r/mildlyinfuriating • u/violet_evergarden8 • 12h ago

Don't hug me I'm scared Neighbor across installed a camera on their railing pointed directly at my bedroom window

21.9k Upvotes

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233

u/Eldan985 9h ago

Can you burn out a cheap camera by pointing a laser at it for a long time? Because I'd be tempted.

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u/GRAABTHAR 8h ago

Yes. And if you use a class 3 laser, it only takes a short time.

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u/Alienhaslanded 8h ago

Totally Worf it then

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u/kellzone 8h ago

The Data backs it up.

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u/A-Real-Fungai 7h ago

Make it so.

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u/Nings777 7h ago

Engage

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u/BEARSHARKTOPUS167 7h ago

Whatever you do, do NOT wear a red shirt while dealing with the camera, just don't,

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u/Eldan985 7h ago

All power to the phaser banks.

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u/oilsaintolis 8h ago

This is Acceptable

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u/Worried_Guess_8419 6h ago

Assimilate this!

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u/BriefSpecial420 6h ago

Just remember about eye protection and eyes of others around.

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u/MichiganGeezer 4h ago

By all means. Engage!

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u/pourtide 7h ago

happy cake day

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u/BriefSpecial420 6h ago

Especially the IR/UV ones that won't show up on the video. Reddit was full of reposts of some lidar on car show getting rid of unnecessary pixels in phone's sensor.

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u/EntityLtdCo 5h ago

Class VI is what you really want.

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u/kadagai 2h ago

There is no such thing as a class 6 laser.

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u/Beneficial_Being_721 PURPLE 41m ago

Just pointing at the sun with a long focal length lens… POOF

I know a guy… no filter

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u/tommydelgato 33m ago

do you have a good reliable source of class 3 lasers that would work for this, or schematics to make yourown perhaps?

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u/WishboneIll9152 19m ago

Grainger has a nice one for $56

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u/EdgeBeard 8h ago

Get yourself a 1-watt laser. Melt the entire camera

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u/Accurate_Koala_4698 7h ago

And your eyeballs when it reflects back on you 

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u/zed42 1h ago

i want 5 megawatts by mid-may. just make sure the optics are clean

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u/industrialHVACR 8h ago

It either works really fast, or never works depending on laser power.

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u/ZombieBiteOintment 8h ago

Even if it never works, there is a chance the laser overwhelms the camera and all they record is a bright light. Lasers, and actually lots of LEDs in a small area are good for distorting what a camera can see. The camera tends to focus on the lights and this closes the lens and makes it harder to see fine detail.

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u/cykoTom3 5h ago

This is actually the best case scenario. If you do get a camera melting laser you very much need to say this was your intention.

The legality of pointing a camera from your house into another person's house is gonna vary wildly from location to location. The legality of deliberately destroying another person's property, even if that property is being used illegally, is not gonna vary. You aren't allowed. However sympathetic reddit is to your solution.

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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth 2h ago

Yes I'd have a pen light size bright light pointed right back their way straight at the camera lens, laser even better!

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u/ThrowAwayAccountAMZN 5h ago

I actually have this exact camera that OP shows and use it as a front porch camera (I'm too cheap to get Ring) and can attest I burned one lens simply because I had it in a position initially that faced the sun.

And as we all know, the sun is a deadly lazer.

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u/Popular-Web-3739 3h ago

You can, but if the camera records you doing it the courts consider that vandalism, trespass or criminal mischief. They don't care if your privacy is violated but you can be charged for damaging the neighbor's "security" camera.

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u/Beneficial_Being_721 PURPLE 42m ago

OH YES YOU CAN…. Almost instantly….
Street Photographers have had expensive cameras ruined by automated cars and their laser sensors

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u/ThatOneGuy6810 7h ago

Idk about this specific camera but Infrared cameras that use CMOS sensors can be burnt out using a laser on the wavelength of roughly 500nm, this takes a few minutes and some very precise aim but it can be done.

Stronger wavelengths work faster most concert laser shows use a frequency of 850nm and those fuck phones up pretty quick

Id imagine a handheld 850nm would wreck a security camera....not very convenient to get or carry though.

Really anything above 500nm should be capable of it.

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u/Mand125 7h ago

That’s not how nanometers work.  Larger is not stronger.

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u/kadagai 2h ago

Why would a laser show be using a 850 nm laser? That frequency isn't visible under normal vision.

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u/ThatOneGuy6810 2h ago

Maybe its not quite that much but there are laws that limit them at this level so they do not mess up other nearby tech.

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u/BriefSpecial420 6h ago

Energy of single photon has nothing to do with the beam's power.

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u/ThatOneGuy6810 2h ago

A class 3 laser would quantify as 850nm would it not?

You look at the wavelength numbers when pyrchasing because that is many times how its listed for regular people to purchase.

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u/kadagai 2h ago

The class of the laser is determined by its power. A class 3 laser has a power level between 5-500 mW. The wavelength of the laser determines its color. 850 nm is infrared.

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u/ThatOneGuy6810 2h ago

Mhm and since i was specifically speaking on IR cmos cameras an 850 nm laser would be the ideal laser for burning out said camera.

Notice i didnt mention color anywhere.

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u/kadagai 1h ago

You said an 850 nm laser, which is a mention of color.

Infrared (IR) is what we call 850 nm light.

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u/ThatOneGuy6810 1h ago edited 1h ago

Incorrect. 850nm is the measurement of the wavelength the color would be NIR. But continue.

Edit: we dont say 495nm-570nm we say "green"

Theres a reasom they are differently said.

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u/kadagai 1h ago

850 nm light is infrared. There is nothing more to say here. A simple web search would demonstrate this.

I know you are embarrassed because you somehow thought the class of a laser corresponded to wavelength and not power, but come on now. There is no need to continue being wrong.

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u/ThatOneGuy6810 38m ago

Its usually considered as near IR if you look at a chart youll see that 1st of all. Second at this point you arguing semantics and im not gonna waste my time anymore.