Smartec Store Brinno Motion Activated Camera

Vacation time is just around the corner and we always plan ahead by making arrangements for someone to watch our home while we are gone. Even then, they just stop to collect the mail and do a quick sweep of the property. But have you ever come home from vacation only to find lawn ornaments, plant pots, and lawn furniture went missing or damaged? Having a home security camera would be advantageous.

I have a beautiful courtyard in the front of my home which is surrounded by a 6 1/2 foot fence and a very large solid wooden gate that we keep locked. It does not allow us to see who is on the other side and this has always concerned me.

Smartec Store carries the most innovative home surveillance camera’s on the market. I had the opportunity to review one of their Brinno products, the Motion Activated Camera MAC100.

First, just for fun, we used this camera inside to see what goes on in the house when we are not home. We did not install it anywhere, we just leaned it against the bottom of our sofa. Our cats are rascals!! The images captured were very clear and identifiable during the day. It detected motion in the evening but it did not capture any usable images, there has to be some light source.

This camera is motion activated so it will capture many images/photos and create a time-lapse video for 30 seconds and stores it on a 2G SD card. This card must be removed from the camera to view the results on your computer.

The MAC100 comes with user-friendly instructions and HomeWatchCam Player Software which you install on your computer.

After experimenting with the MAC100 indoors we decided to mount it outside above our front gate. The camera is cordless and only requires 4 AA batteries to run. It comes with a mounting holder and it’s waterproof so no fear of any rusting.

Installation was a breeze. The mounting holder comes with suction cups to attach to smooth surfaces or you can attach it with screws to uneven surfaces. We had to use screws to mount it below our roof fascia. So every time someone approached our front gate their image was captured. When images have captured the date and time are recorded for future reference if needed. You won’t know who is at your gate immediately as it only stores images for future viewing.

We live in a very windy city so at times the wind would blow leaves or branches that would activate the camera and take those images too. So you may be surprised by the results. We were amazed at how clear most of the images were. The camera has a high definition resolution of 1280 by 720 so it provides the ultimate in clarity during the daytime. It did capture images in the evening. We have a street lamp across the street so we could see that a man was delivering papers at the wee hours in the morning but the images lacked detail because we do not have a light in our courtyard.

To remove the SD card you open the camera and slide it out of its metal pocket. Slip the card into your SD port on your computer and you’re ready to view through their player. The software provides many options like speed control, play control, seek control, playlist, pause and several more making scanning a lot of fun and so much easier. You can view, save or remove any or all of the images shown at this time, you just highlight the files and click Delete.

We like having the Brinno Motion Activated Camera MAC 100 on our property and feel it’s a very valuable accessory that will continue to provide a sense of security and peace of mind.

Disclaimer: I received product to facilitate a review. All opinions are my own, yours may differ.