Guides
Bullet cameras: long-range outdoor coverage
A bullet camera is a cylindrical camera mounted on an adjustable arm, used outdoors for boundary walls, gates and forecourts. Its narrower lens concentrates detail at distance, and its shape lets the infra-red illuminator sit further from the lens, giving a cleaner night picture than a dome at the same range.
Best use
Boundary walls, gates, driveways, forecourts and any view where you need to identify something thirty metres away rather than simply see that it happened.
Why the night picture is better
The IR illuminator sits at the front of the barrel, away from the lens, so less light bounces straight back. That is the main practical reason bullets outperform domes after dark at range.
Mounting matters more than the camera
A bullet on a flexible arm at three metres will move in wind and drift out of aim over a year. Mount to masonry, not to a wooden fascia, and check the aim at every service visit.
The insect problem
The warm housing attracts insects and spiders at night, and a web across the IR ruins the picture. Nothing about the camera prevents it — it is a cleaning schedule problem, and it is the most common false-alarm cause on motion detection.
What is a bullet camera best for?
How far can a bullet camera see at night?
Read the infra-red rating, then halve it for planning. A camera rated 30 metres will show movement at 30 metres but usually only gives an identifiable face at 12 to 15. We size to the identification distance, not the marketing figure.
Do bullet cameras get stolen?
They are more exposed than domes, which is why mounting height matters. Above three metres, on masonry, with the cable entering the wall behind the bracket rather than looping outside it.
Need this doing?
CCTV installation covers surveying your premises, choosing camera positions that actually cover your entrances and till, running cable in conduit, fitting the recorder with enough storage for your retention needs, and setting up phone viewing before we leave. A four-camera system typically costs PKR 45,000 to 70,000 installed.
CCTV installation — what it costsRelated pages
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