Wyze Cam v3 Outdoors

[vineyard]

I/m not sure if this should be in equipment review or not.  Basically just a quick post - Santa sent me one of these dinky cameras.  And I have been trying it outside the last few nights - mostly cloudy of course but a few clear patches.

It's v user friendly.  Seems weatherproof so far.  And the app is a v convenient way of seeing what is going on.  And capturing data - below are just some screenshots I captured on my iPhone.  I've yet to put a microSD card in but when I do, I should be able to get it to take time lapses etc - will report back on those.

I like it so far.  Have always wanted an all-sky cam but have been deterred by  the cost & faff of using an ASI camera, fish-eye lens, RPi, weatherproofing & then the software compiling etc.  This makes it much easier & cheaper (<GBP50 all-in) - ok its not a fish-eye lens, but is still 130 degrees.

Below are 2 pairs of images, the first is the unprocessed one so you can see what is shown by the night vision ON, and then w the PP that the phone itself offers.

I reckon if Wyze could build in some PP functionality on the app so that the realtime views can be adjusted, that would be brilliant.

Anyway, so far v happy with it - will tinker with a microSD card in, & also with connecting it to a weatherproof solar panel which will allow it to be placed at the top of the roof w/o having to worry about cabling.

Wrt FOV, I can count at least 5 constellations in these images - Orion (behind the tree) & then moving up Taurus (Hyades & Pleiades), Auriga, Perseus & Cassiopeia?

Will try & update the thread w any more images or reports along the way.

[vineyard]

Some other nights/evenings - either w more clouds &/or earlier in the evening so you can see the image under different conditions.  These are just quick smartphone processed.

 

[Stargazer33]

Reading the reviews on this camera, a lot of people say that they just stop working after a couple of weeks to a couple of months! I hope you have better luck with yours. 

[vineyard]

12 hours ago, Stargazer33 said:

Reading the reviews on this camera, a lot of people say that they just stop working after a couple of weeks to a couple of months! I hope you have better luck with yours. 

Uh oh.  Will report back if it does conk out 🤞🏾

[SiD the Turtle]

I have two of the indoor cams and they've been solid since I bought them about a year ago. Could be different with the outdoor of course!

Not sure if it'll help you at all (not tried it myself) but you can hook up the camera to other applications using the RTSP protocol, but it does shut you out of the main app: https://support.wyze.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026245231-Wyze-Cam-RTSP. Commonly people do this to use Wyze Cams as very cheap CCTV.

[StevieDvd]

I bought one just before Christmas to try as an outside allsky after seeing a post on SGL from @Robert Hayes - it has an option which makes night-time look like day in colour. The Wyse3 are a step-up in image resolution and nightime capture.  Last year I bought the equivalent of the Wyse2 model which is no comparison to the new Wyse3 one.

If you have not fully gone through the Wyse3 options (I have not yet) there is a reduced annual subscription which opens up more features on the camera - it was on special price of $14.99 per annum (per camera) last week.

 

[jjohnson3803]

Someone on another forum posts timelapse meteor shots that he takes under pretty dark skies - rather impressive.

I've been considering getting a Wyze to experiment with as an all-sky cam although I am in heavy light pollution; this thread is very useful.  With my luck though, I'd wind up with shots of some creepy neighbor checking out the camera.  Or Sasquatch.  😁

[vineyard]

I've put a microSD card in now, and that lets me rewind images and look at them.  Haven't been able to figure out how to take time lapses yet (it needs access to your Photos on the phone, but that option doesn't show up in my Settings - need to figure that out).

Anyway, here's 3 images from just after 0700 this morning.  The night-vision was still on (I've set it to "Auto" so it toggles from colour night-vision to proper night-vision based on ambient light, & then back again in the morning) - I figure the night vision setting will be more sensitive.  As usual only PP'd on the phone itself.

If there was a way of writing a script that could do this transformation automatically, that'd be great!

[kev]

Think you have just solved my pond problem, plus an all skyish camera 😊

[vineyard]

2 hours ago, kev said:

Think you have just solved my pond problem, plus an all skyish camera 😊

Wow, how do you get a pond & the sky in the same FOV?😮😂

[kev]

14 hours ago, vineyard said:

Wow, how do you get a pond & the sky in the same FOV?😮😂

Lol.   mind you the way the koi jump out v the water and grab flies mid air im please i have a net on the pond

[vineyard]

The clouds at various times last night.

[Robert Hayes]

I have timelapse on my channel taken with the wyze v3. 

https://youtube.com/channel/UCLXcX_KrVbwOh2EXvL2t4hA

Works well.

[vineyard]

👍🏾 @Robert Hayes - I think I have to re-instal my Wyze as the app doesn't see my Photos so it can't upload on to them.  Will try that now the clouds are here!