Reolink cameras onvif and ptz

reolink cameras have been working so well for us that we have migrated to mostly reolink cameras.

a couple of issues we have had are these:

  1. reolink doesn’t support onvif for its ptz commands. i would like to know how i can setup bluecherry to interface with the ptz function. i have some wireshark packet sniffing data and can get more if someone will help me understand how and if i can use that data to help bluecherry interface.
  2. bluecherry server has no setup data for any reolink camera.

to contribute to the easy setup of reolink cameras i would like the following data to be available for adding new IP cameras:

onvif port is 8000
rtsp url path is //h264Preview_01_main

this applies to all of these models:
RLC-410; RLC-410-5MP; RLC-410S; RLC-411; RLC-411-5MP; RLC-411S; RLC-411S-5MP; RLC-420; RLC-420-5MP; RLC-422-4MP; RLC-422-5MP; RLC-423; RLC-423S; RLC-511; RLC-520; RLC-510A,RLC-810A,C1; C1 Pro; C2; C2 Pro; E1 Pro; E1 Zoom; RLC-410W; RLC-410W-5MP; RLC-410WS; RLC-411WS; RLC-411WS-5MP; RLC-422W; RLC-423WS; RLC-511W;RLC-422W-5MP; RLN16-410; RLN8-410; RLN8-410-E

According to information on this site it should support PTZ ONVIF protocol as it denotes that cameras “could” support Profile S which

Addresses common functionalities of IP video systems, such as video and audio streaming, PTZ controls, and relay activation

But since the cameras could (not should) support Profile S you would need to change “moveOnvif” function in “lib.php” file to support Reolink; I did not find any publicly available protocol specifications on their site and I would recommend asking them for it instead of decoding it from wireshark packets.

i’ve sent a support request for the information concerning the onvif profile for the cameras. i am waiting for a reply. i also found the lib.php file that you referred to but i don’t see how i can change it to support reolink.
some things i can tell you from my packet stiffing that may be relivant are these:

  • the ptz commands are sent over port 9000 from both the windows installed client and the integrated web interface.
  • each move command is two packets, on click it sends a move packet and upon click release, it sends a stop packet. the move packets are all different from one direction to the other (seems like it would have to be that way). but, every stop packet is identical.

based upon that information about the packets and ports, does it read like the ptz functions could still be onvif compatible?

i know that other programs like blue iris are able to interface with the ptz functions of reolink cameras so it is clearly possible.

this is reolink’s reply:

Reolink IP cameras (except Argus Series, Reolink Go, Keen, E1, B400, D400, B800) are well compatible with third-party software.
Please check the compatibility of our products and third party software below.

The 423 camera supports onvif. Theoretically, the PTZ function is Onvif compatible. But the function couldn’t be achieved in every app. There may be compatibility issues. We couldn’t make sure that. The previous picture has shown you the apps that we have tested. Apologize for the inconvenience.

Hope the above could help you.

Have a nice day.
Best regards,
Reolink Support Team-April

given that reply from reolink, and given the number of camera apps out there that do work with this camera (rlc-423), i am inclined to believe that bluecherry has some issues with some onvif ptz cameras including but not limited to this particular camera.

am i correct? if so, is there a good chance the issue will be resolved soon?