i've bought 5 RLC-410-5MP's. the first 3 were all Hardware IPC-51516M5M, and some needed upgrading to 20121100, others didn't. last 2 I bought same order from Amazon, one was IPC-515B16M5M, the other was the same as the first 3, and one needed the firmware upgrade to 20121100 before BlueIris could reliably capture video from it.

what is the difference in these cameras? Do I in fact have to use the two different firmware updates, even tho both are the same 'build' ?

almost no rechargable batteries can charge effectively at below-freezing temperatures. not Lead Acid, not Lithium Ion, and I don't believe NiCad or NiMH are any better. And they also have a fraction of their rated power capacity when that cold, assuming they were charged before freezing.

yeah, I have good working PoE switches now, a couple of BV-Tech PoE+ gigE 4-port + 2 switches. and I found a whole catalog full of 850 nm IR floods, so I just have to figure out how I want to get 12VDC to the floods, and switch off the light in the RLC410.

.... At night insects are attracted to camera IR light. Some have installed IR illuminator lights several feet from the camera to attract insects away from the camera.

anyone have a suggestion what sort of IR illuminator lights might be suitable as a replacement for the built in light? I'd shut off the builtin, and run purely the externals. ugh, I'd have to get power to them

(if the RLC-410-5MP is running on PoE+, is 12V available at the coax power jack ? heh!)

too many bugs....

https://youtu.be/KzvczmscM14

I have 3 RLC-410-5MP with BlueIris.

I am plagued with spiderwebs and flying bugs cris-crossing my IR PoE cameras at night. Just about every evening I walk a round with a cobweb brush, twirling the brush around the front of the camera, and lightly brushing up against it and removing the spider threads. my cameras get zoomed by moths late at night this time of year, too., but at least thats just a transient event, the spider webs tend to trigger over and over and over.

the thing is, i need a pretty sensitive trigger on the main driveway camera thats up on the chimney. I want it to catch a walking person or a vehicle coming in the driveway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJGdxfkO2M
(the big blue-grey amazon van)

but that camera seems to get spider webs every night. I suppose there are spiders that live in the upper chimney that I have to eliminate or relocate.

yeah, I guess I should plan on using the reolink junction box b10 on each RLC-410 camera. OTOH, a $25 junction box for a $45 camera? sigh.

Reolink should examine how the Ubiquiti UVC-G3 camera seals and mounts. Its elegant.

Unless it is a battery camera, all the wired camera brands I know of use the same design as Reolink, the wires come out of the back of the base. This is to completely hide and protect the wiring once installed.

the base on the 410 does not seal against any mounting surface, nor is the 'ball joint' anything I'd consider waterproof, just the camera body itself.

another camera I've used, you stretch this silicone rubber gasket/plug around the RJ45 plug on the end of your ethernet wire, push it into the camera end of the balljoint, and clamp it together, and it seals around the wire entering the compartment at the back of the camera where the RJ45 jack is. I had one of these cameras completely exposed to the elements for 4-5 years and that compartment was still clean, dry, and free of any spider or other bug residue.

my biggest concern is that 12V power socket just hanging out there unused and open to the elements. wondering if I should blob it with silicone or something.

I wish these cameras had a better way of wiring them that was more weatherproof. having the reset button and unused 12V connector just hanging out on exposed pigtails is ugly. the rubber plug for the ethernet 'weatherproof' shell doesn't fit well on any of the outdoor UV grade cables I have, either.

IMHO, a POE camera should have just one connection, Ethernet... Ideally the socket should be inside a weatherproof compartment with a compression gland seal around the wire at ingress.

I've currently got 2 of these cameras mounted just under the edges of my eaves, with the base screwed to the bottom edge of the facia board on the outside of the soffet, under the rain gutters, and the third one is mounted high up on a brick chimney with no weather protection at all. I'd like to pole mount a 4th and maybe 5th camera, again no weather protection.

So any ideas on better weatherproofing these cameras? do I need to put a 'weather hood' over them ?