It looks like firmware version v3.1.0.956_22041511 was posted on the 22nd, and claims to include some motion tracking fixes (presumably the ones we've been testing here). I'll give it a try tomorrow in the daylight.

Aha, it looks like there is a new topic (and new firmware) here: https://community.reolink.com/topic/4684/rlc-823a-rlc-523wa-tracking-beta-4-0-firmware-added-auto-tracking-horizontal-range-schedule?post_id=18273&_=1686454084333

Hi @Reolink-Fiona, have there been any updates on this beta test? I notice that the official version posted for download is from June 2022, which is older than this beta firmware (which itself is already 6 months old).

I'm currently running v3.1.0.1169_22091308_v1.0.0.30 in my camera (looks different from your download link here so I don't remember which link I got it from), but there are a few issues (most annoyingly, it keeps losing focus)

I realize that you have released newer cameras since then but it feels like those of us who have invested hundreds of dollars in your products are being left with half-functional products that do not live up to the promised features.

Tested this out with one of my 823 cams and tracking does seem to be better, but only when completely zoomed out. I usually keep my camera zoomed in by about 20% because it's mounted high enough up that I want a bit of zoom for faces, license plates, etc.

I chose not to reset all settings (which really messed things up last time), but recordings are being properly marked/tracked by type (which is what broke with the last beta).

It still seems to randomly return to the monitor point. I have it configured to return after 300s but I suspect this is on some sort of global timer rather than 300s after the tracking/motion has stopped. I didn't have it return to the monitor point in the middle of tracking me walking around but it did do so a couple of times when I had only been standing still for 5-10 seconds.

PTZ speed seems way off, too. Everything above about 8 was roughly the same speed (fast click on a direction arrow in the Reolink Mac client moved about the same distance). I had to turn it down to about 5 (out of 64) in order to get any sort of fine control.

Will report back after running this for a few days.

I upgraded one of my RLC-823A cameras this beta few days ago. Tracking is better (though I can still walk slowly past the camera and it loses track of me about half way). More importantly, after the configuration reset (as suggested) during the upgrade:

• My recording history appears to be empty.
  • The SD card is still full but the camera
  • My external NVR shows that the camera did indeed make recordings during this time, so it seems to be an issue with the display of events (via Reolink iOS and MacOS apps), not the actual recording process (edit: incorrect; read below).
• I reformatted the SD card (I have backups of the recordings elsewhere) and now the camera says the SD card is just missing. Rebooting the camera doesn't help.

I've reverted back to v3.1.0.956_22041511_v1.0.0.30 (with a configuration reset) but the SD card still showed as missing. Rebooted a number of times through the camera's interface with no change. I did manage to get the SD card to return after a physical reset of the power supply, and it appears my attempt to reformat the card under the beta firmware failed. However, there are no recordings on the SD card from the days I was using the beta firmware. My NVR still has recordings from this time period, so I wonder if the beta firmware has a problem flushing old recordings to make room for new ones.

@reolink-fiona I sent several videos when this was first reported. Performance of auto-tracking hasn't changed since I provided additional feedback/videos. I haven't seen another beta released to address those.

I'll re-record some videos and send them along to support (especially now that I have a second camera in a different location).

-Chris

Just checking in to see if there has been any progress on the beta firmware. Tracking is still really subpar, whether in the beta firmware or the update from last month that mentions improved tracking.

It looks like firmware version v3.1.0.956_22041511 was posted on the 22nd, and claims to include some motion tracking fixes (presumably the ones we've been testing here). I'll give it a try tomorrow in the daylight.