If I had an outdoor camera, I’d use it to watch wildlife in my backyard.
We get rabbit families that nest in our backyard every year. I had a camera set up in a window at one point, and was able to watch when the babies left their nest. It was great. But my wyze cameras have all crapped out in one way or another. So it’s been harder to watch for the bunnies the last couple years.
From my home office, i can hear the mailman arrive and he frequently drops off packages for my wife. Sometime i meet hI’m at the door, but always get them quickly. Can’t do that when I return to the office. So, the camera can watch for me and I can let my wife know she has a package waiting.
We have 4 not because we need them, but because my stepson fried his brain from H and is low key paranoid Schizo. So it’s just up to keep his piece of mind that there isn’t people trying to get him.
Watch the backyard wildlife; I’d love to have seen what left the footprints in the snow last week!
Someone on Nextdoor posted footage of a mountain lion in their driveway several blocks from here and I suspect it was the same critter. My friend pointed out that the first picture looks like a cat’s face!
(That footprint was about 5" across. Needed a banana I guess but didn’t have one.)
@chienfou@Lynnerizer@yakkoTDI I love that. A guy in a nearby town has a wildlife cam set up in a dry creekbed. He put a ball there and got footage of a bobcat leaping and batting it around. It’s adorable!
@Kyeh
Raccoons were the culprits. Must say I took great pleasure in watching my snap trap work on one the next night…
BTW small prints look like bunny tracks.
These type cameras are invaluable if you have elderly parents. As Mom got more feeble (physically and mentally) having these in the house meant I could keep tabs on where she was… And come check/help if I saw a need.
They came in handy more than once.
I had an attempted break-in last year and got a couple 4K cameras to monitor front/back doors, including flashing during the wee hours to let anyone know they’re being filmed. Augmented by a 2K video doorbell that has a different angle on the walkway. Two things from that research process and my usage:
If you’re wanting cameras primarily for security purposes, I recommend getting ones that record 24/7. Mine seem to be very good at recognizing even minor events, but every once in a while, the doorbell will see something the porch corner camera didn’t or vice versa. And it can be nice to provide info that doesn’t register as an event, but may be useful to neighbors (like outer-frame info).
I’d rather spend money upfront to buy a home hub and manage my storage that way than spend a monthly fee for a hosted storage service, but I can see the argument for the other side.
@Kabn Got any recommendations for a wired camera?
Wireless would be convenient to set up, but I’m thinking wired PoE cameras (connected to a laptop or miniPC tucked away somewhere) with the ethernet cables tucked away would be a more secure option.
@pakopako I wasn’t able to find a battery-powered device that recorded constantly, which makes sense with the current power draw:battery capacity ratio.
I ended up going eufy because of the combo of focus on local storage and maturity/feature set of the app.
2x E330
HomeBase3 (WD Red 4TB drive for storage)
2K WiFi doorbell camera
Generic 12V 5.5mm male to female power extension cords
I was able to position the home base <40ft from each E330, and I’ve never had an issue with WiFi signal strength. The extra hassle of running CAT6 through exterior walls wasn’t worth the theoretical benefit for me. All devices use my main WiFi network, which is more secure and has better range than most residential setups (I’m a sysadmin by trade…).
After almost a year, I’m very happy with it. The worst nitpick I have is that the doorbell produces a lot of false positive events because it faces the street, but I “fixed” that by only having the front porch E330 (lateral view of porch) send me notifications for that area.
As usual there is no I wouldn’t use it for anything
If I had an outdoor camera, I’d use it to watch wildlife in my backyard.
We get rabbit families that nest in our backyard every year. I had a camera set up in a window at one point, and was able to watch when the babies left their nest. It was great. But my wyze cameras have all crapped out in one way or another. So it’s been harder to watch for the bunnies the last couple years.
From my home office, i can hear the mailman arrive and he frequently drops off packages for my wife. Sometime i meet hI’m at the door, but always get them quickly. Can’t do that when I return to the office. So, the camera can watch for me and I can let my wife know she has a package waiting.
@hchavers where’s your wife?
I have several cameras, I use them to Shoot people, Critters, Birds & of course landscapes!
If you are talking about the one on Sale, well I don’t use that type of camera!
I’d use each to watch the other three.
Can’t be too careful with these things!
We have 4 not because we need them, but because my stepson fried his brain from H and is low key paranoid Schizo. So it’s just up to keep his piece of mind that there isn’t people trying to get him.
@ragingredd
@Lynnerizer @ragingredd
Another solid use case…
Spy on my neighbors.Watch for the mailman. Nothing at all nefarious.
Watch the backyard wildlife; I’d love to have seen what left the footprints in the snow last week!
Someone on Nextdoor posted footage of a mountain lion in their driveway several blocks from here and I suspect it was the same critter. My friend pointed out that the first picture looks like a cat’s face!
(That footprint was about 5" across. Needed a banana I guess but didn’t have one.)
@Kyeh I thought that first pic looked like a white dog, can’t think of the name of the breed right now.
Google lens search of the pic says it’s a footprint of a coyote or a dog.
@Kyeh @Lynnerizer
A game camera is a good one in this use case. Used one to find out what was eating my chickens for instance.
@chienfou What WAS eating them?
@Lynnerizer I’m pretty sure it was a mountain lion. They come around quite a bit, and people get lots of pics on their outdoor cams!
@chienfou @Kyeh @Lynnerizer Just put an empty box outside. If it is a mountain lion all will be revealed.
@chienfou @Lynnerizer @yakkoTDI I love that.
A guy in a nearby town has a wildlife cam set up in a dry creekbed. He put a ball there and got footage of a bobcat leaping and batting it around. It’s adorable!
@Kyeh
Raccoons were the culprits. Must say I took great pleasure in watching my snap trap work on one the next night…
BTW small prints look like bunny tracks.
@chienfou Ohhh - they’re mean little devils.
@chienfou @Kyeh @yakkoTDI
Even the BIG CATS love boxes like our little ones! Those are great pics!
@chienfou Bunnies - yes, definitely, they’re always in my yard or my neighbors’ yard. Very cute, I must say.
These type cameras are invaluable if you have elderly parents. As Mom got more feeble (physically and mentally) having these in the house meant I could keep tabs on where she was… And come check/help if I saw a need.
They came in handy more than once.
I’d use them to let the spies who hacked the company and system have the pleasure of seeing that there is “nothing to see here”.
@Kidsandliz
In my case there’s plenty to see here but IDGAF.
Monitor my property and keep tabs on my cat.
@PocketBrain
Good thing it’s a four pack!
I had an attempted break-in last year and got a couple 4K cameras to monitor front/back doors, including flashing during the wee hours to let anyone know they’re being filmed. Augmented by a 2K video doorbell that has a different angle on the walkway. Two things from that research process and my usage:
@Kabn Got any recommendations for a wired camera?
Wireless would be convenient to set up, but I’m thinking wired PoE cameras (connected to a laptop or miniPC tucked away somewhere) with the ethernet cables tucked away would be a more secure option.
@pakopako I wasn’t able to find a battery-powered device that recorded constantly, which makes sense with the current power draw:battery capacity ratio.
I ended up going eufy because of the combo of focus on local storage and maturity/feature set of the app.
I was able to position the home base <40ft from each E330, and I’ve never had an issue with WiFi signal strength. The extra hassle of running CAT6 through exterior walls wasn’t worth the theoretical benefit for me. All devices use my main WiFi network, which is more secure and has better range than most residential setups (I’m a sysadmin by trade…).
After almost a year, I’m very happy with it. The worst nitpick I have is that the doorbell produces a lot of false positive events because it faces the street, but I “fixed” that by only having the front porch E330 (lateral view of porch) send me notifications for that area.