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Dahua zoom controls

edited January 2020 in SecuritySpy
I purchased a Dahua 6MP outdoor bullet camera with a 2.7mm to 13.5mm varifocal zoom (no pan/tilt). It is a model IPC-HFW4631H-ZSA, which is an "international firmware" but available in the US via Amazon reseller. The zoom is functional via the camera's web interface, but when I use the SecuritySpy zoom control (tagging the camera with the Dahua profile in SS), the +/- control only will set the zoom to full zoom or full wide. Clicking the control for a short time does nothing, but holding it for about a second results in the zoom motor actuating. However, I can't set the zoom to anything in between full and wide unless I use the web interface. Otherwise this is a fantastic camera that produces very well rendered night shots and surpasses backlighting very well.

BTW - I was reluctant to purchase this "international firmware" version, but I find that Dahua later model cameras are hard to come by with US part numbers. Only a few of the cams listed on the Dahua site are readily available and they tend to be older or very high end expensive models.

Comments

  • Does turning down securitySpy's zoom speed help?
    It's the speed slider on the PTZ sub-window revealed with the gear icon.
  • You could also try the ONVIF profile to see if this resolves the zoom issue. Please let me know if not.
  • I played around with the speed control to see if it would have any effect on the zoom control. No luck. Same behavior at all the slew speeds. I'm unclear on your instruction on trying the ONVIF profile. Can you suggest more details on this?
  • Under Preferences -> Cameras -> Device for this camera, set the "Profile" setting to "ONVIF", then click the "Save Preferences" button.

    Does this allow the zoom control to work correctly?
  • If I set the profile to ONVIF, I don't get a PTZ control panel in the web view. With the Dahua profile, I get a PTZ as above.
  • Strangely, I cannot find this model number on Dahua's web site - no trace of it whatsoever - so I can't look up detailed specifications. But judging by the above, it seems likely that this is not a true zoom camera. Often with these kind of cameras, the "zoom" feature just means "motorized varifocal", whereby you can set the focal length (i.e. how wide/long the lens is) via the camera's web interface upon installation of the camera. So it's just for initial installation, and designed to be essentially fixed thereafter.
  • Ben - that's definitely the mode I have it in. The web interface to the zoom works well, but when I use SecuritySpy controls it just swing from full zoom to full wide or the other way. I'm OK with using it this way 95% of the time. But in 5%, it would be nice to have. I've used enough Dahua cams to believe that it isn't a counterfeit. The build, lens, and imager is high quality. Just one little quirk. I guess that's the cost of a heavily discounted camera. -Mike
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