Looking in two directions at once, to keep a watchful eye on passersby, the dual-lens Tapo C645D Kit security camera doesn’t miss a thing.
Smart security cameras are great for keeping an eye on things from afar, but it’s always difficult to see everything. Rather than installing extra cameras to tackle blind spots, another option is to opt for a ‘pan-tilt’ camera that can swivel to look around.
Pan-tilt cameras let you control the camera angle remotely, while some also feature auto-tracking so they can automatically follow someone as they walk past the camera.
Auto-tracking is great for keeping an eye on suspicious characters, but when the camera is busy following someone, you lose sight of the big picture.
That’s where a dual-lens security camera comes to the rescue, with a main wide-angle lens for watching the entire scene and a second telephoto lens for following people around.
Table of contents
Tapo C645D Kit first impressions
The Tapo C645D Kit is understandably bulky, when you consider that it’s really two cameras stuck together.
The larger camera at the top features a wide-angle lens, so it can see everything that’s happening in front. You can adjust it left or right by hand, but it only looks straight forward and can’t move by itself.
Meanwhile, the smaller telephoto camera, hanging down at the bottom, has a narrower field of view and 10.8 x digital zoom for getting an up close view of things.
You can control the telephoto camera’s pan and tilt remotely using the Tapo app. It also features patrol mode, which moves between fixed points (but isn’t a constant sweep), as well as auto-tracking, which automatically follows passersby, even if they walk beyond the view of the main wide-angle camera.
The cameras work in unison for auto-tracking, so when the main lens spots someone, the telephoto lens automatically swings into action.
Thanks to the 2K resolution, you can tap or pinch to zoom on the view from either lens when you’re watching a live scene via the Tapo app, but you can’t zoom when watching action replays. It’s obviously not as sharp as 4K, but still better than what you get on basic 1080p cameras.
When it comes to installation, the supplied bracket lets you mount the dual camera on a wall, eaves, or a pole. Up high, looking slightly down is best, preferably not looking directly into the sun.
For the best results, Tapo recommends installing the camera 2.5 metres above the ground, with the wide-angle lens tilted down 15 degrees and the telephoto lens tilted down 20 degrees.
At first glance, it seems you can’t adjust the downwards angle of the wide-angle lens at the top, but look closer, and you discover you can press on the black front plate to tilt it inside the white frame.
To power the camera, you’ll want to add the solar panel mount, but of course, it might not suit you to mount the camera and solar panel in the same location.
Thankfully, there’s the option to install the solar panel in a different spot and connect it back to the camera using the supplied 3.8-metre extension cable.
You can adjust the solar panel on its ball joint to best catch the sun. Tapo says it needs to get at least one hour of sunshine per each to top up the onboard battery. Alternatively, you can recharge manually via USB.
The system is rated IP65 for protection against dust and low-pressure water jets, so it’s fine to install it exposed to the elements.
Tapo C645D Kit specifications and price
| Image sensor | 1/2.8” Progressive Scan CMOS Starlight Sensor |
| Lens | Wide-angle lens Focal Length: 2.53 mm Aperture: F1.6 Field of View: 165.1° (Diagonal), 137.6°(Horizontal), 73°(Vertical) Telephoto lens Focal Length: 6mm Aperture: F1.6 Field of View: 65.5° (Diagonal), 56.5°(Horizontal), 30.6°(Vertical) |
| Maximum Resolution | Fixed Lens: 2K 3MP (2304 × 1296 px) Pan/Tilt Lens: 2K 3MP (2304 × 1296 px) |
| Frame rate | 15 fps |
| Zoom | 10.8x digital |
| Pan/Tilt Range | Pan Mechanical Range: 334° (360° Pan Coverage) Tilt Mechanical Range: 90° (120° Tilt Coverage) |
| Lighting | 6× Built-in Spotlights Motion Activated, App-Controlled 2× Alarm Lights 1× Indicator LED |
| Night vision | 850 nm IR LED (33 ft / 10 m) Colour Night Vision |
| Image enhancement | 3D DNRBLCWDR |
| Audio | Built-in Microphone and Speaker Two-Way Audio with Noise Cancellation |
| AI Detection | Motion, Person, Pet and Vehicle |
| Siren Volume | 91.5 dBA (Level measured at 10-cm distance) 64.4 dBA (Level measured at 300-cm distance) |
| Local Storage | MicroSD Card Slot on Camera (Up to 512 GB) |
| Cloud storage | Tapo Care cloud storage services (Subscription required) |
| Connectivity | 802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 802.11a/n, 5 GHz Wi-Fi |
| Power | 10000 mAh Built-in Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery Solar Panel Tapo A201 |
| Ruggedness | IP65 |
| Smart Integration | Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa |
| Dimensions | Camera: 132 × 82 × 160 mm Solar panel: 173 × 120 × 15.5 mm |
| Weight | 890 gm inc solar panel |
| Price (RRP) | $399 |
| Warranty | 1 year |
| Official website | Tapo Australia |
Features
Once you’ve decided where and how you want to install the Tapo C645D Kit, setup is pretty straightforward using the Tapo app on an Apple iOS or Google Android device.
To make life easier, the camera talks to you throughout the setup process. Unlike some Tapo cameras, the C645D Kit supports both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi bands to reduce setup hassles.
The wide-angle lens’ 137-degree horizontal viewing angle offers a great view of the scene and, installed in a corner, it can see across from wall to wall.
Meanwhile, the 73-degree vertical viewing angle is more generous than some cameras but, as you’d expect, you still get a blind spot directly beneath the main camera.
That’s where the pan and tilt telephoto lens comes to the rescue, with the ability to tilt straight down (but not up past level). It can also pan 180 degrees left or right to provide full coverage, letting it follow people even if they walk beyond the view of the main wide lens camera.
After someone walks beyond the view of the pan-tilt camera, such as around a corner, it waits 30 seconds and then re-centres, ready to track the next person passing by.
Alternatively, you can leave auto-tracking disabled and position the pan-tilt telephoto lens, so the two lenses are always looking in two directions for increased surveillance coverage.
Each camera also features a built-in spotlight, plus you have the advantage of night vision to keep an eye on things after dark. You can opt for full-colour night vision for detailed clarity, otherwise you can stick with infrared for power-efficient monitoring even in complete darkness.
There’s a built-in microphone for listening in on events, along with a speaker so you can talk to people on the other end. Unfortunately, the microphone struggles with voices in the distance and doesn’t handle wind noise very well.
The Tapo app notifies you of real-time movement day or night, but watching action replays requires using local or cloud storage. Replays show the view from both lenses, so you get a complete view of the scene.
As part of the setup process, you get a 30-day free trial of the Tapo Care unlimited cloud storage service. After it expires, you can choose between the Basic and Premium plans or opt to continue without a subscription.
The free service offers some features that many other cameras can provide with a subscription. You get live view, motion detection, instant notifications, two-way audio, activity zones and local storage using a 512 GB microSD card. You also get free smart AI detection that can distinguish between people, animals and vehicles.
Meanwhile, the paid plans add cloud recording for multiple devices and rich notifications with snapshots.
To reduce false positives, you can set separate detection zones in the field of view for People and Motion alerts, as well as create blacked-out privacy zones.
These are adjustable for each camera, although the pan-tilt camera’s privacy zones are of limited use when you consider that they remain fixed in the camera’s view as you pan, rather than adjusting to continually block the area you don’t want to see.
When it comes to smart home integration, you can link the camera to Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung SmartThings, with the ability to view live streams on an Echo Show or Chromecast. Unfortunately, there’s no Apple HomeKit integration.
Who is the Tapo C645D security camera kit for?
If you’re frustrated with the limitations of a single camera when monitoring a wide area, the Tapo C645D Kit security camera could be exactly what you need. Especially if it saves you the expense of needing to buy a second camera for full coverage – not to mention saving on subscription fees if you’re happy with Tapo’s generous set of free features.
The convenience of a completely wireless camera that doesn’t require AC power or manual recharging is the icing on the cake, assuming you’ve got a good spot to install the solar panel.
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