Where to Place Security Cameras

A well-placed budget camera beats a badly placed expensive one every time. Almost all of the "my cameras were useless when I needed them" stories come down to placement rather than hardware.

Height: lower than you think

The instinct is to mount high — out of reach, wide view, tidy under the eaves. But a camera at roof height looks down on the top of a head, and the top of a head identifies nobody.

Seven to nine feet is the range to aim for. High enough that someone can't casually knock it down, low enough that a face lands in frame. If you can only mount high, angle the camera so that faces are captured as people approach rather than after they've passed underneath.

Cover routes, not areas

Point cameras at the places people must pass through: gates, doorways, driveways, the gap between the garage and the fence. A camera surveying open ground records a lot of nothing; the same camera aimed at the only way in records everyone who comes in.

Mind what's behind the subject

A camera facing a bright background — the sunset, a white wall in direct sun, a glass shopfront — will expose for the bright area and turn anyone in front of it into a silhouette. Where you can, face cameras away from where the sun sits in the afternoon, or use a camera with strong wide dynamic range if the shot is unavoidable.

Indoors, the same applies to windows. A camera pointed at the entrance from deep inside a shop is shooting straight into daylight for most of the day.

Glass and infrared don't mix

An indoor camera pointed through a window will, at night, light up the glass with its own infrared and show you a bright white haze. If you want to see outside, put the camera outside.

Protect the recorder

Your recorder holds everything. A visible recorder sitting under the TV is the first thing that leaves. Put it somewhere out of sight — a closet, a locked cupboard, an office — and consider pointing one camera at that room.

Homes: the order that usually makes sense

1. The main approach — driveway or front path, catching anyone arriving
2. The front door, mounted close and at head height for identification
3. The back or side door, which is where entry attempts more often happen
4. Any blind spot — a dark side return, a rear gate, a detached garage

Businesses: a few extra places

• Over the till or register, angled to see hands and the counter surface
• The staff and delivery entrance, which sees more traffic than owners expect
• Stockrooms and anywhere valuable sits
• The loading area, for deliveries, disputes, and damage claims
• Customer-facing areas, which are as useful for slip-and-fall claims as for theft

A note on privacy and audio

Aim cameras at your own property. Deliberately pointing one into a neighbour's windows or garden invites a complaint, and in a business setting there are places cameras simply shouldn't go — restrooms and changing areas being the obvious ones.

Audio deserves particular care. Recording sound is governed by different and stricter rules than video in many states, and Florida is among those requiring the consent of everyone involved. Many operators simply disable audio for that reason. If you're considering recording sound, especially in a business, it's worth checking your state's position first — and this is general guidance, not legal advice.

Before you drill

Hold the camera where you're planning to mount it and look at the view on your phone first. Five minutes of that saves re-drilling — and it's how you discover that the perfect-looking spot under the eave is actually staring at a hedge.