Wyze cam version 3

[Old Timer]

It looks like Wyze cam has came out with a ver 3 to replace the ver 2 camera. Still $20
There is a lot of hype that it's a night camera, but I doubt it. The ver 2 was not good at all at night, maybe 25' of IR coverage.

I have a some ver 1 and ver 2 at sites where they are likely to be stolen, and they work good enough for a basic cam.

Wyze Cam v4 | 2.5K HDR, Indoor/Outdoor, Wired Security Camera | Wyze

The best just got better with Wyze Cam v4. Clearer video with 2.5K QHD resolution. Color Night Vision. Enhanced clarity with wide dynamic range. Place it indoor or outdoor. 24/7 recording with MicroSD. All that and more means Wyze Cam v4 is the best "never wonder again" smart security camera...

wyze.com

Disclaimer, I don't work for them, don't get paid from them, and don't would never use them inside a house.
Your mileage may vary, and objects look better then they are in videos.

 

[987789]

I am probably going to toss $20 on one. I don't trust them with anything critical but I do like using them as throw away cams with RTSP firmware tossed on them. This one is water-resistant which is a big plus but makes their outdoor camera obsolete. I have a v2 on my 3d printer and I use another as a floater if I find I want to watch something.

 

[wtimothyholman]

I've bought a couple to play with, and I've become a big fan of the version 3. Yes, it really is a night camera, and a pretty damn good one for the price. It is head and shoulders above the ver. 2 camera. If you insert a 32 GB high endurance microSD card, you'll get about 4 days of continuous playback with video and audio.

I recommend this camera to anyone who doesn't want to spend much money on a security camera, but wants something that is easy to install and more useful than a Ring or a Nest. Granted, a Wyze cam will never replace a Dahua camera, but it is definitely far better than nothing at all, and at the price you actually have a chance of convincing your neighbors to install them.

FYI, here is an image taken at 3 a.m. outside my house, with the streetlight as the only illumination.

 

[SouthernYankee]

I believe that the V3 does not support Blue Iris.

 

[wtimothyholman]

the V3 does not support Blue Iris.

Unfortunately, no. If only. But the people I recommend the V3 to are generally terrified of anything that smacks of computers anyway. It is a much different audience than your experienced IPcamtalk crowd.

 

[Teken]

I’m a little surprised (not really) to learn in 2021 native RTSP / ONVIF isn’t standard fair.

The hack firmware that allows RTSP on the device shows the hardware is capable of supporting it. The company is on their 3rd iteration and five years plus in the making of v3.

But, we won’t follow any industry standards WTF???

 

[SouthernYankee]

If WYZE followed industry standard you would not be able to sell your cloud service.

 

[looney2ns]

I've bought a couple to play with, and I've become a big fan of the version 3. Yes, it really is a night camera, and a pretty damn good one for the price. It is head and shoulders above the ver. 2 camera. If you insert a 32 GB high endurance microSD card, you'll get about 4 days of continuous playback with video and audio.

I recommend this camera to anyone who doesn't want to spend much money on a security camera, but want something that is easy to install and more useful than a Ring or a Nest. Granted, a Wyze cam will never replace a Dahua camera, but it is definitely far better than nothing at all, and at the price you actually have a chance of convincing your neighbors to install them.

FYI, here is an image taken at 3 p.m. outside my house, with the streetlight as the only illumination.

View attachment 85215

A still picture with no movement in it, proves nothing. what does a person look like walking or running through the scene. It's all about motion.

 

[wtimothyholman]

A still picture with no movement in it, proves nothing. what does a person look like walking or running through the scene. It's all about motion.

You are correct. I should have included some sample video at the outset. What is most interesting about this video is the sky. Notice the clouds? That's a normal (dark) night sky, but the Wyze Cam v3 shows the clouds. I've heard that some people are actually using them for amateur astronomy.

 

[wtimothyholman]

I’m a little surprised (not really) to learn in 2021 native RTSP / ONVIF isn’t standard fair.

The hack firmware that allows RTSP on the device shows the hardware is capable of supporting it. The company is on their 3rd iteration and five years plus in the making of v3.

But, we won’t follow any industry standards WTF???

Wyze has no motivation to support RTSP or ONVIF; they want to sell their Cam Plus service ($15 / year / camera), which provides human and vehicle detection. Given the price, and also given that the camera is still perfectly usable without their cloud service, I still consider the camera worth buying. Motion detection is free, and with an SD card installed you get continuous recording. It's head and shoulders above Ring, Nest, Arlo, and similar cameras.

 

[Mike A.]

You are correct. I should have included some sample video at the outset. What is most interesting about this video is the sky. Notice the clouds? That's a normal (dark) night sky, but the Wyze Cam v3 shows the clouds. I've heard that some people are actually using them for amateur astronomy.

Yeah, some blur and artifacts there. And that looks like a relatively well lighted area. Can you adjust shutter, et. al.?

Either way at $20, still think that I'd buy a few just as inexpensive fill-ins. Add POE and RTSP/ONVIF and take my $35. ; )

Yes, the clouds at night are very cool. Especially when you time lapse it. One of my Darkfighter cams does that very well too though I don't normally run it at settings that are great for that.

 

[wtimothyholman]

Yeah, some blur and artifacts there. And that looks like a relatively well lighted area. Can you adjust shutter, et. al.?

Unfortunately, you can't adjust any settings, which is a shame. I've read about people adding a custom lens to the Wyze Cam and using it for daytime LPR. I'd love to experiment with nighttime recordings with fast shutter speeds.

As for lighting, that street is pretty dark except for that street light. The night time color and brightness are comparable to my 1/1.8" Dahua cameras.

 

[Mike A.]

Unfortunately, you can't adjust any settings, which is a shame. I've read about people adding a custom lens to the Wyze Cam and using it for daytime LPR. I'd love to experiment with nighttime recordings with fast shutter speeds.

As for lighting, that street is pretty dark except for that street light. The night time color and brightness are comparable to my 1/1.8" Dahua cameras.

Yeah, that is unfortunate. Limiting in that case. But for $20 can't complain too much I suppose.

I guess lighting is all relative. I have nothing here other than a few lights on in houses across the street. Nobody even runs any exterior lights other than my own motion lights. No hope for color at night.

 

[Teken]

If WYZE followed industry standard you would not be able to sell your cloud service.

I knew that was coming . . .

 

[Teken]

Wyze has no motivation to support RTSP or ONVIF; they want to sell their Cam Plus service ($15 / year / camera), which provides human and vehicle detection. Given the price, and also given that the camera is still perfectly usable without their cloud service, I still consider the camera worth buying. Motion detection is free, and with an SD card installed you get continuous recording. It's head and shoulders above Ring, Nest, Arlo, and similar cameras.

True, for a sub $35.XX camera rocking a 1.8” lens offering colour and onboard storage. It’s a great value priced camera to stick around.

What is the maximum capacity this hardware supports with respect to memory? Also, if you flash this camera to support RTSP do you lose any capabilities or features?

 

[wtimothyholman]

What is the maximum capacity this hardware supports with respect to memory? Also, if you flash this camera to support RTSP do you lose any capabilities or features?

The camera officially supports a maximum of 32 GB for the SD card. I've never tried larger cards, as that amount of memory provides about 4 days of continuous video storage, which is ample for a camera like this.

As to RTSP: there was experimental firmware for the v2 camera that you could install, but you'd lose cloud storage of motion clips, and lose advanced detection features. I haven't heard of RTSP firmware for the v3 camera, although Wyze has said they're working on it. But realistically, I have no expectation of them putting much effort into it. What would their motivation be? As it is, Wyze can't build the cameras fast enough. New stock sells out in a couple of days.

The real strength of this camera (besides the price) is the ease of installation. Wyze has put considerable effort into making the setup as fast and painless as possible. All you need is WiFi and a smartphone, and you can be up and running in (literally) five minutes. Open a window, mount the camera outside it, then close the window onto the flat USB power cable, and you're ready to go. They even include a magnetic base in the camera, and provide a metal disk with a 3M adhesive disk or mounting screw option.

Right now I'm trying to persuade a few neighbors to set up v3 cameras as part of a "virtual neighborhood crime watch" experiment. You can share your camera feed and motion alerts with another Wyze user, so in theory multiple people could share their outside cameras to a single neighborhood watch account. The idea would be that various people in a given neighborhood could take turns monitoring the watch account, and call the police when the door checkers hit a street late at night. The Wyze Cam v3 lacks the resolution to identify faces, but it is quite capable of warning you when a human figure walks past your home at 2 a.m. (if you pay the $15 annual cloud service fee).

If the police respond quickly enough, they could catch the door checkers in the act. Door checkers may be brainless criminal scum, but they'll run in an instant if a police car shows up. I have no expectation of our local DA prosecuting them, but if the residents and police can make a certain neighborhood too "hot" for the door checkers, they may move on - or at least that's what I hope.

 

[Teken]

The camera officially supports a maximum of 32 GB for the SD card. I've never tried larger cards, as that amount of memory provides about 4 days of continuous video storage, which is ample for a camera like this.

As to RTSP: there was experimental firmware for the v2 camera that you could install, but you'd lose cloud storage of motion clips, and lose advanced detection features. I haven't heard of RTSP firmware for the v3 camera, although Wyze has said they're working on it. But realistically, I have no expectation of them putting much effort into it. What would their motivation be? As it is, Wyze can't build the cameras fast enough. New stock sells out in a couple of days.

The real strength of this camera (besides the price) is the ease of installation. Wyze has put considerable effort into making the setup as fast and painless as possible. All you need is WiFi and a smartphone, and you can be up and running in (literally) five minutes. Open a window, mount the camera outside it, then close the window onto the flat USB power cable, and you're ready to go. They even include a magnetic base in the camera, and provide a metal disk with a 3M adhesive disk or mounting screw option.

Right now I'm trying to persuade a few neighbors to set up v3 cameras as part of a "virtual neighborhood crime watch" experiment. You can share your camera feed and motion alerts with another Wyze user, so in theory multiple people could share their outside cameras to a single neighborhood watch account. The idea would be that various people in a given neighborhood could take turns monitoring the watch account, and call the police when the door checkers hit a street late at night. The Wyze Cam v3 lacks the resolution to identify faces, but it is quite capable of warning you when a human figure walks past your home at 2 a.m. (if you pay the $15 annual cloud service fee).

If the police respond quickly enough, they could catch the door checkers in the act. Door checkers may be brainless criminal scum, but they'll run in an instant if a police car shows up. I have no expectation of our local DA prosecuting them, but if the residents and police can make a certain neighborhood too "hot" for the door checkers, they may move on - or at least that's what I hope.

Ah I misunderstood the second members reply in thinking a RTSP hack was available for the V3!

That is for the v2 of the camera system.

Is your four day recording on a 32 GB Micro SD card quote based on motion only or 24.7.365 recording?

 

[nbstl68]

RTSP available for V2 and pan cam but not "yet" for V3.
You have to flash, but, "Using the RTSP firmware will prevent the camera from supporting any future functions or features in the Wyze app."

https://wyzelabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026245231-Wyze-Cam-RTSP

 

[wtimothyholman]

Is your four day recording on a 32 GB Micro SD card quote based on motion only or 24.7.365 recording?

It's for continuous recording. It's a huge advantage over Ring, Nest, and the like, plus you don't have to pay anything to Wyze to use it.

 

[Teken]

@nbstl68 @wtimothyholman

Thank you both for that insight and resource link!