How High Should a Driveway Security Camera Be Mounted?
Choose driveway camera mounting height by tamper resistance, face angle, vehicle geometry and target distance.
Driveway camera height is a compromise. Higher mounting protects the camera and expands coverage. Lower mounting creates a more useful angle for faces and license plates.
Overview cameras can be higher
A roofline or soffit camera can be excellent for documenting vehicles, direction of travel and overall activity. It is less ideal when the person or plate is close to the wall and the camera looks sharply downward.
Identification cameras should protect geometry
If you want facial evidence, a camera should view the approach at a shallow enough angle that eyes, nose and mouth remain visible rather than compressing the face into a top-down view. For plates, keep both vertical and horizontal angles controlled.
Distance changes the angle
A 10-foot-high camera viewing a target 50 feet away has a much shallower angle than the same camera viewing a target 5 feet away. That is why one fixed mounting-height rule is misleading.
Use the property to create choke points
Instead of trying to identify someone anywhere across a huge driveway, frame the garage entry, gate, walkway or other predictable path. Controlled target zones let you keep a safer mounting position without sacrificing all identification detail.
Use the coverage calculator to model the scene width and detail at the target point.