Do you guys hide your cameras? Is it a deterrent or a capture mechanism

jeremylatz · Apr 25, 2018

My neighbor and I had a pow wow just now. He thinks we should make the cameras very distinguishable so that it acts as a deterrent. But I know many ipcamtalkers like "discreet" cameras - is there any reason for this? What am I missing?

mat200 · Apr 25, 2018

jeremylatz said:
My neighbor and I had a pow wow just now. He thinks we should make the cameras very distinguishable so that it acts as a deterrent. But I know many ipcamtalkers like "discreet" cameras - is there any reason for this? What am I missing?

Hi Jeremy,

I placed my cameras in the plain and clear. Many did not even notice it at first, including the delinquents.

Once noticed, some delinquents changed their behavior - sometimes to what you want - reduce thefts, and sometimes to what you do not want - turn away from cameras when thieving.

Thus:
1) Do cameras act as a deterrent? Yes
2) Do delinquents still thieve, steal, vandalize? Yes

So maybe not bad to have both obvious cameras as well as a couple hidden. ( I've been thinking of a hidden one by the mail box )

So really the most important is to place the cameras where they get the best image captures.

crw030 · Apr 25, 2018

For me it's "discreet" purely for WAF, she said she doesn't want it to look like we're running a prison or something. She used to push back until her car window got smashed over a $6 goodwill purse within like 2 months of moving into our quiet little upscale HOA. Yet in a whole year, no break-ins at the old place (poorer rural neighborhood), just by keeping the sidewalk shoveled and the grass mowed. I guess they figure there can't be much worth stealing.

jeremylatz · Apr 25, 2018

lol about the cat neighbor @TheDank - that's sneaky! Very good points as well. Which dome do you have? I keep hearing negative things about domes here but I think it's just the UV degradation if it's in sunlight.

Thanks also @crw030 and @mat200 (just learnt a new acronym - WAF!)

handinpalm · Apr 26, 2018

Not only do I want them very evident, I put a sign out front stating that the premises has cams recording 24 hr. Some thieves are very stupid and do not even look around for cams. Hopefully these people can read.

trucams · Apr 26, 2018

I have a mini-wedge dome mounted next to the front door, right at about 6 ft. There is a small glass accent window between it and the door. I put up an artsy "no solicitor" sign next to it, just to get folks to look up slightly to see what is there. Seems to get people to lift their eyes and chin slightly to glance at it and results in a better image for a few frames. Likely anything to draw attention would do the same thing. This is the only one I draw attention to.

SoCal · Apr 26, 2018

I keep big ugly cameras in plain view for all to see
Thats being said I also have the same amount built into other objects including fruit on the trees, other things you would never suspect are cameras
You would be amazed on how folks hide from the main camera only to give a perfect pose for the hidden ones.
The only issue is gutting a new cam and make a housing for it takes some creativity.

It's all intellectual intercourse with the bad guys

jeremylatz · Apr 26, 2018

TheDank said:
Hey Jeremy, yah neighbors can be entertaining...

The dome I use is a varifocal 4MP Dahua IPC-HDBW4431R-ZS, which I got from Amazon for about $95. In general there are a lot of complaints about domes outdoors due to sun reflections, IR reflections, spiderwebs, and various other problems. I've had very good luck with this though. The foam ring inside the dome on this camera shields the lens from the IR LEDs very well, so there isn't any internal IR reflection. My front porch is well covered, I'm fortunate to not have a lot of spiders so I've never had a web, and since it's right by my front door I just wipe off any dust that gathers on the dome when I see it. A front door cam can be an exception to the "no domes outdoors" rule, IMO.

I think the Dahua mini dome (IPC-HDB4231C-AS) that nayr reviewed would be a very good choice also, being a Starlight, but it costs a bit more. Dahua Starlight Mini-Dome 3.6mm (IPC-HDB4231C-AS)

Edit: Oops, correction. The IPC-HDB4231C-AS doesn't have IR, so it might not be as good of a choice as perhaps the Mini IR Wedge IPC-HDBW4231F-AS if you're looking for something smaller than a standard sized dome.

Cool! I'll check the mini IR webge out as a front door camera! - thanks. @EMPIRETECANDY also sent me some suggestions so I'll spend the next couple of days doing some more research. Excited - thanks again man.

jeremylatz · Apr 26, 2018

handinpalm said:
Not only do I want them very evident, I put a sign out front stating that the premises has cams recording 24 hr. Some thieves are very stupid and do not even look around for cams. Hopefully these people can read.

LOL I like the way you think haha

jeremylatz · Apr 26, 2018

trucams said:
I have a mini-wedge dome mounted next to the front door, right at about 6 ft. There is a small glass accent window between it and the door. I put up an artsy "no solicitor" sign next to it, just to get folks to look up slightly to see what is there. Seems to get people to lift their eyes and chin slightly to glance at it and results in a better image for a few frames. Likely anything to draw attention would do the same thing. This is the only one I draw attention to.

Oh great @trucams , @TheDank just recommended a wedge too so I'll take a look. That's a good idea to draw their eyes up - you guys have all the best ideas. Love it. I presume you mean "no solicitation"

jeremylatz · Apr 26, 2018

SoCal said:
I keep big ugly cameras in plain view for all to see
Thats being said I also have the same amount built into other objects including fruit on the trees, other things you would never suspect are cameras
You would be amazed on how folks hide from the main camera only to give a perfect pose for the hidden ones.
The only issue is gutting a new cam and make a housing for it takes some creativity.

It's all intellectual intercourse with the bad guys

You're joking about the fruit surely. What is you big ugly camera, @SoCal

Yes good idea about them posing for hidden ones - these are great ideas! (except the fruit one haha)

jeremylatz · Apr 26, 2018

TheDank said:
Hey Jeremy, yah neighbors can be entertaining...

The dome I use is a varifocal 4MP Dahua IPC-HDBW4431R-ZS, which I got from Amazon for about $95. In general there are a lot of complaints about domes outdoors due to sun reflections, IR reflections, spiderwebs, and various other problems. I've had very good luck with this though. The foam ring inside the dome on this camera shields the lens from the IR LEDs very well, so there isn't any internal IR reflection. My front porch is well covered, I'm fortunate to not have a lot of spiders so I've never had a web, and since it's right by my front door I just wipe off any dust that gathers on the dome when I see it. A front door cam can be an exception to the "no domes outdoors" rule, IMO.

I think the Dahua mini dome (IPC-HDB4231C-AS) that nayr reviewed would be a very good choice also, being a Starlight, but it costs a bit more. Dahua Starlight Mini-Dome 3.6mm (IPC-HDB4231C-AS)

Edit: Oops, correction. The IPC-HDB4231C-AS doesn't have IR, so it might not be as good of a choice as perhaps the Mini IR Wedge IPC-HDBW4231F-AS if you're looking for something smaller than a standard sized dome.

Hey TheDank, when do I specifically use the IR function?

Myllerman · Apr 26, 2018

SoCal said:
I keep big ugly cameras in plain view for all to see
Thats being said I also have the same amount built into other objects including fruit on the trees, other things you would never suspect are cameras
You would be amazed on how folks hide from the main camera only to give a perfect pose for the hidden ones.
The only issue is gutting a new cam and make a housing for it takes some creativity.

It's all intellectual intercourse with the bad guys

Thats probably the best tactic.
Some camera/s for show and some hidden so if the thief tries to sneak past the show camera they will still get caught by the hidden ones as you wrote.

Most of mine are discrete mostly becouse i want a shot of the perp before he gets a chance to mess up the camera.

Unfortunaly i cant have my cams in "out of reach" places as that would make them see outside of my yard and thats is agains the law in my country. I could ofc use "privacy masking" but it would not make an optimal view masking that much and neighbours could get angry and call the police if they think i have cameras in their direction. It has happend to others so i tend to keep a low profile on my cams.

In my country the theif could sue me and win if i did not follow the camera laws. Sometimes i wish our laws to be more like US where i have a right to defend my home. Not here so much.... Perp can sue and win if he gets hurt when trespassing/breaking in lol.

jeremylatz · Apr 26, 2018

Myllerman said:
Thats probably the best tactic.
Some camera/s for show and some hidden so if the thief tries to sneak past the show camera they will still get cought by the hidden ones as you wrote.
Most of mine are discrete mostly becouse i want a shot of the perp before he gets a chance to mess up the camera.
Unfortunaly i cant have my cams in "out of reach" places as that would make them see outside of my yard and thats is agains the law in my country. I could ofc use "privacy masking" but it would not make an optimal view masking that much and neighbours could get angry and call the police if they think i have cameras in their direction. It has happend to others so i tend to keep a low profile on my cams.

That's a good point - laws of the country. And neighbors - I don't want to invade their privacy so need to think about that.

Mr_D · Apr 26, 2018

Myllerman said:
Sometimes i wish our laws to be more like US where i have a right to defend my home. Not here so much.... Perp can sue and win if he gets hurt when trespassing/breaking in lol.

It varies by state. Some states, like California give all the rights and advantages to the criminals. Some like Texas, well, don't steal from someone's house at night if you know what's good for you.

SoCal · Apr 26, 2018

jeremylatz said:
You're joking about the fruit surely. What is you big ugly camera, @SoCal

Yes good idea about them posing for hidden ones - these are great ideas! (except the fruit one haha)

No I am 100% serious

I have avocados and oranges on the trees that are cameras. I simply made a mold out of fiberglass them made a fiberglass fruit. put the camera guts in them.
You cant tell the real from fake

TonyR · Apr 26, 2018

TheDank said:
. We have a whacky neighbor who walks his cat (yes, with a leash) and liked to hang out in our planter/garden area with the cat, playing candy crush or whatever on his phone while the cat did his business. He would "hide" around the corner, not visible from our house, thinking we didn't know he was there.

I'd save him about a week's worth of cat shit in a bag and place it on his front steps. If he says anything I'd tell him "...just returning something your cat dropped in MY flowerbeds. No need to thank me."

Jim Pederson · Apr 26, 2018

jeremylatz said:
Cool! I'll check the mini IR wedge out as a front door camera! -

I posted a pic of my new wedge install. Wife wants me to put a bird house cover on it. Working on it I told her.
First cam up HDBW4321FP-AS 2.8mm

mat200 · Apr 26, 2018

Jim Pederson said:
I posted a pic of my new wedge install. Wife wants me to put a bird house cover on it. Working on it I told her.
First cam up HDBW4321FP-AS 2.8mm

Hi Jim, nice job - nice placement. BTW = A little paint to match the walls on the cover and that mini-dome wedge will blend in well - WAF approved.

RicRat2009 · Apr 26, 2018

Had the neighbor call the cops on me one time, said I was invading his privacy. He like to sit on his porch and toke. Wasn't worried about him.
Cops told him not to worry about the camera you can see, worry about the ones you can't.
Cops then told me, he wished all houses had cameras, not to worry about him.

Search

Do you guys hide your cameras? Is it a deterrent or a capture mechanism

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

mat200

crw030

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

handinpalm

Getting comfortable

trucams

Getting the hang of it

SoCal

Young grasshopper

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

Myllerman

Getting the hang of it

jeremylatz

Young grasshopper

Mr_D

Getting comfortable

SoCal

Young grasshopper

TonyR

Jim Pederson

Getting the hang of it

mat200

RicRat2009

Getting the hang of it