Lorenzo

Hello, I am new here and I am looking for some advice. For a number of years we have had increasing numbers of swallows nest under the eaves of our house and in the open shed/garage next to our back door. They are lovely to watch and I think they are keeping the flies and the mosquitoes under control. I would like to place a camera near or above a nest and see the little birds hatch and fledge. Looking on the web, I found a number of small cameras that are sold for the purposes, but all the ones I found are analogue cameras. I cannot run a video cable to the eaves and I don't have a TV I can use for watching. I need to be able to watch the video on a laptop As I see the situation, the system 1) Must be IP based, using Wi-Fi. (I can run a power supply from a nearby socket). 2) Does not necessarily have to be waterproof. The nests are in a covered location and do not get wet. 3) Must be sufficiently cheap (40ish GBP max). 4) Must focus at close range (max 1 foot, perhaps 1.5', less probably) Looking around, I found a number of IP cameras in my price range, but nowhere in the specs I could find anything about the minimum close-up focussing range. I would really appreciate some help and advice, based on your experience Thanks a lot! Lorenzo

Thank you for the useful comments and suggestions. I will look into that. I also wanted to add to the comment by Securame that with the budget I have available, the solution will be a "poor quality toy". I cannot but agree with it. However, sometimes a "poor quality toy" is actually the best solution for a specific circumstance. I don't know whether watching birds hatch will become so important to me to warrant spending hundreds (or thousands, if I were to use a Bradley Engineering camera head plus accessories) of pounds. If I decide to spend my time on something else, the 40/50 pounds are justifiable. I don't know if more than that would be justifiable. Thanks again! Lorenzo