Cameras with Spotlights need feature to turn on light when motion is detected from Sunset to Sunrise
I like to use my spotlight as a deterrent. I'd like it to go on when there is motion at night to let someone know "hey there is a camera here, move on". However with a lot of spotlight cameras the spotlight only activates when motion is detected in Night Mode or very low light (C325WB).
For example in my situation I have decent ambient light. My C320WB never goes into Night Mode due to its starlight sensor. Without going into Night Mode the spotlights will never be triggered. I can set it to permanent night mode, that would put everything in black and white even during the day. What is necessary is a Spotlight setting that has a toggle switch to turn on spotlight during any motion from Sunset to Sunrise. Then no matter if the camera is in Night Mode or Day Mode when motion is detected it activates the lights.
From a video I watched on the C325WB model, even though it doesn't have night mode, its a color only sensor. If the camera decides there is enough light, even with motion the spotlights won't turn on.
The software of the camera are set up to use the Spotlight to assist image quality, they are not taking into account that the spotlight itself is a deterrent. It could help scare away someone in your yard or by your car. It needs it own setting where you can force it to go on during a specific time period if it detects motion. Sunset to sunrise would be great the best. Maybe even time windows can be set. I personally would like sunset to sunrise as setting a time could change throughout the year.
Eufy cameras work perfectly, the spot light turns on with motion detected at night. And it doesn't matter if I'm in night mode or day mode. However Tapo has features that are better than Eufy. Tapo can detection motion quicker and further away. It has vehicle AI. It has better pricing.
But until an update is made for these features I can't buy Tapo Cameras.
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@Jasesun An update from a post I made earlier. After testing, I found the spotlight on this camera is weak, so it would not really help me if it came on at night with detection. I ended up connecting my outdoor light to a Tapo plug switch and through the App Automation function, controlled the light to come on when the camera makes a detection at night.
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Now that I think about it, they probably haven't implemented this because it would reduce battery life, and they wouldn't be able to make outrageous claims of 300-day battery life because almost everyone would enable the spotlight-on-motion feature
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I have the new C425 battery camera but I have the solar panel so the battery should survive the occasional detection with the light on. I would like to see this feature added.
After looking through some of the comments here l saw that the light settings are in the ALARM tab. Although you can't set the light to stay on it will flash on and off. That works good to scare off intruders at least. Thanks to all on this site for the helpful info.
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Hi,
What's the model number of your camera? Is it Tapo C720?
Best Regards
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