Need a camera to detect where insects are exactly entering in my kitchen

R

ryu

n3wb
May 24, 2025
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0
EU
Hi, I found this forum because in a thread someone asked for a camera to detect insects. Some models were recommended here:

B

Thread 'Need to buy a camera system to detect 1" long insects in a room with no lights.'

Hello,

Apologies in advance if this is in the wrong area of the forums. Tried searching for anything related to how well cameras could detect a moving insect in a dark room, but no hits.

Essentially, trying to find where some insects are getting into this room, and need something that will work rather than me simply buying something and hoping it will work. I can only assume this a long shot, but I know this is the place to ask.

Any help at all would be appreciated.

Thanks,

It isn't clear if he found the entrance points, so I would like to ask again: what is the best camera for this? The roaches are small. I also have the so called silverfish insects, they have been in this apparentment for years, so I have been used to seeing them at this point. But the roaches are gross, I have never seen them until recently and im afraid if it gets worse since apparently if you see one there may be tons. I need to solve this.

What is the best camera to record small insects in the dark, that will detect them so I don't need to scroll throught 8 hours of footage. Motion following is good but may be a mistake if it picks up too much movement, like following fruit flies or something and it would move all over the place. So perhaps, it's better to remain fixed point, and install various cameras. They just have to be high resolution. Probably thermal vision mode if needed. I just want to find the entry and exit points so I can seal them and solve this problem. I will need quality SD cards as well to store the footage. Please recommend some.

Thanks
 
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I knew it! Looked at the topic headline and already figured out a cockroach signed up for an account on IP CamTalk. :rofl:
 
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Maybe look to the pest control industry instead of cctv! Here in the Midwest if you have a wood shake roof you either have pest control (power dusting attic) or you have silverfish dropping out of light fixtures. Roaches on the other hand are not the same social insects as say, ants, so you’re not going to find a “source of entry/exit-nest. You’re wasting your time with cameras. Try glue boards if you want to find a general vicinity but it’s always going to be somewhere with moisture, darkness and a food source. One of the biggest spots is the void above floor below kitchen cabinets. You can buy the same exact products the pros use without a license from domyown.com. Try maxforce gel bait, apply bb size drops all over top undersides in cabinets and delta dust in cracks and crevices. Drill small holes into previous mentioned voids so you can shoot that into there as well.
 
Underhill said:
Maybe look to the pest control industry instead of cctv! Here in the Midwest if you have a wood shake roof you either have pest control (power dusting attic) or you have silverfish dropping out of light fixtures. Roaches on the other hand are not the same social insects as say, ants, so you’re not going to find a “source of entry/exit-nest. You’re wasting your time with cameras. Try glue boards if you want to find a general vicinity but it’s always going to be somewhere with moisture, darkness and a food source. One of the biggest spots is the void above floor below kitchen cabinets. You can buy the same exact products the pros use without a license from domyown.com. Try maxforce gel bait, apply bb size drops all over top undersides in cabinets and delta dust in cracks and crevices. Drill small holes into previous mentioned voids so you can shoot that into there as well.
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I managed to record one yesterday. The IR light made it shine so it was easy to spot. I moved the camera to one side and it was there. You can see it "spawning" out of nowhere. Not enough resolution seems to be the problem, even tho some other dude said more resolution may not work as well as less resolution in this low light setting. It does not follow it tho. Too small. I refuse to believe that in the era of AI, no one has made a camera/software that manages to track these moving pixels on a screen. A camera that would work for detecting insects would be a good product. You would just run it for a while and keep covering all possible spots where it appeared until there is none left.

I already called pest control. Supposdly a multinational reputed company. They added some white powder under the kitchen cabinet which made me cough and a bit irritated, I still have a bit of a discomfort. Im worried I have inhaled this crap. But it's apparently all EU approved stuff. That was lame, they didn't think of that? they guy was putting the stuff there while white smoke was going up. Then he added gel bait in various places, and added some monitoring traps. He did not check inside the dropped celing. In the laundry I have the dropped ceiling removed and there were all sort of holes that I have covered with ducktape, filling them pieces of cloth then sealing with ducktape, but he didn't do anything. He has to come back again in a week. I will write to the company, and explain that the deal included removing the celing and sealing any entry points. I also said that I wanted the dishwasher removed. He didn't even remove the wooden board under the kitchen cabinet thing area (as seen on the picture), I had to remove it, as you can see, there is an interesting spot there, possibly a crack somewhere, but hard to tell since he didn't remove the dishwasher. "I don't know how to take it out, it's one of those that is inserted in the furniture". All these bullshit policies of "I cannot do anything because something may break" is a joke. This is as dumb as going to the mechanic and he saying, "oh I cannot look at the motor, the hood may break if I try to open it". It's like, you are not looking at key points because you may break something by opening it. And I got charged 300 for this. It's all a big joke.
 
I am the some other dude LOL, and you are taking the statement out of context.

I said the cheap@$$ cameras you have shoved too many MP on a sensor designed for lower MP and the lower MP will outperform the higher MP on the same size sensor.

Get a higher MP camera on the ideal sensor for that MP and then the higher MP will be better.

This chart is used by many here as the go to on determining what MP to go with for the sensor size of the camera. Green is ideal for low light performance. Red is poor for low light performance:

1748233707913.png

While not totally applicable to your situation, this thread is used by many to demonstrate the importance of sensor size, not MP.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

But again, keep in mind these cameras are designed to detect humans and vehicles. It is using old sensor technology years behind what is available in an iphone or any newer mobile phone.

And that is why sensor size plays an important factor in the MP.

You may get lucky if you set the camera close enough to suspected areas and keep it there a day or two and then move the camera. But I would be looking at a few feet per field of view. To set one of these up on the other side of the room to see the whole wall on the other side and you probably won't be successful.
 
Seems with a good flashlight, and some searching, you could find those entry points, and plug them with either caulk or spackling.
You've wasted enough time messing with cameras, you could have sealed the place up by now.
 
looney2ns said:
Seems with a good flashlight, and some searching, you could find those entry points, and plug them with either caulk or spackling.
You've wasted enough time messing with cameras, you could have sealed the place up by now.
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Im sealing everything I can, im just running the cam at night just in case since they can enter from any tiny spot.
 
bigredfish said:
Waiting on those awesome bug captures….
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I already saw one in the kitchen, do you really want to see it? i'll have to cut when I missed stepping on it first, it was damn fast. I may upload the video so you can see what I mean, it spawns out of nowhere since at the horizon you cannot see clearly.

wittaj said:
I am the some other dude LOL, and you are taking the statement out of context.

I said the cheap@$$ cameras you have shoved too many MP on a sensor designed for lower MP and the lower MP will outperform the higher MP on the same size sensor.

Get a higher MP camera on the ideal sensor for that MP and then the higher MP will be better.

This chart is used by many here as the go to on determining what MP to go with for the sensor size of the camera. Green is ideal for low light performance. Red is poor for low light performance:

View attachment 221575

While not totally applicable to your situation, this thread is used by many to demonstrate the importance of sensor size, not MP.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

But again, keep in mind these cameras are designed to detect humans and vehicles. It is using old sensor technology years behind what is available in an iphone or any newer mobile phone.

And that is why sensor size plays an important factor in the MP.

You may get lucky if you set the camera close enough to suspected areas and keep it there a day or two and then move the camera. But I would be looking at a few feet per field of view. To set one of these up on the other side of the room to see the whole wall on the other side and you probably won't be successful.
Click to expand...
The best way to do this imo after testing, is to just put the camera on the floor, so the IR light shines up any stuff on top of it, so when you see a white spot moving around, you already know. As far as what you mentioned, then what would be the best camera to buy? Also what do yo uthink about zooming? digital vs optical zoom. I asked Grok about some recommendations and said this:

Final Recommendation

Best Overall: Eufy Indoor Cam S350 ($130) is the top choice due to its 4K resolution, 360° pan/tilt, 8x hybrid zoom, and easy setup, making it ideal for detecting small insects in a pitch-dark kitchen. Its dual lenses allow simultaneous wide and zoomed views, overcoming the Tapo C210’s resolution and sensitivity issues.

Best for Advanced Users: Amcrest UltraHD 5MP ($100–$150) is excellent if you’re comfortable with technical setup and want a varifocal lens for precise focus on entry points, paired with Blue Iris for optimized motion detection.

Best Budget Alternative: Reolink RLC-810A ($100–$120) offers 4K resolution and long-range night vision at a lower price, though it lacks pan/tilt.

Other Viable Options: Hikvision DS-2CD2087G2-LU (4K, $150–$200) for color night vision, Dahua IPC-HDW5442TM-AS (4MP, $120–$160) for long-range IR, or Tapo C520WS (2K, $70–$90) for a budget pan/tilt option (though less reliable for tiny insects).
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it said Eufy S350 has partial Blue Iris compatibility for some reason, and that Armcrest one had better. Im new to this, from what I've read, Blue Iris is the monitoring software that everyone uses for PC.
 
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Per the thread I linked, optical zooming will beat digital zooming all day and night long. Digital zoom only works in the movies and on TV.

Grok is wrong on lots of things. The Dahua 5442 would be the only one I would recommend, but again, these cameras are not suited for your use case.

Sure you may capture some incidents, but a blind squirrel finds a nut too every once in awhile.

As far as those other cameras, we have a whole thread dedicated to the quality, or lack thereof, of these consumer based cameras. If they complete miss a person, it will miss an insect.

wittaj

Thread 'The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.'

Love these posts on Nextdoor type apps LOL.

This thread will be used for members to post the poor quality consumer grade type camera images that we see people post to the Nextdoor type apps.

Can anyone make out this person that went thru their cars LOL....

1648431384016.png


And this thread is where members are posting the type of images we capture from better cameras of perps our cameras have captured:

The Better typical picture of a Perp we capture with better cameras than the consumer grade camera images we tend to see on Nextdoor

A while back I started the thread for us to comment and point out the issues and problems with consumer grade cameras and the images that people have posted to the NextDoor type apps. That thread has been a great resource to send the NOOB to in order to see what quality they don't get from...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com


Here is a good...
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