Mounted a hidden cam in a fake smoke detector but forgot about the IR glare issue

I set up one of those dummy smoke detector cams in my garage after someone broke into my shed. Worked great during the day but at night the IR LEDs reflected off the plastic housing and washed out everything. Had to drill a tiny hole in the side and reposition the sensor to get a clear picture. Anyone else run into IR bounce with these fake housings?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin4691mo ago

Drill that hole a bit bigger and put a piece of electrical tape over the IR emitter, then cut a tiny slit in the tape. It lets just enough light through to get a clear picture without that washed out glare. I did the same thing with a fake outlet camera I set up in my living room. The plastic housing on those things is basically a mirror for IR light. Also try mounting it a few inches away from the wall or ceiling if you can, that extra gap helps a ton with the reflection issue too.

xena_bailey181mo ago

Hang on @gavin469, is a little night glare really that big of a problem? I just set mine up and the picture looks fine, I'm not trying to film a movie or anything.

faith_shah881mo ago

Wait, @xena_bailey18, you actually cut a slit in the tape on a live camera?

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