What is an IP67 Security Camera?
An IP67 security camera has an “Ingress Protection” rating that designates it is 100% protected from dust, 100% protected from high pressure water jets in all directions, and can be submerged in water up to 30 minutes at a 1 meter depth. These Viewtron IP cameras and Viewtron CCTV cameras are IP67 rated. I highly recommend IP67 rated cameras whenever possible for outdoor installations. Our active deterrent / alarm security cameras are IP66 rated because they have a built-in speaker that does not pass the water submersion test, however, they are 100% protected from rain and humidity / moisture and still highly recommended.
Ingress Protection Code
The IP rating system was developed by the International electrotechnical commission (IEC) as a standard to grade how well electrical devices are protected from dust and water intrusion. It is used in the video surveillance industry to rate how weatherproof a security camera’s housing is. IP stands for ingress protection. The first digit of the rating designates the camera’s solid ingress protection. The second digit designated the camera’s water ingress protection.
IP Rating Guide for Security Cameras
The above guide shows all of the ingress protection codes. All outdoor security cameras are 100% dust tight, so the IP code almost always starts with a 6. Most outdoor security camera are at least rated a 4 for water protection. A liquids rating of 4 will only protect agains splashing / dripping water. 6 and above protect against powerful jets / powerful rain. So, I recommend outdoor cameras with an IP rating of at least IP66. However, my highest recommendation is an IP67 camera because they can also be submerged in water short term. This gives me additional peace of mind that the camera is in no doubt 100% protected from even the heaviest rain.
We do supply a few IP68 camera models. IP68 cameras are typically used in marine and boat installations with very specific requirements. IP68 cameras are unnecessary for almost all home, business, and government surveillance installations.
Beyond the Camera IP Rating
Any manufacturer can put IP67 rated on their camera’s spec sheet or website page. I assure you that not all IP67 rated cameras are created equal. That is why CCTV Camera Pros tests all of the security cameras that we supply in real world applications.
Viewtron IP cameras and Viewtron CCTV cameras are my top pick. The above Viewtron LPR camera (bottom), 4K AI security cameras (top), and security camera junction boxes were installed on the light pole behind CCTV Camera Pros warehouse a little over 3 years ago. We constantly use this LPR camera system for testing and making video demonstrations. You can watch all of our LPR camera system videos here.
IP67 Rated LPR Camera
Here is a close-up of the LPR camera. You can see that the camera housing is completely free of corrosion. Actually the paint is still in perfect condition. Also notice that the stainless steel mounting screws for the junction box and camera and 100% free of any rust or corrosion.
Video Transcript
What is an IP67 camera? Hey everyone, Mike from CCTV Camera Pros here. In this video, I’m going to tell you why I think IP67 rated security cameras are the best choice for outdoor installations. So, first off, IP stands for Ingress Protection, and the IP rating system was developed by the International Electromagnetic Commission. They basically developed this standard way of grading how weatherproof or how resistant a electrical enclosure is to solids and liquids and in particular dust and water.
So, the IP rating system basically consists of the prefixed IP followed by two digits. The first one tells you how resistant the enclosure is to solids, and the second digit tells you how resistant it is to liquids or water. And when it comes to security cameras, this system is used to grade how well the enclosure is. If it’s an outdoor camera, how resistant it is mostly to water because all outdoor enclosures for security cameras are 100% resistant to dust and solid. So they almost always start with a six. Actually, I’ve never seen an outdoor security camera not start with a six with its IP rating. But the second digit is more important because that’s grading how resistant it is to rain and moisture.
So IP67 cameras are 100% resistant to water intrusion from high-powered jets or water from all directions. They are completely sealed 100%. And in addition to being resistant to water jets, you can actually submerge them in water short term for up to 30 minutes at one meter deep. Now, typically, you’re not submerging security cameras in water, but if it’s completely submersible and protected from water intrusion, certainly it’s going to be protected from heavy rain from any direction, which we have plenty of that down here in South Florida, and these IP67 cameras hold up extremely well.
So, I have this complete IP rating guide on our website and I’ll link to it down below in the description if you’re watching this on YouTube. But I want to mention a couple more things and I want to show you some IP67 cameras that we’ve had outside for a long time that are holding up really well. But first, this is an important point just because a camera’s IP67 rated, that’s just a number on some spec sheet, right? So you have to trust who you’re buying from that it was properly tested and it is truly IP67 rated.
Now our Viewtron security cameras both our network IP cameras and our BNC security cameras, almost all of them are IP67 rated. But in addition, the housing is made from a high quality and corrosion-proof aluminum alloy, and it’s coated with a white powder coat that’s also weatherproof. So that seals up everything even better.
In addition, we only include stainless steel outdoor screws with our Viewtron security cameras, so you don’t have to worry about the screws getting rusted if they’re exposed to outdoor elements. We’ve had our Viewtron security cameras installed even on boats and along the coast in highly corrosive areas. Obviously, saltwater is highly corrosive, and these cameras and the mounts hold up even really well on boats and near ocean water. Let’s take a look at the ones we’ve had installed out back on a light pole for many years now, and I want to show you how well that they’ve held up.
So guys, I went back and looked at our records. We installed this pole out back here a little over four years ago, and the junction boxes, those Viewtron junction boxes and those Viewtron IP cameras, those were installed shortly after that. So let’s just say this has been in place for four years. The junction boxes and those cameras, and these are all Viewtron IP67 cameras. This is an LPR camera down here, and we’re in South Florida. It rains down here every day in the summer. Honestly, it just rained a few minutes ago. You could see how wet it is here on the ground and the puddles there, and this is completely unprotected, this pole. Obviously, there’s no protection whatsoever. And look at the condition this camera and junction boxer in. Look at those stainless steel screws just holding up perfectly with not a bit of rust on them at all.
Here’s a closer up view of one of those overview cameras that we use with this LPR system. And you could see that the housing is just holding up perfect. I mean, the paint is still bright and white, and I’ll take a snapshot closeup of the mounting screws, so you can see there’s no rust on those.
Guys. I hope this video has been helpful in explaining a bit about why I love IP67 rated cameras for outdoor installation. Now, let me mention a couple other things. A few of our Viewtron security cameras are IP66 rated. In particular are alarm security cameras that have a built-in speaker that you can use for a two-way communication or setting up an audio alarm when a human is detected or a car is detection or it’s triggered by some type of alarm. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to make a enclosure that has a speaker grid IP67 rated, which is submersible, but at least these are IP66 rated, which is still 100% protected from water intrusion even from heavy rain in any direction. We do still supply a few models of IP68 security cameras. They’re much more expensive to manufacture and it’s kind of overkill. You really don’t need IP68 rating for a high quality outdoor installation. I mean, the only thing that IP68 rating gives you is it is submersible for longer than 30 minutes, and even at higher pressure at deeper depths, which again is not really applicable to security cameras.
Guys, I test all these cameras personally before we launch cameras I document them. We usually install them at my house or install a couple here around the office, outside, so we can beat them up a little bit before we launch them. And I can assure you that our IP67 cameras are not just a checkbox on some spec that we have. I personally test these myself to make sure they are the high quality that I want at my house and at my business, which is why we also use them. If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to reach out to me anytime. I can be reached at mike@cctvcamerapros.net. I’m going to put this Ingress Protection rating chart that I made on our website. Really only IP65, IP66, IP67 and IP68 are applicable to security cameras, and my best recommendation is a high quality IP67 camera. You can learn all about ours at www.cctvcamerapros.com/IP67. Thank you for watching.
Have Questions / Need Help?
If you have any questions about video surveillance equipment, please email me at mike@cctvcamerapros.net.
