Mounting under soffits vs directly under rain?

[PaulOTron]

Below is my house. I'm considering two alternatives for the locations of two cameras, which should be mounted high to see over that "wall" (fence) as much as possible.

The first option is under the soffits, mounted as shown in the first picture. The drawback is both cameras would have a bit of obstruction from the lower roof. It's not enough to block the view of what matters, but the lower roof would reflect IR back to the cameras, possibly washing out the important stuff. It could also give the autofocus a bit of trouble.

The alternative is the second picture, with both mounted right at the peaks with no shelter. This would give both cameras a better view with no obstruction. BUT... I don't have enough experience to know if raindrops tend to stay or just "roll off", or if these cameras are sensitive to direct sunlight.

My cameras are the Starlight Varifocal Turrets, so they don't have their own visor.

 

[bp2008]

Hmm. Well in my experience it does help to have caneras under soffits since they are much less likely to get rain on the lens that way. My two PTZs regularly have water in front of their lenses because they are not sheltered. I even had an icicle grow on the sun shade of my starlight bullet (Z5 model which isn't available in a turret form) because it sticks out too far and water from the roof can drip onto it. That lit up half the view.

Everything else is relatively sheltered and I never have problems with them.

 

[PaulOTron]

Hmm. Do add-on "visors" exist for turret cameras? I could make some -- I know they'd be ugly so I won't. I'll describe how I would do it just to clarify what I'm hoping may exist off-the-shelf.

If I really had to do it, I would find a small bucket-shaped plastic container just large enough to fit the base of the camera inside. (4.8" in this case) Then I'd cut away some material to create an "eyebrow" similar to bullet cameras, leaving the base in place but cutting holes in it to mount the camera through the circular base.

Since I know my results would be ugly (and maybe warp or fade in the sun) I won't do this. But does anyone know of an add-on accessory as I describe?

 

[mat200]

Hmm. Do add-on "visors" exist for turret cameras? I could make some -- I know they'd be ugly so I won't. I'll describe how I would do it just to clarify what I'm hoping may exist off-the-shelf.

If I really had to do it, I would find a small bucket-shaped plastic container just large enough to fit the base of the camera inside. (4.8" in this case) Then I'd cut away some material to create an "eyebrow" similar to bullet cameras, leaving the base in place but cutting holes in it to mount the camera through the circular base.

Since I know my results would be ugly (and maybe warp or fade in the sun) I won't do this. But does anyone know of an add-on accessory as I describe?

Hi Paul,

Sun glare impacts all cameras. ( thus the placement of 2 cameras in a cross FOV pattern works well, as if one camera is getting glare, the other is not )

You can try the wall mount for the Turrets - PFB203W

You can also DIY some sort of shield - or get a Bullet version which has a small shield.

For me the view is more important, so I have mine on the wall and not under the soffit.

Heavy rain does become an issue - and certainly the Bullet version I have works better in rain vs the turret mounted directly on the wall. The turret mounted on the wall mount does better than the one on a PFA137.

 

[PaulOTron]

Thank you! That wall mount would certainly solve the rain issue and reduce glare!

I'd still prefer an "eyebrow visor" as I described. With the wall mount my cameras would be more noticeable and "industrial-looking"... which as debated on other threads, has good and bad points. I'm still pondering if I can design an "eyebrow solution" -- maybe a smaller one that's only double-stick taped over the "eyeball", just above the lens... Just a simple small semicircle of plastic.

 

[mat200]

Thank you! That wall mount would certainly solve the rain issue and reduce glare!

I'd still prefer an "eyebrow visor" as I described. With the wall mount my cameras would be more noticeable and "industrial-looking"... which as debated on other threads, has good and bad points. I'm still pondering if I can design an "eyebrow solution" -- maybe a smaller one that's only double-stick taped over the "eyeball", just above the lens... Just a simple small semicircle of plastic.

Hi Paul,

I recall seeing someone in an older post make a nice DIY shield for a bullet style camera.

I would be inclined to try to do this on an eyeball / turret - though it will be trickier.
I'd start with a Alum. pop / soda can - use tin snips to cut - sand paper the edge to remove sharp edges - spray primer - paint - then somehow fit it to the rim of the face of the eyeball. That's the challenging part, that rim is super thin.

In terms of looks of the house:

1) Wall Mount PFB203W + Turret: not designed for conduit connection. Possible to completely seal.
2) Junction box PFA137 + Turret ( mounted on the wall ): designed for conduit connection. gap in setup - possible to get water in if sprayed from horizontal direction. ( PFA130E looks to solve this )

Surprisingly they both stick out about the same physically.

imho the Wall Mount is more clearly a security camera setup when glanced at quickly from any angle.

 

[PaulOTron]

Right after I posted just above, my eye caught a bottle which seemed to be the exact size and color I would need. It's Acetaminophen (Tylenol) from Sam's Club (Member's Mark brand).

I didn't think this would work as well as it might.

Turns out, the inside diameter of this bottle is EXACTLY the size it needs to be to "press fit" around the eyeball. With no tape or glue at all, it stays in place. (Although that might change in the sun so I'd probably put some silicone in there.) Obviously it's too long and needs to be cleaned up and trimmed a bit more and the label needs to be removed, but I think this might be the way I go.

If I was smarter I could have made two visors from one bottle. Unfortunately, figuring it probably wouldn't work I destroyed the other half of the bottle.

In order to make this possible I had to swallow all 600 pills. Is that bad?

 

[Mike A.]

Right after I posted just above, my eye caught a bottle which seemed to be the exact size and color I would need. It's Acetaminophen (Tylenol) from Sam's Club (Member's Mark brand)...

Will work as a sun shade but you'll likely get LOTS of IR glare from that. I tried to do something similar but the opposite - to make a "shield" to block glare coming from white trim work right above where I have one of mine mounted. Didn't work. Even painted flat black it still threw more IR back than I had before. Same with some of my old bullet cams that had shades unless pulled all the way back. Always reflected too much glare back.

 

[PaulOTron]

Hmm... Well then, maybe for this particular camera I could rotate the ball upside-down so the lens is near the top and the IR emitters are lower, and trim away more material. Since it will now be closer to the lens it shouldn't need as much for sun and rain. I was growing fond of the "Mickey mouse face" of this camera but there's no reason not to flip it and flip the image.

Did you do this with the same model camera?

 

[Mike A.]

No, not the exact cam. That one of mine is a fixed lens version with the emitter next to the lens. Might be a little better rotated but I still think that you're going to see too much glare. Doesn't take much to really wash things out. But give it a try...

 

[tangent]

I'd still prefer an "eyebrow visor" as I described.

That's likely to increase spider activity in front of your cameras in addition to potential IR refelction.

 

[tangent]

Make sure you waterproof the ethernet connection. You could mount a camera directly to the fence.

 

[PaulOTron]

You could mount a camera directly to the fence.

Yep. But there's a lot of pedestrian traffic, so I'll wait until I can do it in a way that protects the cameras from vandalism. Specifically I will soon replace the "manual swinging gate" with a single motorized sliding gate. Since that gate will be "offset" from the main fence on a track, I'll use a "doorknob saw" (whatever you call them) to cut a hole through each 4" post, inserting bullet cameras through those holes, facing each other in opposite directions down the street. (I know their IR emitters would blind each other, so I'm thinking color-mode only. There's good lighting and the Starlights are effing AWESOME in low light.)

 

[mat200]

Yep. But there's a lot of pedestrian traffic, so I'll wait until I can do it in a way that protects the cameras from vandalism. Specifically I will soon replace the "manual swinging gate" with a single motorized sliding gate. Since that gate will be "offset" from the main fence on a track, I'll use a "doorknob saw" (whatever you call them) to cut a hole through each 4" post, inserting bullet cameras through those holes, facing each other in opposite directions down the street. (I know their IR emitters would blind each other, so I'm thinking color-mode only. There's good lighting and the Starlights are effing AWESOME in low light.)

Hi Paul,

Sounds like that upgrade will be a great time to pull also a conduit for data to that location! ( intercom, cameras, ... )

 

[PaulOTron]

Sounds like that upgrade will be a great time to pull also a conduit for data to that location! ( intercom, cameras, ... )

Absolutely. The gate opener needs power, an intercom needs to be added, and the cameras need to be added out there. Conduit will be added for all of the above in a future project.

 

[GeoffC]

I know it's been a while, but I'd like to know how the shade worked out?
I fashioned one last night for my Hikvision DS-2CD2347G1-LU turret cam using a large pill container from Costco (glucosamine sulfate). The container is the perfect size, but the camera is a little tapered in shape at the end, so the shade won't hold on its own simply by a snug fit. I'm figuring I'll just put a thin ring of caulk around the camera as a non-permanent glue for the shade.