Floodlight camera to watch over the driveway

[Mushtang]

So last Christmas I was given a Ring doorbell which is a doorbell that has a camera and speaker on it. If someone walks up to the door I get a notification on my phone before they even ring the doorbell because it has a motion sensor. I can "answer the door" from my phone anywhere and talk to the person. I wasn't sure about it before installing it, but I've grown to love it.

The biggest benefit so far has been seeing who is at the door when I'm in my basement and telling the sales person that they're ignoring the no soliciting signs and to please go away. That's better than walking upstairs just to find out I've wasted my time.

So this week I also bought the Ring floodlight camera to replace the floodlights on the corner of my house. The view from the doorbell is nice but it only sees a small sliver of my driveway. The floodlight will let me see the entire driveway (hopefully), will turn on the floodlights at night when it detects something moving, record the driveway whenever it detects something moving, and will also let me talk to someone in the driveway if I need to. "Hey! You're being recorded on camera, leave my car alone!" I almost always park in my garage but every once in a while I need to park overnight outside.

But I haven't installed it yet and I'm wondering if anyone has used this floodlight camera before and what you think of it? Also, any tips on installing it so that I don't mess up? It's going to replace an existing floodlight under the overhang on the corner of my house at the garage, so it will be powered continuously (I also have to remove the floodlight switch from the kitchen and leave the power on always).

 

[JamesS]

I also just installed a Ring doorbell but it has IR for low light viewing (black/white image) and it works surprisingly well. I've also been thinking of adding a motion activated spotlight cam to the driveway mainly for security but have been waiting for the Wyze Cam V3 to try first as it's only $20 bucks and looks to work well.

https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-v3.html

 

[Exactimator]

Like you, I started with the doorbell. And similarly, decided to get two spotlight cams (a little different than the floodlight cams) for my driveway and backyard.

They used to alarm constantly, every time a breeze blew my trees. Even the shadows of the trees would trigger it. So I had to turn off the notification on my phone because it was going off constantly. I think they worked on the software to adjust the sensitivity, and you can set up the zone the camera looks for motion in. It's pretty simple and intuitive to do. I still don't use the phone notifications because there's false alarms. It's more of a record if I find something wrong in either area, I can go back and look at the stored videos.

Make sure you note the spec about install height above the ground for best effect.

One thing I did learn: I park my truck in my driveway. One night my phone notifications kept going off and I kept checking it. Pairs of different critters were going under my truck (a pair of bunnies, later a pair of possums, later a pair of racoons). Apparently the area under my truck is nature's equivalent of a rent-by-the-hour motel.

 

[Marc_G]

Security cameras are another hobby of mine. Anyone with real interest in the subject should check out ipcamtalk.com which is probably the best internet resource for camera stuff.

I've been intrigued by the "Ring" format but haven't pulled the trigger. I basically object to anything that is going to stream video or audio of my premises out to a cloud server over which I have no control. This is due to multiple concerns: "What can they do with my data?" is an obvious one, but also "I don't want to use bandwidth that way" comes up too. As does "I bought the camera, why do I have to pay recurring fees to use it?" Also: "What if Ring dies (OK, it's Amazon now, won't die but could be discontinued or morphed to something I don't like) how do I keep using the camera?"

In other words I'm a bit of a control freak as relates to this type of data. Note, I carry an Android phone and Google knows more about me than I do, which I've made peace with. Sort of.

All that said, Ring is probably the best video doorbell with two way talk option out there.

For general surveillance needs, there are much better cameras out there from Dahua and Hikvision as the leading manufacturers. I use Blue Iris software on an old PC to record and store locally footage for about two weeks before it is overwritten. I access it via VPN when I'm out and about; when I'm at home I can access the feeds and review alerts via my LAN.

A few things about floodlight cameras: most cameras take a couple seconds to react to changes in lighting; if you set the flood to come one when something moves into view, you may not get a good image of it. Better to keep the flood on all night if practical (and if won't annoy neighbors). Alternatively, invest in a camera with good IR capabilities.

 

[Steven]

I can't say. I've been blinded.

 

[Huxter]

Apparently the area under my truck is nature's equivalent of a rent-by-the-hour motel.

Dodge Ram?

 

[OverTheTop]

I run a Reolink system that I am quite happy with. Seven cameras, all 4k POE wired to the NVR. Allows access via PCs and apps on phones.

 

[cbrarick]

four ring floods were given to me - long story - and I already had the doorbell. I also have other cameras.
They do a pretty good job. There is a transition between IR and regular when the light comes on. I would encourage people to put the shatterproof film on sliders and windows of particular concern, if nothing more then to give ring a chance to adjust to the light.
I have learned that my yard is home to turkeys, foxes, rabbits, cats, occasional dog and a myriad of birds.

 

[Mushtang]

I would encourage people to put the shatterproof film on sliders and windows of particular concern

This confused me, can you elaborate? Is there a risk of damage to windows when using the Ring Floodlights?

 

[Sooner Boomer]

What I've been thinking about is a camera hooked up to a version of the RasPi with wireless. This way, from whatever device I have, I could go to a static web address and see the view. No external server or software.

 

[cbrarick]

This confused me, can you elaborate? Is there a risk of damage to windows when using the Ring Floodlights?

Naah.. the light won't do anything. The camera is momentarily blinded when it goes from UV to regular mode. I got this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PR0W5ZQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1and put it on all my sliders and windows in the back walkout basement. The goal is to slow a theif long enough so the camera actually gets good footage. I did a old window and took a baseball bat to it. It took a bunch of shots before I got penetration thru the window

 

[Greg Furtman]

I also just installed a Ring doorbell but it has IR for low light viewing (black/white image) and it works surprisingly well. I've also been thinking of adding a motion activated spotlight cam to the driveway mainly for security but have been waiting for the Wyze Cam V3 to try first as it's only $20 bucks and looks to work well.

https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-v3.html

I bought the Wyze Cam v2 to monitor my 3D printer which is in my study upstairs from downstairs. It works great & was easy to set up. Pretty darn good for $20.

 

[manixFan]

I also just installed a Ring doorbell but it has IR for low light viewing (black/white image) and it works surprisingly well. I've also been thinking of adding a motion activated spotlight cam to the driveway mainly for security but have been waiting for the Wyze Cam V3 to try first as it's only $20 bucks and looks to work well.

https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-v3.html

My neighbor has several of the V2 cameras and just installed a V3. The increase in detail and color is pretty remarkable for the price. They also have a free (limited) cloud storage option in addition to recording to a local SD card, or you can pay for more cloud storage. I use the V2 model as my printer cam and it works very well.


Tony

 

[Lugnut56]

I installed a Ring camera/flood light unit over my garage door a door a few months ago and have been mostly satisfied with it. I have a neighbor that is a little "sketchy", and this has helped me document incidents to file complaints. I work nights, so I get a notification with video on my phone when there is motion in the front of my house. The IR video is decent, but the audio is not good (esp. if it's windy). The video is only kept online for 60 day, so I have been downloding it to a flashdrive to keep. But all in all, I would recommend getting some type of surveillance camera for your property (sad but true).

 

[Mushtang]

The IR video is decent

It's pretty good quality, but I have it set to turn on the lights when the video is recording so it goes back to full color video. That seems a little bit easier to see than the night time (IR) video.

Mine has been installed for 4 days and so far I'm a huge fan! I've got the doorbell as well, and will soon be getting a third camera pointed at my basement door behind my house for extra security. I think if someone decides to break in and as they're walking up to the door a light comes on, and especially if they turn and see that it's a camera pointing at them, they'll leave without breaking into the house.