · March 2017

Thanks. HuaShenShi has good ratings so maybe I'll try them: https://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-DS-2CD2432F-IW-Indoor-Camera-2-8mm/dp/B00JWCV9CU

jfish303 · March 2017

I've purchased from Nelly's Security with no problems

meatsuit · March 2017

B&H Photo are a authorised reseller. There selling USA models that are UL listed. Don`t waste your money at Amazon.

CameronB · March 2017

Agree with meatsuit. Buy from B&H (authorized reseller). You'll get proper US English units that can be firmware updated from Hikvision's site. Amazon has probably 95% grey market units that can't be updated (at least using English firmware) and the support probably won't be there either. Might get lucky on Amazon with the 5% of units that might not be grey market - but why take a chance when B&H prices are barely any more expensive and you can count on legit products and good service?

Ben · April 2017

Thanks for all the feedback, it seems I was too quick to recommend Amazon — there does appear to be a big problem with "grey market" cameras being sold there. Here's a good explainer from a reliable UK seller called use-IP: How to tell if a Hikvision camera is genuine or a Chinese grey import model.

kybandy · April 2017

I completely agree. I've bought 6 Hikvisions through B&H. I always do a "Price Protection" claim on my credit card so that I end up paying the Amazon price.

cstout · May 2017

@kybandy, how on earth does that work. Sounds too good to be true.

Where to buy Hikvision?

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