Hidden V3s

I have always been of the opinion that whilst a visible camera might deter some burglars, I think that seeing a camera is more likely to make the criminal just put his hood over his head and wear a mask over his face.

I have six cameras which I have hidden so that I am more likely to see the face of anyone lurking around.

If I have done my job correctly then you will have trouble finding them in the following photos.

Hidden 04

The third one may be the most difficult to see - it is built into a modified lamp behind a sheet of I-R transparent acrylic sheet. It has to have night vision switched on as the acrylic blocks all light except I-R so the image is in black and white only.

At night the scene is lit by a 940nm I-R illuminator.

There is no light visible to human and animal eyes but the V3 can see extremely well.

This is a night video from the camera in the third photo:

And this is daytime - some detail has to be sacrificed on dull days ( like today!)

Daytime

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Hmmmmm. dont know if i agree with that, but i think i would if you had signs around with “smile you are on camera” or something similar. That way anyone wanting to break in, would see that, but not see any camera’s, and think you just bought the sign and nothing more, and then they would probably be less likely to cover their face. A bit of deceptive psychology that i think would pay off more than just hiding camera’s. DeVoID

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I didn’t want to give any warning to would-be thieves - my neighbours have visible dummy cameras and signs - they didn’t stop a break-in.

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but then, they break in, steal a bunch of your stuff and make their getaway, all you did was video them breaking in, versus deter them… and if thieves broke into your neighbors with “camera’s” and signs, i guess nothing is going to stop them. thinking the cops will catch them even if they dont cover their faces. probably not going to happen… thanks to cop shows, most thieves wear at least gloves, and showing a face to a cop probably wont catch them. All I can say, is good luck and I hope that break-in’s never happens to you.

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We live in a gated community and there are proper security cameras and signs on the entrances. Mine is just a back-up because we are some way from the entrance.

They are rarely on during the day as at least one of the neighbours is always around.

My main use is for keeping track of animals at night as we have a big problem with foxes - but maybe there will be some human vermin in the future.

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ahhhh gated with signs… yup, hidden is good…

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And on-site security guards.

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I moved your topic to this Tips & Tricks category for better visibility. Users with similar use cases are more likely to peruse this category looking for helpful ideas and solutions.

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Thanks @Seapup - I don’t know my way around the forum yet.

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The descriptions of measures below took about 18 months to implement.
I have an array of cameras set up around my house. Some way up high some lower, some of them cover each others’ blind spots, some much more visible than others. motion and contact sensors coordinated with some. Some of them are coordinated with the neighbor’s cameras (I can inspect my yard through his cameras and he can view his yard through my camera). Also, printing and posting pictures of persons engaged in suspicious activity on your property or in the neighborhood can cut down on ill-intended loitering.
None of the above will stop a determined thief. For that, you need to think about making your own gated space with entry barriers and home monitoring followed by personal protection such as sprays, tasers, and guns. My guns give me peace of mind because I have easy access to one in each space I frequent a lot. and I have put in enough range time to be proficient in using them. None of my neighbors knows that I even have guns. I even keep a sturdy fast opening folding knife hidden in a front pocket of my pants.
I use a cautious approach when strangers come to the door. I do not open my door to someone who wants to use my cell phone to call someone. I offer to call for them.
To get to know some of the neighbors, I personally sit in the driveway on Halloween night and pass out candy and miniature juices and attend to other neighbor activities.

All of the above started when I encountered two teenagers in my bedroom going through my wife’s jewelry box. And the above changed me from a nervous wreck to a confident person that rarely thinks about that past.

Victor.

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Luckily I have the barriers and security provided by the place I live - and I live in a rural location and deliveries go to the security office and we collect from there. We rarely get strangers near where we live so the cameras I have are as an insurance policy. In five years there has been one break so it is not a high crime area.

My cameras are positioned to look at each other just in case anyone decides to interfere with any of them.

I am in the UK - so guns are not a problem.

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I have signs and I have redundant cameras.

There is an obvious camera on the front and back of the house but on the porches I have cameras tucked in out-of-the-way places that record the person leaving.

The Wyze doorbell cams have been the game-changer though. I had an Amazon package stolen. I posted the cam footage to the local community Facebook page and within 10 minutes I knew who the thief was and where they lived. The police even had the video before I contacted them. The package “mysteriously” reappeared the next day.

The police were so impressed with the video quality that they stopped by a couple of times to see if I recorded a fight and vandalism across the street.

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It is amazing what people do when they don’t know they are being watched!

The signs I have are actually at the entrances to the secured area we live in and are quite a way from my cams. I just decided that they warn people that they could be recorded anywhere on the site.

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These days, its no surprise to anyone that they are on a camera. Anywhere. Well, maybe not everywhere, - inside their own homes, under a throw on the couch, when the lights are out, maybe. I do think the surprise though is that you go some place you are NOT recorded. Where would that be?

Everyone breathing these days has at least one cell/smart phone on their person - all the time. Watch - most women, - young women can’t walk down the street or across the mall without it in their hand. Nothing wrong with that. They are at the ready to record everything - anything that moves. So, even when you are getting in or out of your car at the shopping center, rubbing your butt behind your open car doors, or taking the trash out to the street, someone is recording what you do.

You laugh. You think not so, not true. Really? You are not looking up. You are not looking around when you go out. So next time, look around. Look up. You can’t go into a building anymore that you are not on 'their security cameras. And here’s another thought for you. Did you give anyone of those places permission to record yourself? No, because it does not matter. You have no expectation of privacy in public. You have no control. You have no say in what they do with what they record - of you. If cameras everywhere were not scary or enough of a creepy thing, you don’t get any say in what they do with what they record. Thank goodness for being able to order in, eh?

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And yet we still have fugitives on the run for weeks, some having to turn themselves in (or worse) before anyone tracks them down. Even in major cities. It surprises me.

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I remember when the U.S., was searching for a herd of cows with Black Cow Disease. FOUND’EM. Took about 3 weeks. Most of the time was spent looking at recorded footage. But it took us years to find Bin Laden. Considering how much money we pumped into that area, don’t ya think we bought and installed a lot of cameras there too? Hmmm

Nice! Good job hiding them.

Nope. Don’t hide security cameras. Any security expert will advise against that. Hidden cameras offer ZERO deterrence. The chances of a hidden camera helping you get stolen property back are nearly zero too. Your best hope is to keep the perps. away and obvious cameras help in that regard. There’s a reason banks, military installations, nuclear facilities, even retail stores keep the cameras VERY visible. Hidden cameras are what I call “catch 'em cams”. Best used to catch employees and such in the commission of crimes.

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I was taught that the best deterrent was a visible cam, even if it was just a dummy cam. You don’t need to be 100% secure, you just need to be more secure than your neighbor. I’ve had things worth thousands of dollars sitting outside that could have been easily stolen, but they were never touched because I specifically make my house as a whole look less valuable. There are apartments and multimillion dollar homes just a couple blocks down. The multimillion dollar homes have break-ins. At least right now, in this area fraud is 60% of the police reports.

Folks seem to reply as if its one way or the other way. No one has to justify what their choice is. Visible is good, but also not visible is useful too. I have some, 99% of the people never know it is there, unless they really know to look. And I have a couple that can be seen. Combination of results is most satisfying. Again, does not have to be simply - one way - to accomplish the objective.

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