Ring Floodlight Cam
Discussion
I have a ring door bell, chime and stick up camera.
Doorbell
Pro's
- Good and adequate coverage of anyone entering my driveway all the way to my front door
- ability to talk to the postman if on the s
tter or at work - has saved me literally 40-50 visits to Royal Mail or redeliveries
- peace of mind when I am away that I will see anything that happens and ability to 2 way talk
- easy identification once people sub 5 metres from door
- ability to control features from app
- downloadable videos if necessary
- will be replaced free of charge if stolen by ring!
[b]Cons[b\]
- picture could be better but wide angle works for my needs
- battery life could be better
- you do need to tweak motion range and zones and sometimes falls alarms can make you st yourself when it dings at 3am when you're abroad
- you require the chime for internal doorbell
- wifi signal dependant
- subs cost PER device
- could be stolen easily
The stick up cam has similar pros and cons really !
Nevertheless I'm happy as it compliments by upgraded locks, alarms, double glazing, double set of front doors etc
In terms of the floodlight cam, not needed by me but maybe useful for others
Doorbell
Pro's
- Good and adequate coverage of anyone entering my driveway all the way to my front door
- ability to talk to the postman if on the s
tter or at work - has saved me literally 40-50 visits to Royal Mail or redeliveries- peace of mind when I am away that I will see anything that happens and ability to 2 way talk
- easy identification once people sub 5 metres from door
- ability to control features from app
- downloadable videos if necessary
- will be replaced free of charge if stolen by ring!
[b]Cons[b\]
- picture could be better but wide angle works for my needs
- battery life could be better
- you do need to tweak motion range and zones and sometimes falls alarms can make you s
t yourself when it dings at 3am when you're abroad- you require the chime for internal doorbell
- wifi signal dependant
- subs cost PER device
- could be stolen easily
The stick up cam has similar pros and cons really !
Nevertheless I'm happy as it compliments by upgraded locks, alarms, double glazing, double set of front doors etc
In terms of the floodlight cam, not needed by me but maybe useful for others
Finally received mine today (factory delays etc). They shipped it with a free range extender due to the shipping delay.
Looking forward to seeing how it performs. Someone put up a pretty thorough review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6eOyC0RH-Y
Looking forward to seeing how it performs. Someone put up a pretty thorough review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6eOyC0RH-Y
I don’t have the floodlight cam but I have their new spotlight cam which is similar as well as a ring doorbell.
Observations:
Connects quicker than the non mains ring doorbell install I have
Video Quality generally good, worse at night as expected
Remote floodlight on / Off is quick enough.
Borderline WiFi signal on mine but it’s the other sice of the house - Ring chime pro installed and all sorted
The cable is captive which is a bit annoying and probably the only negative.
Observations:
Connects quicker than the non mains ring doorbell install I have
Video Quality generally good, worse at night as expected
Remote floodlight on / Off is quick enough.
Borderline WiFi signal on mine but it’s the other sice of the house - Ring chime pro installed and all sorted
The cable is captive which is a bit annoying and probably the only negative.
Henry-F said:
The problem I have with all this technology is the ultra wide angle lens used. In this case it's a staggering 140º angle of view.
At first glance you'd think über wide angle view is great news as it covers a large area, the problem is you only have a limited number of pixels and they soon spread apart with wide angle cameras.
1 meter from the camera your pixels are spread about 2.4m wide
5 meters from the camera your pixels are spread just over 12m wide
As a general guide with HD 1080P you can film up to about 6 or 8 meters wide and identify someone. It isn't an absolute science but that's a pretty good guide. With this camera that would give an effective range of between 2.5 and 3.3 meters which isn't very much. I personally would be aiming for 6 meters width / 2.5m distance.
The material used in promoting cameras like these is very careful to ensure people are really close to the camera. Our experience in advising people on CCTV is that cameras generally need to have a range much greater than 3 meters to be effective. The image below is of a random bungalow, see how little effect a 3m range camera would have within the front curtilage.
We would recommend a camera with a maximum effective range of about 15m. The camera can be adjusted from 90º to just under 25º during installation so the owner can balance area covered with detail captured. In fact you would probably use 2 cameras in this instance.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone tampering with your car or walking in front of your camera but not being able to identify them because they are just a grainy blob in the middle of the screen. You can't retrospectively zoom in afterwards and get detail with wide angle cameras. All you are doing is zooming in on the pixels and getting a pixelated image, like when you zoom in of a newspaper image and see individual dots.
Henry
Good advice. I have a slightly different view with regards to security. My view is that as there are no actual legal deterrents to burglary there is little purpose in investing in collecting information that allows you to see who they are. You can record as much evidence as you wish but in reality it is not the best deterrent and probably works best as part of a more centralised scheme that is primarily focussed on making it much harder for someone to access the property, move around and to escape from, in contrast to the surrounding properties. Giving the impression of just not being worth the hassle is the best form of security. I.e. The school bully principle. The bully is operating on the same basic principles as the burglar that sees a weakness in an individual and instinctively seeks to exploit it, whereas they instinctively no to avoid those who project a certain image. At first glance you'd think über wide angle view is great news as it covers a large area, the problem is you only have a limited number of pixels and they soon spread apart with wide angle cameras.
1 meter from the camera your pixels are spread about 2.4m wide
5 meters from the camera your pixels are spread just over 12m wide
As a general guide with HD 1080P you can film up to about 6 or 8 meters wide and identify someone. It isn't an absolute science but that's a pretty good guide. With this camera that would give an effective range of between 2.5 and 3.3 meters which isn't very much. I personally would be aiming for 6 meters width / 2.5m distance.
The material used in promoting cameras like these is very careful to ensure people are really close to the camera. Our experience in advising people on CCTV is that cameras generally need to have a range much greater than 3 meters to be effective. The image below is of a random bungalow, see how little effect a 3m range camera would have within the front curtilage.
We would recommend a camera with a maximum effective range of about 15m. The camera can be adjusted from 90º to just under 25º during installation so the owner can balance area covered with detail captured. In fact you would probably use 2 cameras in this instance.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone tampering with your car or walking in front of your camera but not being able to identify them because they are just a grainy blob in the middle of the screen. You can't retrospectively zoom in afterwards and get detail with wide angle cameras. All you are doing is zooming in on the pixels and getting a pixelated image, like when you zoom in of a newspaper image and see individual dots.
Henry
Sorry forgot about this thread!
I am very happy with the device. I would definitely recommend it. The 2-way audio is clear and works wonders with deliveries when we're not in. The video is much better than I expected - infinitely better than the crappy Risco PIRs are. The light is decent enough, although we also have existing external lighting so I can't really comment.
I like knowing that if we're out and someone triggers the device, so long as I have either a 3/4g signal or wifi, I will get a an alert, which with 1-click turns into a video call, enabling me to quickly speak to whoever triggered the device, if need be. If no signal, I'll get the alert when I'm next in range. And it's all recorded.
I can change the area monitored. I can turn off alerting or schedule when to arm. I can add other Ring devices to the app.
Overall I am one happy customer.
For the money I’d rather spend on a decent 1 or two camera set up with decent, seamless recording without a cheap looking unit stuck to my house.
Looks and feels like something JML would sell.
And any I’ve seen fitted and working - the video stream is poor regardless of 4G,3G, fibre broadband etc. All round it’s a lot of money for something that’s nothing but a bit of show off and is useless if they’re not directly in front of the camera.
Looks and feels like something JML would sell.
And any I’ve seen fitted and working - the video stream is poor regardless of 4G,3G, fibre broadband etc. All round it’s a lot of money for something that’s nothing but a bit of show off and is useless if they’re not directly in front of the camera.
Henry-F said:
The problem I have with all this technology is the ultra wide angle lens used. In this case it's a staggering 140º angle of view.
At first glance you'd think über wide angle view is great news as it covers a large area, the problem is you only have a limited number of pixels and they soon spread apart with wide angle cameras.
1 meter from the camera your pixels are spread about 2.4m wide
5 meters from the camera your pixels are spread just over 12m wide
As a general guide with HD 1080P you can film up to about 6 or 8 meters wide and identify someone. It isn't an absolute science but that's a pretty good guide. With this camera that would give an effective range of between 2.5 and 3.3 meters which isn't very much. I personally would be aiming for 6 meters width / 2.5m distance.
The material used in promoting cameras like these is very careful to ensure people are really close to the camera. Our experience in advising people on CCTV is that cameras generally need to have a range much greater than 3 meters to be effective. The image below is of a random bungalow, see how little effect a 3m range camera would have within the front curtilage.
We would recommend a camera with a maximum effective range of about 15m. The camera can be adjusted from 90º to just under 25º during installation so the owner can balance area covered with detail captured. In fact you would probably use 2 cameras in this instance.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone tampering with your car or walking in front of your camera but not being able to identify them because they are just a grainy blob in the middle of the screen. You can't retrospectively zoom in afterwards and get detail with wide angle cameras. All you are doing is zooming in on the pixels and getting a pixelated image, like when you zoom in of a newspaper image and see individual dots.
Henry
Interesting, I'm just a regular gadge so don't have a huge gravel driveway like most on here - my drive is only a few feet longer than my car then onto a path at the side of a fairly busy road for both cars and people walking. Am I right in saying as I only need to cover length of around 6m away from the house by the width of the house I will be fine with one of these?At first glance you'd think über wide angle view is great news as it covers a large area, the problem is you only have a limited number of pixels and they soon spread apart with wide angle cameras.
1 meter from the camera your pixels are spread about 2.4m wide
5 meters from the camera your pixels are spread just over 12m wide
As a general guide with HD 1080P you can film up to about 6 or 8 meters wide and identify someone. It isn't an absolute science but that's a pretty good guide. With this camera that would give an effective range of between 2.5 and 3.3 meters which isn't very much. I personally would be aiming for 6 meters width / 2.5m distance.
The material used in promoting cameras like these is very careful to ensure people are really close to the camera. Our experience in advising people on CCTV is that cameras generally need to have a range much greater than 3 meters to be effective. The image below is of a random bungalow, see how little effect a 3m range camera would have within the front curtilage.
We would recommend a camera with a maximum effective range of about 15m. The camera can be adjusted from 90º to just under 25º during installation so the owner can balance area covered with detail captured. In fact you would probably use 2 cameras in this instance.
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone tampering with your car or walking in front of your camera but not being able to identify them because they are just a grainy blob in the middle of the screen. You can't retrospectively zoom in afterwards and get detail with wide angle cameras. All you are doing is zooming in on the pixels and getting a pixelated image, like when you zoom in of a newspaper image and see individual dots.
Henry
My other slight concern is I have a sloping roof porch over my front door so the only realistic points to install would be above the door around 9' up and almost in range of being pinched or above the porch where the angle may make it difficult to get coverage close to the door itself.
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