VIKYLIN 4K 8MP PoE IP Dome Camera Active Deterrence (red/Blue LED, Siren), 98ft Night Color Vision F1.0, MicroSD 256GB, 2-Way Audio, Blue Iris, NDAA Compliant

I got this Vikylin Turret Camera (VK357C) to replace a camera from another manufacturer that had quit. I like that it has a wider angle lens and sharp color images at night. The internal SD Card recording is also nice as a redundancy to NVR or FTP connections. The turret can be mounted either horizontally or vertically. The turret rotates a full 360 degrees, and the camera can be rotated or tilted up to 90 degrees within the turret. The software includes options for portrait or landscape, and/or to flip the image left/right or up/down (or both). Thus, aiming the camera where you want it is quite straightforward. The temperature outside was 20 below the day I mounted the camera! I was delighted it only took me three minutes to screw down the mounting plate, snap in the camera, attach my Ethernet cable and aim the thing. It came with a weather-proof Ethernet connection, which I definitely appreciate. I power this camera using POE. However, the camera also comes with a 12v power jack. So if you prefer, you could buy a 12VDC power adapter and power it that way. I tested it using a 12VDDC power adapter and found the camera needed less than 100mA -- even when the LED night viewing lights were on. The camera comes preset to an IP address of 192.168.1.64. My home network is on a different subnet, so I temporarily set my computer to a fixed IP address of 192.168.1.100. I then ran Chrome, entered 192.168.1.64 as the website, and clicked on the camera configuration. Under the network settings, I then enabled DHCP (see picture). I then rebooted the camera and restored my computer to its original IP settings. Initially, Live View in my Google Chrome web browser was a black screen. But that was easily corrected by clicking on the prompt on the top right of the screen (see picture) and installing the browser Plug-in, followed by refreshing the page. (The manufacturer has stated that live view may not work in the latest web browsers for Windows. However, once I installed the plug-in, I had no trouble using either Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.) The camera can also be viewed from a smartphone. I could not find the “VKLOOK” software in the Google Play Store. However, I did find it on Vikylin.com, under support downloads. There are a couple VKLOOK download options – the one at the bottom of the list was the APK that I needed for my Android phone. The camera has a built in mic which has adjustable sensitivity and picks up sound very well. It also has a background noise filter option. Thus, you can leave the audio unmuted without being bothered with constant background noise. In addition to recording on a [user supplied] local microSD memory card (up to 256GB), the camera can also save files to an FTP server. The video can be continuous, or motion based (with user defined areas of motion detection). Snapshots can also be saved at intervals ranging from seconds to days apart. The unit can also send email notifications for error conditions. However, be advised that Gmail now requires either 2 factor authentication or the use of an special “App Password.” So if you want to send your notifications using a Gmail account (which I have successfully tested), you will need to create an “App Password.” (Google it if you need instructions on how to create one.) Overall, I am quite pleased with this camera. The price is good, and it is much more efficient for monitoring motion than a PTZ camera. I figured for the price of a PTZ camera, I could buy three of these cameras and place them on the corner of my house and have continuous monitoring from one outside wall to the other (270 degrees total) without the gaps that a PTZ camera has while conducting its tour. I also appreciate that it uses built-in LED lighting to see in total darkness. The lights are not at all distracting when on – they resemble a night light. The quality of the nighttime image using this camera compared to one that uses IR lighting in substantial (see attached video). The image is always clear and in color. (My IR camera was often blurry, got totally washed out by car headlights, and bugs & snow created continuous motion alerts!). Lastly, I should note that this camera supports many network security features, such as DDNS and IP filtering. Considering that many cameras present a network security risk, it was reassuring to see more than simple password protection amongst the setup options.

we downloaded the app and set everything up which was surprisingly fast and easy. I can see clear as day on my phone, I get the notifications fast when someone or cars pass by and the security light worked good and was bright. Definitely a must have for your home protection.

Received the camera and it feels well made. I had a hard time removing the mount ring. FYI it turns counter clockwise and drops over the camera. Mine was really hard to remove the first time. I put a small drop of wax on the small nub and that helped a lot. Anyway the QR code is generated inside the configuration using the IP address of the camera. Admin and 123456 to initially log in. And then look for P2P. The manual is really small print, either take a picture of the manual pages and zoom in or download the manual to your phone. You need to be knowledgeable in cameras to make changes in the configuration. I wish there were explanations for some of it or a Help section. Very little changes can be made using the Danale app. I tried to watch recordings using the Danale app and it said I needed to buy cloud services? Maybe I’m doing something wrong. Customer support was responsive. The picture is very good day and night. The infared LEDs throw quite far, I would say really good the first 35ft. And good out to 75ft. I would say you’re getting a solid deal for the eighty dollars for the camera. Similars are over a hundred. I wish the Danale app was better. I like the warning message that can be played over the speaker when motion is detected during the schedule you set. Buy the $10 camera mount base round box. It helps a lot during install.

Good product, very easy to install, both video and audio have good quality. Night vision is very clear, I can access the app whenever and wherever I want. 2-way audio is nice for receiving packages. I would recommend to anyone looking for a security camera.

I am trying to install the camera and access it from an iPhone. I keep getting Error code 424 & 427 if I disable the WiFi on my iPhone to get an outside IP. The camera network works fine if the camera is accessed from within the same subnet but once you go through the Internet (access the camera from around the world) I get the pesky Error code 424 and 427. I called for support and I am getting a dead Google phone number. Website said they are located in Cairo, Egypt. No help at all. Returning.

I'm using 2 of these 8MP, 4K Turret Cameras with my Hikvision DS-7608NI-K2 8P NVR. I bought them to replace non-analytics cameras producing false motion events due to flying insects at night. These intellegent cameras wth "human detection" eliminated the false events and reliably detect human motion. One minor dissappointment, 2-way audio does not work with the Hikvision NVR / Hik Connect. I can hear 1 way audio from the camera. Setup was a little tricky because I had difficulty changing the default IP address of the camera to be in the subnet range of the NVR. The Hikvision SADP tool refused save the changed IP address to the camera. The work-around was to change the IP address of my computer to be in the same subnet as the camera default address, login to the camera and change/save the camera IP address from the camera menu.

I brought two of this Hikvision turret camera model for my burgeoning network. It has been a major disappointment because the 4k video is unstable when the camera is installed outside. However, this camera works fine inside without any issues. But only works outside at night only. The 4K video constantly fades in out with gray pixelation in between. I thought it was just a bad camera, however, both cameras & the replacement that the vendor sent also have this issue. So all those so-called great reviews are seemingly from users who installed their cameras indoors or just lucky they didn't get one of the defective ones. The workaround to make this model somewhat functional outside during the day is to enable HDR, which I discovered by playing around with the configuration. However, HDR is useless at night & must be disabled because the whole video will be dark & unviewable, hence, the moniker "vampire" because this model works outside as expected after sunset. Vikylin tech support was useless for the most part. Instead of earnestly trying to resolve the issue, they kept insinuating that this issue was due to insufficient bandwidth of my network when I told them I had up 12 cameras in my network. I simply asked them how come the second IP camera of the same model installed inside doesn't have this issue & I have a Gigabit Ethernet network, which has more than enough bandwidth to accommodate twelve 4K cams because each 4K IPCAM takes up to 8 megabit per sec, hence 8 x 12 = 96 Mbps? It suffices to say tech support simply ignored that question. After so many back and forth emails with tech support, I had to terminate tech support because they kept taking me down the proverbial rabbit hole to nowhere via useless/ repeated emails. However, they did send me a replacement camera, which has the same issue & it would be remiss of me if I didn't mention that tech support does reply to email inquiries relatively quickly despite being in China. Finally, I reluctantly pulled the trigger for a refund, which is still being processed after several weeks because they kept ignoring my inquiry regarding a new firmware update to fix this issue instead they continued to rinse & repeat the same useless emails to me. They should just say in bold letters that this model is not recommended for outside. Moreover, the circular lens of this model is situated within a rectangular field, apparently where the AI/motion sensor is located. It appears this lens/ rectangular complex must ideally be in the horizontal position for the AI/motion sensor to function optimally. This is a hindrance in those situations where you must install the camera on the sidewall of the front entrance of a house. The vertical option will show more area compared to the horizontal position, however the AI/motion sensor will not be accurate if the camera is installed above 9 ft. It's more of a hit/miss when the lens is in the vertical position at a certain height. My other turret cameras don't have this limitation. IMHO, This camera is really meant for indoor & not ready for prime time if installed outside, hence, cannot fully recommend this model.

The cameras are compatible with many systems, including Blue Iris and Tinycam. They're fast to respond, great quality picture and night vision, and good microphones. Both the web interface and pc software (AjDevTools) are comprehensive and detailed. I had to contact the customer support email and they respond right away with excellent English and did everything to help me, even offering to help with cameras that aren't their own! I'll gladly buy more cameras from Vikylin.