A camera to record your garden or drive?

techno12

Bear in mind that normal SD cards will fail within weeks if used to record continuous video.

My Xiaomi camera destroyed a 32Gb Samsung and 32Gb Sandisk each with 3-4 weeks, as it had written to them too often (it writes tiny 1 minute files when recording).

I'm now using a 'stamina'/'high endurance' card that's designed for such purposes and it's been fine for 6 months...

System

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Make sure you turn off the IR otherwise it will reflect back from the window glass at night.

Ours doesnt.

Inner_Zone

AquaGirl wrote: »

I was having a scan back through the comments as i was wondering if there'll be a tell-tale sign that i've got a camera pointing out of my window (for example - a flashing light) and that's when i saw your comment.
IR i assume is infra red. What would turning this off do? Would it mean that i can only record in daylight? Or is IR a feature that auto-detects movement & triggers the record? Personally i don't think i'd like to rely on any auto detection, i'd rather just record & when i come home if everything is ok then i don't need to bother with the footage but if there's been any damage then i can scan through.
Basically i would like to avoid drawing peoples attention to my window. I'd rather nobody knew i had a camera facing out. Is that possible?

There is a static status light which you can turn off on the camera I suggested, most have cameras have this feature.



You can use auto detection or always on recording on most devices hence why I suggested a 32GB card as it will hold upto four days recordings.



IR will reflect of glass so making the view un-veiwable. Depending on outside light it will still record but whether or not you will be able to view it or not will depeand on the light available.

Inner_Zone

Judi wrote: »

Ours doesnt.

Very helpful!

System

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Very helpful!

Just saying....

Ok I'll be a little more helpful. The first set of cameras we bought, the picture quality was rubbish. Unfortunately for us, you get what you pay for.

PasturesNew

I'm watching this thread as I'd like the same, for a very very similar reason... although I'm mostly present, I do have to dash about and keep looking "who is where".... which is a faff.

AquaGirl wrote: »

.... a tell-tale sign...

You could build yourself a box with cut outs and make something look like you have a photograph or a lamp on the windowsill...

A bit of a Blue Peter moment.... with sticky tape and whatever you've got to hand.

Inner_Zone

Judi wrote: »

Just saying....

Ok I'll be a little more helpful. The first set of cameras we bought, the picture quality was rubbish. Unfortunately for us, you get what you pay for.

And this information is also about as useful as a chocolate tea pot as was your earlier post.


I have two Panasonic IP cameras one cost £214 and the other £160, neither can 'see' in the dark.


A Samsung IP camera which cost £130 and can 'see' in the dark.


A Yi IP camera (as above) which cost £17 and can 'see' in the dark.


So as you can see price is not a guarantee of performance.

Frozen_up_north

Been there, done that...

Firstly, trying to hide a camera that views through a window is easy if you just want to record in daylight. That may suffice for the OPs issue with kids that might not be a problem after sunset and might move house in a few months anyway, if it's a rented property.

To record at night it's a different ballgame and ideally you need strong permanent outdoor lighting, as per industrial premises. Most domestic CCTV cameras have infrared LEDs around the lens that does work to some extent but not as well as you might hope. These ir cameras will not work through a window and must be mounted externally. They will show night time visitors but not in "ID parade" quality unless the person stands still and looks at the camera. The camera shutter speed drops to accommodate the low light level, rendering movement blurred to some extent. You could probably identify someone you know, but perhaps not a stranger. Non moving objects, such as a shed, look remarkably detailed giving the impression of good night time viewing using just a ring of ir diodes around the lens...

Some of the best value CCTV home/small business systems are by Floureon on eBay. A 4 camera system with 1TB recorder is under £90! One such example is eBay item 122705743983

that

PasturesNew, most non usb cameras emit a constant video stream, but due to size so sd card record only a little to the card, or motion only.

what you want it to get the free Ispy software for your PC and put all your camera streams on that. What this gives you: you can detect which areas you want to check for motion (zone), you can trigger recording on motion, trigger recording on sound (if your camera supports this) and you can even get you pc to play a sound like barking dog, or trigger a program.

My camera in the house only monitors the movement in one small area - the letterbox. When my postman drops of mail I get alerted, and if the door opens I get alerted too. If I had animals, they would probably not reach the height of the letterbox, so no false readings.

I too had difficulty with IR going through the glass too

PasturesNew

that wrote: »

PasturesNew, most non usb cameras emit a constant video stream, but due to size so sd card record only a little to the card, or motion only.

what you want it to get the free Ispy software for your PC and put all your camera streams on that. What this gives you: you can detect which areas you want to check for motion (zone), you can trigger recording on motion, trigger recording on sound (if your camera supports this) and you can even get you pc to play a sound like barking dog, or trigger a program.

My camera in the house only monitors the movement in one small area - the letterbox. When my postman drops of mail I get alerted, and if the door opens I get alerted too. If I had animals, they would probably not reach the height of the letterbox, so no false readings.

I too had difficulty with IR going through the glass too

Without any previous knowledge of cameras etc, most of the above went right over my head.

Like the OP, all I want is: cheap (£20 as per one of the links to amazon above) camera, that you can sit on a windowsill that will record through glass.... to see what's going on out there. "on seeing movement" would be good ... but I'd take what I can get.

It'd also need to be able to "see" a max of, say, 20m... 6m (as one I found when randomly googling), would be OK for a cat lover inside their house, but not for looking up the length of the drive.

Once I've got one - and it's set up ... I might be ready for Stage 2: understanding what your post meant It was the bit about "put all your camera streams on that" that lost me.... as I've no idea how all this stuff works at all... having never seen/experienced a camera like I want.

Direct links to specific cameras that DO work, in the lower budget ranges.... are ideal