Window Camera

Alfrescodave

I'm thinking of getting a window camera,i.e. a camera that is located inside the house and is attached to the window and records outside activities.

The Internet is awash with adverts for them which makes it difficult to choose so I'm asking for :-

• recommendations
• ones to avoid
• any problem experiences

Thanks

Exodi

As with all things, it depends.

For example, would you want one that records to the cloud (online) or locally (on physical storage devices)? Both options have pro's and cons. Recording to the cloud means you don't need to invest in any storage equipment (which is expensive at the moment) but the cloud usually requires you to pay a subscription fee to the cloud provider and in many cases, the camera will only work while the internet is up. The cloud is usually best for beginners.

Next, do you have, or plan to have any other smart home devices in your house? E.g. if you already have a blink doorbell, you might consider blink cameras to stay in the same ecosystem, be covered under one subscription and manage them from the same app.

I personally use google home devices, which look good and function well enough, but I think they all do mostly the same. I pay £80 a year for 30 days video history (without a subscription it's only 24 hours) but the devices typically have a high upfront cost.

I think Blink may be the cheapest (especially if you want for prime events and pick them up for a massively reduced price) and is only £25 a year for 1 device as you describe.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6676158/window-camera

How/where are you hoping to record the footage to? How do you want to be able to access the footage? Are you wanting any smart features like alerts if it sees a person inside of your grounds?

How important is night footage? Is there outside illumination for night footage?

Why the inside looking out rather than an outside camera? The outside camera will be better in most ways and even like the Wyze option with its @"window watch" still suffers problems with IR emitter blinding itself at night etc

Neil_Jones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6676158/window-camera

Infra red cameras will see literally naff all out of a window after dark.
This is because the light from the infrared reflects off the glass in the window(s) and back into the camera once it goes into night mode.

If you want a camera to record outside activities it will make more sense to put it outside.

Exodi

MyRealNameToo

How important is night footage? Is there outside illumination for night footage?

I think that (assuming an outdoor camera) a limited source of outside illumination may provide worse output than no outside illumination and the camera using IR.

That said, you mention the IR emitter blinding itself at night but in my experience this is usually due to poor placement.

IR sensors are blinded by close objects as they cause the IR to reflect back and oversaturate the sensor, washing out everything else. In most cases, this is caused by a wall (e.g. below).

You can fix this by moving the camera to a position where the wall is not in front of the lens (e.g. where you can place the camera perpendicular to the wall, or on the corner) or if it absolutely has to go in that specific location (e.g. such as the narrow walkway down the side of my house where my bins are), you can massively reduce how much wall is in the frame by moving the camera away from the wall using a bracket. If you can do this, IR provides impressively clear output.

As above, due to how IR works, you wouldn't be able to use an indoor camera to record a dark space outside through a window.

Alfrescodave

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82069040#Comment_82069040

Sales pitch for many of these cameras claim that night vision is wonderful which I find hard to accept. That's why I was asking for people's experiences - so far nothing positive

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82069049#Comment_82069049

I don't think that's the conclusion - we have asked about the application to prevent any potential issues to which you haven't responded on. Night vision is wonderful on many cameras - I've included a picture of my garden last night at 3am as an example. As I mentioned about being mindful about positioning, you'll notice it's angled down slightly to prevent glare from the camera pointing directly at the sun in the evening.

I have 6 cameras in my house, and after a bit of positioning with the aforementioned points in mind and to maximise wifi reception, I absolutely love them. The output is fantastic, I've set up notifications when people or animals walk past (animals is just for fun, who knew so many cats and foxes walked past my house during the night!), we can check in on the baby in the nursery (or more accurately, my wife can obsessively watch the baby sleep every hour of every day!), etc. I would be lost without my smart devices and would definitely install them in every future house, it's one of those things you question how you ever lived without them.

That said, if the purpose is for your interest, to gather evidence of a complaint, etc then crack on. If it's solely for security, I'd definitely encourage you to have a primary security solution. My stepfather was burgled a couple of years ago and the cameras were about as much use as a chocolate teapot. You can expect people committing crimes to usually have the foresight to cover their faces, rendering the cameras essentially useless for this purpose. That said, they can be useful identifying vehicles if located at the front.

Neil_Jones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82069049#Comment_82069049

A lot depends on how you install it and also what it is you're filming.
If you just point infra-red camera straight at a window it will see wonderfully during the day. When night falls and the infra-red activates, all the camera will see is the infra-red light reflecting.

A lot may also depend on what you're filming and where. If this is the middle of nowhere and there's little to reflect light off (besides the window glass) you may not see anything on the camera anyway.

Vitor

I have this one. Night vision in colour is surprisingly good -

HomiQ 3MP Window Security Camera Dual Band WiFi Indoor Cam | AI Colour Night Vision, Auto-Focus Human Detection, No-Drill Stick-On Mount, 24/7 Recording : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

It nags you to sign-up for cloud storage subscription, I expect they all do.

Frozen_up_north

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82069098#Comment_82069098

I find the details on the Amazon site bizarre, the text states:

"Whether it's bright daylight or complete darkness, enjoy vibrant full-color footage around the clock"

Utter rubbish, full colour in complete darkness isn't possible unless you have floodlighting.

If you have bright outdoor lighting, many cameras will show colour. In less bright light, the majority of cameras switch to infrared, removing an IR blocking filter and turning on IR LEDs to give monochrome images out to around 50 feet, or perhaps a little further.

Spiders love the cameras and in summer you can face an endless battle clearing their webs, I have a paint brush taped to a long stick.

I have a system with Swann 4 mega pixel cameras, it isn't bad, but the resolution is nothing like as good as we have come to expect with a humble camera phone. Those up to "no good" are experienced in covering their faces and not staring at a camera. You are probably just as well off fitting a doorbell camera. I have obtained reasonable images of a roofing "scammer" who targeted an elderly lady in a nearby village, he had been going door to door and had a distinctive van. The police recognised his face and said he was wanted for other matters. A door bell camera would have taken his image too.

By the way, I have come across two instances where a neighbour has installed a door bell camera on a side door facing their neighbours door. That is a huge problem of privacy and something that is going to cause trouble unless the neighbour agrees to it.

Vitor

That is a huge problem of privacy and something that is going to cause trouble unless the neighbour agrees to it.

This is covered in depth by the ICO, there's no requirement for agreement - Home CCTV systems | ICO