Uploaded March 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Follow along as I tinker around with a real security camera that was sold as a fake, since the signal cable was cut. It's a rambling good time, so if you don't like it when I ramble, you won't like this video.
The camera does have a microphone and it seems to be located near the IR LEDs, despite there being no opening for it to pick up sound. It seems to be quite sensitive. (Laws vary on whether or not you're allowed to record audio as part of a video surveillance system, so be sure to check before you do.)
I noticed with great interest that these cameras seem to use the superior 980 nm IR LEDs. These don't have the faintly visible red glow than the usual 850 nm IR LEDs do, so would be troublemakers won't be tipped off by the camera's IR illumination. Most camera sensors and night vision devices would still pick it up, though.
Buy one: ebay.com/itm/221480530319
US residents only. I have no affiliation whatsoever with the seller.
Oh, and the packaging in which my camera arrived was incredibly hokey. They shoved it into a flat rate mailing envelope and called it good. The camera survived, but by the time it got here, it had poked through the envelope in multiple places.
The mounting hardware included with these cameras also fits squarely into the category of "incredibly hokey". I don't think it'd withstand even a minor vandalism incident very well, so you'd do well to put it out of reach as much as is possible.
Compare and contrast (a phrase I used to *dread* hearing from my English teacher!) to Weasel2htm's making a real security camera out of a fake one: youtube.com/watch?v=VFyq8LJmlZY .
Follow along as I tinker around with a real security camera that was sold as a fake, since the signal cable was cut. It's a rambling good time, so if you don't like it when I ramble, you won't like this video.
The camera does have a microphone and it seems to be located near the IR LEDs, despite there being no opening for it to pick up sound. It seems to be quite sensitive. (Laws vary on whether or not you're allowed to record audio as part of a video surveillance system, so be sure to check before you do.)
I noticed with great interest that these cameras seem to use the superior 980 nm IR LEDs. These don't have the faintly visible red glow than the usual 850 nm IR LEDs do, so would be troublemakers won't be tipped off by the camera's IR illumination. Most camera sensors and night vision devices would still pick it up, though.
Buy one: ebay.com/itm/221480530319
US residents only. I have no affiliation whatsoever with the seller.
Oh, and the packaging in which my camera arrived was incredibly hokey. They shoved it into a flat rate mailing envelope and called it good. The camera survived, but by the time it got here, it had poked through the envelope in multiple places.
The mounting hardware included with these cameras also fits squarely into the category of "incredibly hokey". I don't think it'd withstand even a minor vandalism incident very well, so you'd do well to put it out of reach as much as is possible.
Compare and contrast (a phrase I used to *dread* hearing from my English teacher!) to Weasel2htm's making a real security camera out of a fake one: youtube.com/watch?v=VFyq8LJmlZY .
