D-Link’s DCS-4802E is an IP66-rated outdoor mini dome camera that’s part of the company’s Vigilance PoE series of surveillance cameras.
It’s compact – the camera is just 113mm in diameter, 85mm high and weighs in at 370 grams. Input is 12V DC and 1.5A, with a power consumption of 5.2 watts. Features include integrated IR array offering a viewing range of up to 20m (it’s about 12-15m in test), motion detection, built-in 802.3af compliant PoE module and ONVIF compliance.
Behold, Norman stands at the door and knocks…
What did I like? This camera is very nicely made and the design is simple and wholesome. The light weight makes it easy to find a home for the camera anywhere it will fit. In terms of performance, colour rendition is warm. With very strong WDR (sun or reflections in the frame) and headlights, there’s some blooming, flare and ghosting.
Depth of field is reasonably strong when it comes to situational awareness in strong backlight, but I find court admissible face recognition is not always forthcoming due to general softness of the images. Situational awareness is generally good, however.
Ronnie Rotakin shows about 90 degrees of blur at 25rpm in 7 lux with IR activated in night mode. The IR flare off the veranda rail is my fault – you won't be mounting this D-Link the way I did…
Cost and build quality are obvious strengths and I also notice the camera has quite low latency for a unit of this type. Better still, distortion is extremely well controlled even though the angle is view is pretty wide at 2.8mm – I estimate barrel distortion to be no more than 4 per cent. The ball joint adjustment is excellent – it’s the most adjustable camera we’ve tested.
See the full review of D-Link’s DCS-4802E in SEN’s September issue!
