I used a standard Bushnell trail cam and strapped it to a tree. I had a live cam, but any sort of camera freaks out the workers so... sorta have to feel your way around that.

R

Well, the cost can be below 100 bucks, or right at it... but then you need the wifi. We had a neighbor that offered to let us use their wifi, but I just flat out decided not to do it.

We developed a wifi stand alone camera setup using a 5-gallon bucket, pole, battery, solar panel, camera.. and I think it cost like $109 with tax and shipping all the parts.

We install them at my ranch so I can remote into them and watch the deer and other wildlife from work.. heh

R

Any worker that doesn't like being recorded should not be on the job.

That may be true...but I do not hire them.... so not my call.

I think that would be super cool! I took my own photos of every stage of our build but only because ours was owner built so we were there almost every day anyways. But I definitely still could not put them together to do a time-lapsed video. If you do it, please be sure to post it at the end! :)

And off the original topic, yes, any worker who doesn't like to be recorded shouldn't be on the job but it would just be weird. You need to trust the builder and the contractors to do their job or else the relationship is spoiled from the beginning. (This comment is more directed at other poster's, not you OP as I know that's not your intention of said camera use)

Any worker who thinks they are not being recorded (in SOME way) is being naive.... ;-)

I'd think it was likely to be stolen, depending on the area. Especially if it's a subdivision with lots of building going on, random people driving around, etc...

I've always used Dropcams (now Nest) as kitty cameras to check on them when we travel. I keep them in plain sight and point them out to kitty sitters. I also make sure not to point it to an area where the sitters may hang out, like on the sofa. I would think the same would go for construction workers. Do they really care? We could drive by at any time and they are outside. ?

We recently had fires near our lot and I put my kitty cam up there so I could monitor the fires and smoke and report to everyone when it was safe to go back to work. I forgot to take it down until I read this!!! I haven't even looked it at in weeks and no one has mentioned it. I don't even have it pointed towards them though because we were more interested in where the fire was.

If not hidden, do you really think it bothers them that much? I could see being much more curious about what is going on when things progress (footings bore me, ya know!!!)

I just got an email they came out with a new outdoor camera. $199. their cameras have always worked really well for me and there is an App for that!
https://nest.com/camera/meet-nest-cam-outdoor/

gregbradley I really think GC's reason is that he's unhappy with his body weight. I haven't asked, and I won't. I respect his decision -- and I take tons of photos of things between being built and as things go together. HE just doesn't want to be in the photo. He does not mind videos if he could be out of them as a person. I do think you need to re-evaluate your statement because not all situations are alike. EVER. I'm happy to oblige him.

I absolutely get respecting their privacy if they ask for it and would do the same.

But ...for discussion only, because I've thought of this before!!!...

where the disconnect for me is what if they came to your $50 million house to work and you had hard wired security cameras.. Do you offer to shut your system down and turn off the camera at your gate. Would they ask you to because they don't like being on camera. I can't imagine that either scenario ever happens. I'd just assume not being filmed when I'm at CVS too :) I'm not trying to be flip, but it seems that people who only have little plug in cameras are asked to do something that wouldn't be asked of someone with a 50k system in place. And it's not just that construction is different because I've been to some crazy expensive projects with security cameras all over the place. So curious to hear your thoughts!!

Artemis, I wrote that before I saw that your GC might be self conscious. That is sad and I would oblige him too.

Let me upload a picture. Ignore the beer box.. lol.. this was used to protect the camera during transport.

This is the "high end" WAP camera. It is self-sufficient and can provide a group of cameras around a construction site.

What I suggested to our builder is, for one camera, offer it as a "service" to the home owner. $200 and they can log into the camera anytime they want and see the build from their house. (per camera).

Now, The big camera, like this, is about $400, but we made a small "mini" camera that is not as mobile for about $100 and also self-sufficient.

The catch is, they have to ask a future neighbor if they can tap into their wifi signal and once they do, you can then offer this.

We did not do it because we use these at my ranch and did not feel like messing with it at the new house heh. The $200 covers the cost of the mini camera. You can offer larger ones that rotate etc for more.

Russ

@Germain (or others), how did it go with the Brinno? Would you buy the same camera again? Other? How did the 2 minute interval work for your time-lapse?

Also, is anyone aware of any camera's that upload or provide live view via cell instead of WiFi (for a somewhat affordable cost)? TrueLook does but you have to use their cell service that they charge a good chunk for and since we already have unlimited cell that's not appealing.

http://arlo.com/en-us/products/arlo-go/default.aspx?cid=us-arlo-srch

I didn't record much, but I did have two Panasonic steerable webcams on the site when I built the first phase. It was really handy to see what was going on. I had the temporary phone line put it and put a WIFI router in a cat litter bucket and bungied it to a tree. Then I could move the cameras around on the site as I wanted.