Allen Funt was the host of the original Candid Camera TV show, where practical jokes were played out on unsuspecting people and it was all recorded on a hidden camera. (Wikipedia article about Candid Camera)

I have eluded throughout this blog that I have purchased a few security cameras for use outside my house. No, I am not one of those super paranoid people. Mine all have a purpose. I have two in my chicken coop so we can quickly check on the chickens when they are being loud. They tend to get noisy when they feel threatened and we need to be able to check on the “threat” which is usually a squirrel or a fallen branch. There are however a few other critters that visit my coop. We have a fox that is interested in the chickens, but not all that interested. I have footage of her coming up to the backside of the coop and quickly sniffing the coop and then leaving. She has also seen it in other spots in the yard, but she leaves the chickens alone. I do have an American Bald Eagle in the neighborhood, and I know she would love some chicken nuggets for lunch. There are a handful of stray cats that frequent the coop and cause the hens to get a little vocal. Therefore, I have one camera in the main coop and then one inside their overnight coop.

I also have a camera mounted to the left and right of the coop. They cover a larger area of the backyard. This allows me to keep a view of those “visitors” to the coop. I have one camera at the top of the driveway and one on the street, which focuses on our cars. We have someone in the neighborhood that seems to feel that $3.25 is too much for them to pay for a gallon of gas, but they have no problem if I pay for it and they “just borrow” some from my tank when I’m not looking. This and the current trend of jacking catalytic converters warrant a set of eyes on the car. We had one of our cars’ gas tanks siphoned several times, prior to the cameras being installed.

The cameras are around $50 on Amazon and are a nice deal actually. They are IP cameras connected to your wireless network at home. If you download the app for your smartphone, then you can connect to the cameras from anywhere you can get to the internet. This allows me to check my cameras anytime and at any place. They also have a slot for a TF card (micro SD) which allows them to record motion that is detected within your set parameters. So if there is motion and you have the camera set up to record motion, it will not only record it to the TF card, but it will also send an alert to you if you have it set up to do that.

I also have solar panels connected to each of mine (except the two in the chicken coop, which are connected to regular house power as the coop is wired with electricity). The solar panels are able to trickle charge the cameras and they stay at 100%, charged most of the time (depending on the motion detected and how much sun is available any given day).

Pros: IP65 Weatherproof, Two-way audio, SMS Push alerts, Motion Detection, Batteries last for a long time, 130 Degree field of view, Night Vision,

Cons: Connects only at 2.4 GHz, they don’t appear to be true 1080p, more like 720p with digital enhancements. But the image is still very clear and usable.

The cameras are sold by a handful of different vendors (Zumimall, ZeePorte, RollGan, Letscool, Mascarry, Dihoom, Ultivon, and many others – all names are white-label drop shippers – the guts are all the same), but the actual cameras themselves are identical, just differently silk-screened name on the shell and a different box. The best deal appears to be on Amazon, I own a Zeeporte, Zuminall, and RollGan models, and they are all identical.

If you buy one and have any issues connecting or using drop me a line, maybe I can help you out.