Setup:

As with most D-Link products you install this using the mydlink app. After selecting to add a device you simply scan the QR code and follow the directions; power the device up, connect to your Wi-Fi, and enable cloud recording should you chose to do so. If you do the camera comes with a plan that includes 24 hours of free cloud recording.



At this point you can go physically install this in your desired location. But before you start making holes in things I suggest you make the installation temporary until you find just the right spot. I have found these hooks to work quite well for temporary and permanent installations on vinyl siding. For heavier cameras I use two with a piece of sheet metal between them.

Performance:

In the previous section I suggested making the install temporary until you find the right spot. I mention this because it can often be hard to find the right spot to get the field of view (FOV) that you want, keep unwanted things out of the FOV and ensure good IR performance. Below are two examples of potential issues you can have, it should be noted this is not a D-Link camera fault but is typical of problems any IP camera can have. First thing you’ll notice is this position was chosen because of the proximity to the front door and porch windows, so I set motion zones to include them. But you’ll also notice the wife hung scare crows from the porch columns and the grass waving in the wind triggers this constantly. Another pitfall with this location is the night vision performance. In the second image you can see the IR source illuminates fairly well but since there are too many things in the foreground there is a lot of reflected light back so the camera compensates and you lose some detail by the door. Again these are not D-Link issues, just typical to this type of device.



So first and foremost this is a camera, and if the image quality is poor then it really doesn’t matter what other features it has. Fortunately, the image quality is quite good. In 1080 mode; even on an overcast rainy day the clarity and colors are great. In the second image you will notice a little more in the way of artifacts in this low light condition. While the colors may seem off, they are actually pretty accurate since the porch has orange Halloween lights set up. The only issue I saw with this camera was some fisheye distortion near the edges which surprised me since typically D-Link is very good at correcting for this even with their 180 degree cameras.



I also found the IR performance to be pretty good. In the image below those groups of trees are about 20-25 feet from the lens and you can see them clearly. In fact you can make out the edge of the road which is about 50 feet away. Considering this was only rated for 23 feet, I would say that is great performance.