Frequently Asked Questions

A 4G solar camera. It carries its own SIM for the connection and its own panel for the power, so it needs nothing from the site at all. This is the single most common question we get, and it is why the range exists.

Start with the 4G Security Camera Buying Guide, which compares 4G cameras from our range by solar wattage.

More than the product page implies, and it depends where you are. At the June solstice the midday sun reaches about 29.7 degrees above the horizon in Auckland and only 20.2 degrees in Invercargill.

Two things follow. Tilt the panel steeply, roughly your latitude plus 15 degrees, and buy more wattage than you think. At midday on the shortest day, a flat panel in Invercargill receives only about a third of the direct sun a correctly tilted one does, and over a whole June day it still collects well under half. Full working in the Solar Security Camera Guide.

The battery decides, not the panel. A camera with a 12,000mAh battery records motion clips of about a minute and then waits. A camera with 20,000mAh will record continuously while the battery stays above roughly half charge.

If you need genuine 24/7 coverage, check the battery figure rather than the wattage.

Usually because it only records when its motion sensor fires. To save power, a battery camera sleeps until its PIR sensor picks up body heat moving across its view. On many battery cameras that sensor only reaches about 5 to 10 metres, it is least sensitive to movement coming straight towards it, and the camera needs a moment to wake, so anything further away or brief is easily missed.

A camera set to record continuously has no such gap, because it is already recording when something happens. That needs steady power: a power point, or a solar camera sized for continuous recording, as described in the answer above. The specifications on each product page show how the camera records and how far it detects.

Optical zoom moves real glass and keeps full detail at distance. Digital zoom crops the image and enlarges it, so you lose detail as you go in.

Only optical zoom will read a number plate or a face at range. We list the two separately in every comparison table for that reason.

The night vision on our cameras comes from low-power infrared LEDs, the same type used in almost every night vision camera, including the cameras commonly used to watch foaling and calving. It is not a laser, and from a camera mounted on a wall or a post, the infrared reaching an animal is far weaker than the infrared in ordinary daylight.

Infrared at 840nm or 850nm shows a faint red glow on the front of the camera at night. If an animal is bothered by it, choose a model listed with 940nm or no glow infrared, which gives off no visible light, and mount the camera high, looking down rather than at eye level. The wavelength is usually shown in the night vision line of the specifications.

A few long range models use laser night vision instead, which is a different technology. Mount those high and well out of reach, so that nothing can look into the illuminator from close range.

Usually not. Most cameras and recorders take a microSD card that you supply, and we sell microSD cards in several sizes, shown under Accessories on each product page. A few models have storage built in, and the comparison table in each buying guide says which.

Yes. If a camera charges from a cable, it can run from mains power: plug the charging cable or the supplied adapter into a power point and leave it connected, and the camera runs on constant power. It is the most dependable way to record continuously around the clock, and it takes the winter sun out of the picture.

Mount the camera within reach of a power point, or use an outdoor-rated extension lead, and keep the plug and the connection out of the weather.

No. For anything that charges or runs from a USB cable, the rule is 5V, 2A maximum. Use the adapter supplied, or a standard 5V USB charger or power bank rated 2A or less.

Do not use fast chargers (USB-C PD, Quick Charge, Super Fast Charging) or high-output power banks: they can damage the device. Many phone chargers sold today are fast chargers, so check the output printed on the plug before you use it: it should read 5V and no more than 2A (2000mA).

Every product this applies to carries the same warning on its product page.

No. New Zealand no longer has a 3G network, so there is no fallback below 4G anywhere in the country.

Any device sold as 3G, or as 4G with 3G fallback, will not connect. Every device we sell that uses a mobile network is 4G or 5G.

Yes. Our 4G devices take a standard nano SIM from Spark, One NZ or 2degrees. A prepaid data plan is enough for most cameras, since they send alerts and clips rather than streaming constantly.

A camera set to motion alerts typically uses well under 1GB a month. A camera streaming live continuously will use far more, so budget accordingly.

Often, yes. It comes down to the 4G bands, which most 4G product pages list in the specifications. Use a SIM from the country you are in, and check that the bands its networks use appear in the camera's list.

Australia: the networks use bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 28 and 40, the same family as New Zealand, and our 4G devices work on them.

Europe and the UK: bands 1, 3, 7 and 8 are used widely, and most countryside coverage is carried on the low bands 20 (800MHz), 8 (900MHz) and, in some countries, 28 (700MHz). Most of our cameras list bands 1, 3, 7, 8 and 28, and about a third also list band 20, which is the safer choice for a rural property.

North America: AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile rely on bands 2, 4, 12, 13, 66 and 71, which most of our cameras do not cover, so do not plan on using one there.

The app works anywhere with an internet connection. A camera that runs from mains power needs a power supply or a plug adapter for the local sockets. A solar panel works anywhere, but in the northern hemisphere it should face south rather than north.

Almost always the 2.4GHz problem. These cameras connect on 2.4GHz only, and most modern routers broadcast 2.4GHz and 5GHz under the same network name. Your phone picks 5GHz, the camera cannot see it, and setup fails.

Split the bands in your router settings, or temporarily disable 5GHz while you pair the camera.

Yes. The other person installs the same app on their phone and registers their own account in it. You then send them an invite from your app to share the camera, and once they accept, they can view it from their own phone.

Yes. Under section 216B of the Crimes Act 1961 New Zealand is a one party consent country, so you may record a conversation you are taking part in without telling the others.

Recording a private conversation you are not part of is an offence carrying up to 2 years imprisonment.

Not inside. A tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment under section 38 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, and cameras inside a tenanted property breach it.

Cameras covering the exterior of a property you own are a different matter, provided they do not look into the dwelling or a neighbour's private space.

Only openly and for a genuine reason. The Privacy Act 2020 requires people to know they are being recorded, and section 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 requires employers to act in good faith.

Covert workplace surveillance is very hard to justify and has cost employers dearly in the Employment Relations Authority. Tell staff, put it in writing, and keep the cameras out of bathrooms and break rooms.

Not without their agreement. Since 26 May 2026, when the Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Act 2025 came into force, tracking a person has been one of the specified acts in the stalking offence in the Crimes Act 1961. Doing specified acts on two or more occasions within two years, knowing it is likely to cause fear or distress, carries up to 5 years imprisonment.

Trackers are for vehicles and assets you own, and for people who know they are being tracked, such as your own family or your own fleet.

Owning and using them is lawful. Where you point them is what matters.

Secretly recording someone who is undressed, showering, using the toilet or in an intimate situation, in a place where they would expect privacy, is an offence under sections 216G to 216J of the Crimes Act 1961, carrying up to 3 years. Keep cameras out of bathrooms, bedrooms and changing areas.

Often yes, but the court or tribunal decides. In a criminal prosecution, section 30 of the Evidence Act 2006 lets a judge exclude improperly obtained evidence, so how a recording was made matters as much as what it captured. Tribunals apply their own rules on what they will accept, and the way a recording was made counts there too.

Practical advice: keep the original file unedited, note the date, time and who was present, and do not crop or enhance the copy you hand over.

From Australia. Every order is dispatched by tracked express post and usually arrives in New Zealand 2 to 3 business days after dispatch.

Your dispatch confirmation includes the tracking details for your parcel.

We dispatch every business day. Orders placed on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday go out on the next business day.

Every order goes by express post and usually arrives in 2 to 3 business days after dispatch.

Every order is sent with tracking, and your dispatch confirmation lets you follow the parcel from the moment it leaves us.

Yes. Every parcel is sent with signature on delivery, so it is handed to a person rather than left at the door.

If no one is home, NZ Post leaves a Missed my parcel card showing your tracking number and where the parcel is being held. Collect it from that location from the next business day, bringing the card and photo ID, or arrange a redelivery or a different collection point through NZ Post's Missed my parcel service.

NZ Post holds a missed parcel for 10 days before returning it to us in Australia, so please collect it as soon as you can. If a parcel is returned to us because it was not collected, the postage to send it again is payable by you. If no one is usually home during the day, use your workplace or another address where someone can sign. The delivery page has the full detail.

A few products are too large or heavy for standard express post: full multi-camera systems, the bigger solar panels and the professional construction cameras. These ship by courier rather than post.

For those items we quote the freight separately, because the cost depends on size, weight and where in New Zealand it is going. Contact us with the product and your delivery address and we will come back to you with a price and a timeframe.

Every parcel ships in plain packaging with no branding on the outside. Because parcels travel from Australia, each one carries the customs declaration that international post requires, and that declaration names the goods inside.

Contact us as soon as you can. We dispatch every business day, so in practice you have about 24 hours on a working day to change or cancel an order.

An order placed on a Friday evening, over the weekend or on a public holiday is not dispatched until the next business day, which gives you longer.

Once an order has been dispatched it cannot be cancelled, and the return process applies instead.

Fourteen days from delivery to return a product because you changed your mind. It must be unused, in its original condition and in its original packaging.

We cover the return postage and send you a label, so a return costs you nothing. Faulty products are handled separately and are not limited to 14 days.

Twelve months from the date of purchase on every product we sell.

If something fails inside that period, contact us with your order number and a description of the fault.

We do. Contact us to start a return and we will email you return instructions and a postage label. You do not pay to send an item back, whether it is faulty or you simply changed your mind.

Contact us with your order number and a photo or short video of the fault, and we will arrange a replacement or a refund.

The 14-day window on our returns page is for change of mind. It does not apply to faults. Your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 are not limited by any deadline in our policy, and the 12-month warranty runs from the date of purchase.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and UnionPay. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay. PayPal.

Card payments are processed by Shopify Payments. We never see or store your card number, only a confirmation that the payment succeeded and the last few digits of the card.

Yes. Every price shown on this site is in New Zealand dollars and includes GST.