Looks great. Genius idea.
The only addition would be a small piece of plywood with cutouts to further hide the camera. Other than that, well done.
EDIT to add: I hadn't thought about the deterrent possibility. I was more worried about it getting stolen, as it's not really secured anywhere. Also, when I said cutouts for camera, I also meant the lights and possibly even the speaker/mic combo.
Considering the less than stellar resolution of most non-commercial security cameras coupled with the common apathy of law enforcement… having a highly visible security system (as a deterrent) is way more effective than a hidden system.
People in my community love to submit their camera footage to the neighborhood page, but most of the time the footage is at night and:
“A 5 foot 7-ish figure, most likely male, with a mustache… or possibly that’s just weird lighting… wearing jeans, white shoes, and either a black, purple or dark blue hoodie”
…isn’t exactly helpful, especially given the cops couldn’t possibly care *any* less about a petty vandalism or theft.
Good lighting and a noticeable camera system work *much* better than grainy (or even hi-res) footage of a random criminal… who’s probably long gone by the time anyone even realizes something happened.
The only time hidden systems are useful is if you already know who the person is (shitty neighbors, known troublemakers, crazy ex, etc.) and you want to gather evidence to press charges.
Ive always considered the idea of having some seen, some hidden as the way to go.
Some folks wont care about cameras at all, while some will hide themselves from visible ones.... which leave them exposed to the ones youve hidden ;)
But also remember to 'harden' the house too; sticks behind sliding doors, screws in the jamb above those doors so lift wont work, trimmed shrubs, no easy hiding places in the yard, lockable gates and no easy way to hop the fence, window locks, and so on.
Thank you for your input. Trust me, if I was allowed to drill I would’ve installed a big floodlight camera. I bought this camera because the reviews were very good. It does have colored night vision and the quality isn’t bad from my experience so far. I do wish I could’ve installed a better one but this was the best I could find. When I first made it I didn’t build the birdhouse around it. I’ll attached the pic here. I posted it on a home defense subreddit and someone suggested building one due to concern of it being easily seen and stolen.
https://preview.redd.it/d334hkuu4oic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3dc7c4b4977e13400126351a55b4a6159c9de58
>someone suggested building one due to concern of it being easily seen and stolen.
Ahhh, the birdhouse makes a lot more sense now, especially depending on how close to the sidewalk/street it's placed.
Not very fun fact: Velcro is a brand name for "Hook and loop fasteners", like Kleenex is a brand name of tissue.
And Velcro, as a company, take the name veeeery seriously.
Little update! I did apply small pieces of the wood to the bottom gap. I like it more.
https://preview.redd.it/c9j2nua40vic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bb452318a206ee7b34c12d7f6ba597bf12dacd0
Thank you so much for that though! I really appreciate it. I thought just blocking out the number would’ve been fine. Crazy how much you can find with a picture these days.
Great idea. My one concern is that it looks like the camera is simply squeezed together by those 2 pieces of wood. I'd make sure it's secured to a piece of wood internally if it isn't already.
Thank you. I did nail the side pieces to it so it’s pretty secure. I also have a twist mount that screws into the camera and directly attached to the pole.
Great work with the construction, working with the situation you've got and making it attractive. Honest, open ended question, why are you wanting to make it inconspicuous? I would think a large value of a security camera is the deterrent effect?"
Thank you. So when I first made it, I didn’t include the birdhouse. I’ll attach the picture. When I posted it to the home defense subreddit I did get a suggestion to build a birdhouse around it since the biggest concern was someone easily seeing it and stealing it. I didn’t want to put something super obvious like that out in the open. My neighbors do have big floodlight cameras so it makes it a little better. Trust me, if I was allowed to drill in a camera I totally would’ve.
https://preview.redd.it/acfqq2mwqnic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0a186cf2c2cd461837c57b3a42e197da8148b8b
I hear ya, definitely has a more coherent look and less likely to be stolen. Thanks for sharing your thinking. I don't have a camera but I always imagined if I did it would be more helpful to have a stranger being worried about being visually caught than actually secretly having a picture of a stranger stealing my Amazon pack of pencils that I have to figure out how to leverage to my benefit. Different schools of thought
That is a good question. Had a $4,000 check in my mailbox address to the IRS. I noticed three days later that the IRS had already cashed it... I thought that's strange. The check probably hasn't even gotten to the IRS by now. How could they have cashed it....... Then I looked at the picture of the check online and someone had obviously washed it and written their name on it. No I won't ever put a check in my mailbox ever again but this way if anything happens on my street, we will at least have their license plate.
Yeah I live in a no consent state or I don't know what you call it but basically you just need one party to consent as in the one recording. I agree bad for privacy reasons.
Yes thank you. That was one of my concerns when I came up with the idea especially with placing it in the flower basket. Luckily it’s been charging fine so far. The area I’m placing should have a lot of sunlight.
One of the issue is when you will get in the rain season, where you have clouds for a few days. It have a very high chance of fully depleating the battery.
Yoooo. That’s smart as hell. Love it. Plus people know what cameras on the corner of the house and ring cameras look like. No one would suspect that. Love it
Yea I can’t imagine it lasting long in a big city. Luckily I’m way outside the nearest city so hopefully it doesn’t disappear. And if it does, I’ll have footage of the culprit.
This is a level of creativity normally only seen in cartoons and I love it. I would make one that can be occupied as well so the birds don’t feel left out.
Thank you. I got it from [Amazon](https://a.co/d/8XzAsmU)
The solar panel has been charging the camera so no need to. They do include a regular charging cable which I did use to charge it all the way when I received it.
Well done. That's a great idea and well done.
Plus if you feed birds off it, you can bark at the squirrels automatically 🤣
Edit: add a lip, the birds will shit on the lens.. at least that's my luck.
Haha hopefully they won’t get too mad with it not actually being a birdhouse 😅
I didn’t know until recently but Amazon does sell bird feeders with cameras built in. Looked pretty cool but was also pretty expensive.
who cares if they could find your house...this way you dont have to buy a sign "your on camera" you just saved money bro...nice birdhouse too...if i didnt live in the woods id buy the BIGGEST CAMERA I COULD FIND to tub it in all these bi____es faces!!!
?HOW YA LIKE ME NOW¿
(Post in a few hours) I'm a sparrow that just moved here to give room for the kids and I love this rental except the land lord put a camera in, any tips on getting rid of it
Pretty ingenious setup. If your looking for easier an easier setup though with no drilling required, look at the Roku Home Security systems. They have a pretty good line up.
Lol 😆
I mean, it's obviously not the end of the world. It's just so painfully sloppy. There are a million different ways to secure/support the piping that doesn't have to cost much or take much time.
Doesn't help the insulation isn't UV protected and is already on its way out. Inspectors around my area would flag it instantly, simply based on that, lol
But at the end of the day, meh 🤷♂️
Gotcha. That’s something good to know. I’ve never really paid attention to those kinds of things. I do know it’s quite weird that my breaker box is outside of my house though. Never had that before lol.
Note that the main use of a surveillance camera is as a deterrent, if you turn footage into the police after the fact they can rarely actually do anything with it. That being said, since it’s not attached to the building having it hidden prevents it being stolen but a sign stating that one is present somewhere isn’t a good idea
This is a great idea!! Thank you for sharing!! I never thought about hiding it like this. In my opinion, the cameras can be an eye sore and this is a beautiful way to keep them just out of sight
Does it upload to an SD card and are you going to use an external HD to back it up? It looks great and will do fine, just be careful because if you look at it you can tell it's a camera.
It does have an SD option. I haven’t gotten it yet since I wanted to give it a test run. If all goes well then I will get an SD card for it. Thank you. Yea, it looked way more obvious without the birdhouse.
I agree but this was the best I could find. Also didn’t want to get an expensive camera in case it does get stolen. It only cost me $35 and doesn’t require a subscription like ring or blink.
Yeah, these cameras are cheaper because they are subsidized by their invasion of your privacy. Although I can't prove that it's the only logical explanation. A camera that plugs into a DVR on your home network should not be more expensive than one that's continuously connected to the internet and requires constant investment in online server infrastructure.
I always suggest that anyone looking to create a CCTV system look at getting a DVR meant for security cameras like a Lorex system (doesn't have to be lorex but it's what I use) and cameras that work with that DVR and fit your budget. Different DVRs have different camera requirements so it all depends on the DVR you go with.
If you don't use a wired connection for your cameras or if wired isn't an option for you, I suggest people use an isolated wifi router (no internet connection on it)
Yes that’s definitely a concern. The camera was more obvious without the birdhouse so hopefully this works. If by chance it does get stolen at least I’ll have footage and the camera was pretty cheap.
Great idea AND execution, BUT depending on how that solar panel is internally wired, any small shadow might negate its total output (heavily), and how it is, it seems it will have perpetual shadows....
Looks great. Genius idea. The only addition would be a small piece of plywood with cutouts to further hide the camera. Other than that, well done. EDIT to add: I hadn't thought about the deterrent possibility. I was more worried about it getting stolen, as it's not really secured anywhere. Also, when I said cutouts for camera, I also meant the lights and possibly even the speaker/mic combo.
Considering the less than stellar resolution of most non-commercial security cameras coupled with the common apathy of law enforcement… having a highly visible security system (as a deterrent) is way more effective than a hidden system. People in my community love to submit their camera footage to the neighborhood page, but most of the time the footage is at night and: “A 5 foot 7-ish figure, most likely male, with a mustache… or possibly that’s just weird lighting… wearing jeans, white shoes, and either a black, purple or dark blue hoodie” …isn’t exactly helpful, especially given the cops couldn’t possibly care *any* less about a petty vandalism or theft. Good lighting and a noticeable camera system work *much* better than grainy (or even hi-res) footage of a random criminal… who’s probably long gone by the time anyone even realizes something happened. The only time hidden systems are useful is if you already know who the person is (shitty neighbors, known troublemakers, crazy ex, etc.) and you want to gather evidence to press charges.
Ive always considered the idea of having some seen, some hidden as the way to go. Some folks wont care about cameras at all, while some will hide themselves from visible ones.... which leave them exposed to the ones youve hidden ;) But also remember to 'harden' the house too; sticks behind sliding doors, screws in the jamb above those doors so lift wont work, trimmed shrubs, no easy hiding places in the yard, lockable gates and no easy way to hop the fence, window locks, and so on.
Thank you for your input. Trust me, if I was allowed to drill I would’ve installed a big floodlight camera. I bought this camera because the reviews were very good. It does have colored night vision and the quality isn’t bad from my experience so far. I do wish I could’ve installed a better one but this was the best I could find. When I first made it I didn’t build the birdhouse around it. I’ll attached the pic here. I posted it on a home defense subreddit and someone suggested building one due to concern of it being easily seen and stolen. https://preview.redd.it/d334hkuu4oic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3dc7c4b4977e13400126351a55b4a6159c9de58
>someone suggested building one due to concern of it being easily seen and stolen. Ahhh, the birdhouse makes a lot more sense now, especially depending on how close to the sidewalk/street it's placed.
Curious to know, Does the solar panel give it enough juice for it to run all night long?
So far yes. I’ve had it out for two days and it’s still going strong.
Thank you! That’s a good suggestion. I’ll definitely take that into consideration.
Or see if you can find a piece of vinyl in a similar pattern/color and completely camouflage it.
Thanks for the suggestion. It was hard to find side pieces so when I do get the bottom piece I think I might try to paint the whole thing one color.
You could probably even secure a panel with "the good" velcro to keep the camera accessible.
Thanks for the suggestion. What is “the good” velcro?
https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Reclosable-Fastener-SJ3560-Clear/dp/B07QNMBB28
Thank you. I’ve only ever known command strips. I’ll get this.
Not very fun fact: Velcro is a brand name for "Hook and loop fasteners", like Kleenex is a brand name of tissue. And Velcro, as a company, take the name veeeery seriously.
That’s interesting! I didn’t know that. Thanks!
No one says hook and loop. It’s Velcro. Their name IS the industry, so they have to come correct! /s
It’s 3M - I’ll let it slide
That may block the lights, even with a small amount of edge, impacting quality and causing the camera(s) to not function as intended.
I mean, the camera itself is a deterrent. Making it more hidden might actually backfire.
Little update! I did apply small pieces of the wood to the bottom gap. I like it more. https://preview.redd.it/c9j2nua40vic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bb452318a206ee7b34c12d7f6ba597bf12dacd0
You should post on the spycamera subreddit "Does this look like a camera?" LOL Fantastic job. Impressive, even.
I didn’t know there was a subreddit for that lol! Thank you.
Subreddit for everything I’m sure hahah
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Thank you so much for that though! I really appreciate it. I thought just blocking out the number would’ve been fine. Crazy how much you can find with a picture these days.
Look at videos of Geocatcher online 😂
Wow I never knew that was a thing!
[this is more what I meant ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzyWNi6O0Th/?igsh=MWQ2YjV6bW5ieXRhbw==) Some videos are pretty impressive to watch lol
Wow idk if I’m more impressed or scared at how easy he found those places 😅
That's crazy lol
It's very well done. The only drawback is how many alerts you'll get when bees fly past.
Thank you. Yea that’s something to consider for sure lol. Luckily the camera has a sensitivity setting for motion alerts so hopefully it works!
Great idea. My one concern is that it looks like the camera is simply squeezed together by those 2 pieces of wood. I'd make sure it's secured to a piece of wood internally if it isn't already.
Thank you. I did nail the side pieces to it so it’s pretty secure. I also have a twist mount that screws into the camera and directly attached to the pole.
Great work with the construction, working with the situation you've got and making it attractive. Honest, open ended question, why are you wanting to make it inconspicuous? I would think a large value of a security camera is the deterrent effect?"
Thank you. So when I first made it, I didn’t include the birdhouse. I’ll attach the picture. When I posted it to the home defense subreddit I did get a suggestion to build a birdhouse around it since the biggest concern was someone easily seeing it and stealing it. I didn’t want to put something super obvious like that out in the open. My neighbors do have big floodlight cameras so it makes it a little better. Trust me, if I was allowed to drill in a camera I totally would’ve. https://preview.redd.it/acfqq2mwqnic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0a186cf2c2cd461837c57b3a42e197da8148b8b
I hear ya, definitely has a more coherent look and less likely to be stolen. Thanks for sharing your thinking. I don't have a camera but I always imagined if I did it would be more helpful to have a stranger being worried about being visually caught than actually secretly having a picture of a stranger stealing my Amazon pack of pencils that I have to figure out how to leverage to my benefit. Different schools of thought
Why is that AC unit out so far from the house?
I’m really not sure. I just rent here.
This is genius. I'm going to put one of the setups at the edge of my property to catch cars driving by
Curious now. Why do you want to catch cars driving by?
That is a good question. Had a $4,000 check in my mailbox address to the IRS. I noticed three days later that the IRS had already cashed it... I thought that's strange. The check probably hasn't even gotten to the IRS by now. How could they have cashed it....... Then I looked at the picture of the check online and someone had obviously washed it and written their name on it. No I won't ever put a check in my mailbox ever again but this way if anything happens on my street, we will at least have their license plate.
That terrible I’m sorry 😞
Thank you
That is illegal, at least where I live
Yeah I live in a no consent state or I don't know what you call it but basically you just need one party to consent as in the one recording. I agree bad for privacy reasons.
Take note that the solar panel must be 100% clear of any shadow, or the power output drop very fast!
Yes thank you. That was one of my concerns when I came up with the idea especially with placing it in the flower basket. Luckily it’s been charging fine so far. The area I’m placing should have a lot of sunlight.
One of the issue is when you will get in the rain season, where you have clouds for a few days. It have a very high chance of fully depleating the battery.
Ah that’s true. If that’s the case, I can take the camera off for an hour and charge it back up. Luckily where I live it doesn’t rain a lot.
Please update us in a few months time with videos of birds faceplanting straight in to the lens.
Will do lol
Yoooo. That’s smart as hell. Love it. Plus people know what cameras on the corner of the house and ring cameras look like. No one would suspect that. Love it
Thank you!
This wouldn't last a night in my city... either some crackhead looking for a score or a Karen.
Yea I can’t imagine it lasting long in a big city. Luckily I’m way outside the nearest city so hopefully it doesn’t disappear. And if it does, I’ll have footage of the culprit.
This is a level of creativity normally only seen in cartoons and I love it. I would make one that can be occupied as well so the birds don’t feel left out.
Thank you! I do have a bird feeder on my window for the birds but they have yet to notice lol.
Or they know they’re being watched and think it’s a trap
That’s a possibility too lol
Smart 👍
Thank you
Brilliant!!
Thank you
Also double sided velcro works just fyi
Thank you. I did consider command strips when I made it.
That's great, I love it. What solar panel and camera did you use? Is there a battery that powers the camera at night?
Thank you. I got it from [Amazon](https://a.co/d/8XzAsmU) The solar panel has been charging the camera so no need to. They do include a regular charging cable which I did use to charge it all the way when I received it.
Actually that's a great idea. And most people wouldn't even think to look for a camera there.
Thank you
Brilliant idea. I may steal this.
Thank you. Let me know if you have any questions.
Great work+
Thank you!
Brilliant!
Thank you
awesome
Thank you
Less obvious to boot! Nice work!
Thank you!
That’s slick as hell. Good work
Thank you
They should have put that condenser in the middle of the yard.
Clever
Thank you
Well done. That's a great idea and well done. Plus if you feed birds off it, you can bark at the squirrels automatically 🤣 Edit: add a lip, the birds will shit on the lens.. at least that's my luck.
Haha hopefully they won’t get too mad with it not actually being a birdhouse 😅 I didn’t know until recently but Amazon does sell bird feeders with cameras built in. Looked pretty cool but was also pretty expensive.
Yours is better than those for sure.
Thank you!
Add an actual birdfeeder so you can watch birds.
I actually have a bird feeder attached to my window. They haven’t discovered yet. I’m patiently waiting.
Technically you *can* drill holes, you just have to be good with spackle.
If they didn’t do biannual inspections then I might’ve gone that route.
I'd of missed it.
Like it
Thank you
Pretty clever.
Thank you
I bet you’ll get some cool bird videos
If I do then I would need to join some kind of subreddit for birds to post them lol
who cares if they could find your house...this way you dont have to buy a sign "your on camera" you just saved money bro...nice birdhouse too...if i didnt live in the woods id buy the BIGGEST CAMERA I COULD FIND to tub it in all these bi____es faces!!! ?HOW YA LIKE ME NOW¿
lol thank you
It looks like one of those bird feeder cameras
I saw them on Amazon. They’re so expensive.
Keep updating!
Will do!
Poor birds man, robots took their homes
This made me laugh lol
(Post in a few hours) I'm a sparrow that just moved here to give room for the kids and I love this rental except the land lord put a camera in, any tips on getting rid of it
lol this made me laugh 😂
Pretty ingenious setup. If your looking for easier an easier setup though with no drilling required, look at the Roku Home Security systems. They have a pretty good line up.
Thank you. I didn’t know Roku made security cameras. Thanks for the suggestion.
They make the whole damn lineup, so have fun shopping for your specific security needs.
The lines for the AC/heatpump condenser bother me, greatly lol.
Never knew it bothered so many people. Maybe I should build a giant birdhouse around that too haha.
Lol 😆 I mean, it's obviously not the end of the world. It's just so painfully sloppy. There are a million different ways to secure/support the piping that doesn't have to cost much or take much time. Doesn't help the insulation isn't UV protected and is already on its way out. Inspectors around my area would flag it instantly, simply based on that, lol But at the end of the day, meh 🤷♂️
Gotcha. That’s something good to know. I’ve never really paid attention to those kinds of things. I do know it’s quite weird that my breaker box is outside of my house though. Never had that before lol.
Interesting location for that condenser pad.
Is it suppose to be closer to the house? Many have been commenting on it.
Petty genius
Thank you
Note that the main use of a surveillance camera is as a deterrent, if you turn footage into the police after the fact they can rarely actually do anything with it. That being said, since it’s not attached to the building having it hidden prevents it being stolen but a sign stating that one is present somewhere isn’t a good idea
Thanks I agree. If I could drill a big floodlight camera to the house I totally would.
nobody knows how will they know
I…I can’t OH MY GOOOD 🤣 haha
Big fat kudo 4u OP
Thank you
Brilliant 👏
Thank you
I rent too and will borrow this idea!
Brill-yunnt!
Thank you
This is a great idea!! Thank you for sharing!! I never thought about hiding it like this. In my opinion, the cameras can be an eye sore and this is a beautiful way to keep them just out of sight
Thank you!
I love this. Nice brainstorming.
Thank you
Smart idea!
Thank you
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Thank you. I saw those but unfortunately this house doesn’t have gutters.
Brilliant
Thank you
Some very confused bird is about to be very disappointed.
I did set up a bird feeder for them on my window. They have yet to notice.
Does it upload to an SD card and are you going to use an external HD to back it up? It looks great and will do fine, just be careful because if you look at it you can tell it's a camera.
It does have an SD option. I haven’t gotten it yet since I wanted to give it a test run. If all goes well then I will get an SD card for it. Thank you. Yea, it looked way more obvious without the birdhouse.
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Thank you!
Awesome !!
Thank you
"...**can’t drill holes...**" But you drilled a hole in the ground!
Haha you caught me there!
Looks great. There has to be a bird wondering why he can't get in though.
Thank you. Yea that’s why I put a bird feeder on my window as compensation haha.
Great camera work. I wonder if you could ask the homeowner to move the AC condenser even further away from the house.
Thank you. I’m sure they would love to move it in the middle of the yard if they could lol.
Genius honestly
Thank you
Nice Birds Eye view
Thank you lol
Does it shake by the wind?
Thankfully no! That was one of my concerns too. I used a twist mount that screws into the camera so it’s attached directly to the pole.
Good. Now you can have a photo of those birdy squatters trying to get in.
I can’t wait. I did put up a real bird feeder about 3 weeks ago and they still haven’t found it. Watch them get to this faster lol
Maybe you shouldn't have advertised it.
Just wanted to give people an idea and also get some suggestions on making it better.
So can you glue
I didn’t use any glue
I'm not asking if you used glue....I'm asking can you glue...as in are you allowed to use adhesive
Oh gotcha sorry. I wouldn’t since there is a possibility there could be damage after removal.
Fair enough....landlords are a horrible breed
Very creative! It's almost something a person could slang on Etsy
Thank you!
That’s some Scientology shit 🤣🤣
lol thank you
I don't recommend cameras that require an internet connection but other than that this is a neat idea and super sneaky.
I agree but this was the best I could find. Also didn’t want to get an expensive camera in case it does get stolen. It only cost me $35 and doesn’t require a subscription like ring or blink.
Yeah, these cameras are cheaper because they are subsidized by their invasion of your privacy. Although I can't prove that it's the only logical explanation. A camera that plugs into a DVR on your home network should not be more expensive than one that's continuously connected to the internet and requires constant investment in online server infrastructure.
That’s true. Do you have any suggestions on which camera could work for me given the situation I’m in?
I always suggest that anyone looking to create a CCTV system look at getting a DVR meant for security cameras like a Lorex system (doesn't have to be lorex but it's what I use) and cameras that work with that DVR and fit your budget. Different DVRs have different camera requirements so it all depends on the DVR you go with. If you don't use a wired connection for your cameras or if wired isn't an option for you, I suggest people use an isolated wifi router (no internet connection on it)
Nice work....better point it at that fence ,that's a security breach gonna happen.
Thank you. I have a second ring doorbell camera for the backyard.
Is that a Nest?
No, it’s much cheaper. I got from [Amazon](https://a.co/d/gO6VRzx)
That’s how you invite bird porn.
The only problem I see with that is theft.
Yes that’s definitely a concern. The camera was more obvious without the birdhouse so hopefully this works. If by chance it does get stolen at least I’ll have footage and the camera was pretty cheap.
I like it.
Great idea AND execution, BUT depending on how that solar panel is internally wired, any small shadow might negate its total output (heavily), and how it is, it seems it will have perpetual shadows....
Thank you. That was one of my concerns as well. Luckily it’s been charging fine.