Help to find the "right" camera models

Help to find the "right" camera models

Help to find the "right" camera models
Help to find the "right" camera models
2024-10-16 10:29:26 - last edited 2024-10-25 10:00:34

I'm totally lost in the sea of all the different available Tapo cameras. Here's what I need:

 

One outdoor-ish camera that I can put in the side entrance porch. Will not be exposed to direct rain, but obviously moisture, so I guess outside is best. Also needs to be properly attached to the wall with plugs since it'll be in reach for anyone to "pick off", so not something that someone can just grab and take away. It will have a fixed angle so no movement needed at all.

 

One other camera to get the wider field of view around the front porch, I'll put this either inside to record through the window (yes might be a bit of reflection/rain but that's acceptable) or outside. If the latter, then it will obviously exposed to a lot of rain, and being able to move might be a nice feature.

 

I'm planning to get a Tapo hub since I want to get some smart switches for my L900 anyways, so expect a H200 to be available.

 

Some support an SD card, now I guess if that's in the camera and it's outside that's a bit silly (one in reach for anyone to pick the SD card out, the other one potentially needing a ladder to access if I go for the external installation) - though what I really want is to be able to have access to recordings/streams as much as possible (I'm a software engineer and like to tinker around).

 

Location UK, so product to be available on Amazon or local retailer.

 

What should I pick?

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Re:Help to find the "right" camera models-Solution
2024-10-17 07:29:18 - last edited 2024-10-25 10:00:34

  @helveticar 

Hi,
1. If you want to store the camera video clips to the SD card inserted into the hub, currently, you can choose the outdoor camera from Tapo C420, C425, and C400 in the UK. They are battery-powered cameras, and can only store the detection video clips to the SD card rather than continuous video recordings. They do not support the Pan & Tilt feature.

 

2. You can choose an outdoor camera from this link that supports the Pan & Tilt feature. You can see if a camera supports the Pan & Tilt feature from its name. 
However, they do not support the feature to store the video clips on the SD card inserted into the Hub. You need to insert an SD card into the camera itself to store video clips.
 

3. You can choose an indoor camera from this link that supports the Pan & Tilt feature. However, we do not recommend using the camera behind a window since the infrared lights may cause reflection when the camera works in the Night mode, resulting in blurry and unclear images, thereby hindering timely detection of moving objects.
 

Best Regards

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Re:Help to find the "right" camera models-Solution
2024-10-17 07:29:18 - last edited 2024-10-25 10:00:34

  @helveticar 

Hi,
1. If you want to store the camera video clips to the SD card inserted into the hub, currently, you can choose the outdoor camera from Tapo C420, C425, and C400 in the UK. They are battery-powered cameras, and can only store the detection video clips to the SD card rather than continuous video recordings. They do not support the Pan & Tilt feature.

 

2. You can choose an outdoor camera from this link that supports the Pan & Tilt feature. You can see if a camera supports the Pan & Tilt feature from its name. 
However, they do not support the feature to store the video clips on the SD card inserted into the Hub. You need to insert an SD card into the camera itself to store video clips.
 

3. You can choose an indoor camera from this link that supports the Pan & Tilt feature. However, we do not recommend using the camera behind a window since the infrared lights may cause reflection when the camera works in the Night mode, resulting in blurry and unclear images, thereby hindering timely detection of moving objects.
 

Best Regards

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Re:Help to find the "right" camera models
2024-10-17 08:29:25 - last edited 2024-10-17 08:29:48

  @helveticar Btw, the Tapo C425 connects to a magnetic base, which may not be suitable for you.

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Re:Help to find the "right" camera models
2024-10-17 08:36:15
Thank you very much for the recommendations. Yeah, I noticed this as well, but then again if anyone wanted to steal the camera they can do the same with the front of the C420 as well as it just twists in its socket (for easy removal of the battery). It kind of makes me think I might be better off drilling a borehole through the wall and go for one of the wired cameras. If that makes the SD card local so be it, I can always go for Tapo cloud storage and set up a download script. The SD card would be more a backup in case the cloud storage stops working, wifi issues, etc. I'll survey what options work best and if there's an easy way to drill through the wall before I make a choice. Thanks for the helpful advice!
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Re:Help to find the "right" camera models
2024-10-17 10:54:38

  @helveticar  You are welcome, and thank you for your support of our product.

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