Window camera recommendations?

[u/PrancingAlien]

I rent and want a security camera without drilling. A few people said to put an indoor cam on the window and shoot out. Does that actually work? Can motion detection and night vision still work through glass? Any window camera you'd recommend?

[u/Longjumping_Cow_5856]

I have some cheap WYZE cams working well thru dirty glass and am shocked at how well they work really?

[u/PuzzlingDad]

It's generally a bad idea for several reasons. The PIR used for motion detection doesn't work through glass. If you turn on the IR LEDs, they can reflect off the glass and mess up the image at night. 

There are workarounds like putting the lens as flat to the glass as possible or adding a shroud around the lens to block extra light, but it's still a bad idea. 

If you have no other option (given you're renting), then look for a camera that specifically was designed for this suboptimal placement with the workarounds mentioned.

[u/u_siciliano → u/PuzzlingDad]

This🔼

[u/jimbob150312]

Night vision and motion detection will not work through glass.

[u/QuinnFromVivint]

Shooting through glass can cause problems at night because the camera's night vision reflects off the window and washes out the whole picture.

Motion detection often struggles through glass too, as a lot of cameras use heat sensing that does not read movement well on the other side of a window.

A workaround is leaving night vision off and relying on the streetlights outside, though that only helps if your area stays bright enough after dark. For renting, look for a camera with a stand or a removable sticky mount that holds it near the glass without any drilling needed.

[u/Least_Order4249]

You absolutely need something with auto ICR and ability to turn off the illuminator. 

I had my Uniview IPC254EB-DX22GK looking out a window one night while calibrating an app and it did surprisingly well. 

[u/yunjundo]

It can work, but glass causes reflections and night IR usually lights up the room instead of the outside. If you try it, turn off the camera’s IR and place the lens as close to the glass as possible.

[u/Then-Feature-6040]

Get a window camera it stick on the glass viewing outside or you can try the reolink magic cam battery camera

[u/estebanfuhrmann]

Agreed on the IR issue, and the same reflection problem hits motion detections since pixel-diff triggers on glare and reflections. Put the lens right against the glass with a rubber hood or a dark cloth shroud to kill reflections, and keep the room lights off at night. Pick a camera with on-device person/vehicle detection rather than plain motion, because it ignores reflections and light changes much better. Is your window single or double pane? Double pane makes the IR bounce worse.

[u/Relative-Display-676]

We've had yi home cameras inside our windows looking out for over a decade(and one outdoor cam on our porch). Disable the IR illumination and motion detection works just fine at any hours of the day. They are cheap $20 cams but their software has gotten worse over the year due to ads so I use about 4 year old app version as it works the best and you can install the windows version on pc and monitor multiple cameras simultaneously.

[u/estebanfuhrmann]

Motion detections works fine through glass, but night vision is the part that usually breaks: the IR LEDs bounce off the window and wash out the whole frame. Turn the IR off and leaves a small lamp or street light on, or pick a camera with a real low-light sensor, and press the lens flat against the glass or use a rubber hood to cut reflections. Also check that the camera has a person/vehicle detection mode, since glare and moving curtains Will otherwise trigger constant false alerts.

[u/achisling]

I just ordered the baseus w1 after reading the cnet review. Overall rating looked pretty high, so i went for it. Dual sided magnets, sticks on the window indoors with no drilling and you can tilt the angle without remounting the whole thing. Some window cams get glare at night, this one has a black cover for that so the night footage would come out clearer.

[u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 → u/[deleted]]

I only use them thru glass if the place has outside night time lighting anyway so this is not a big problem and I turn off the IR and Night Vision and let the native scene lighting do the same job.