@Solla-topee 

Thanks for replying 

Before I saw your reply, I decided yesterday to remove the camera from the hub, and I took it down from its position on the outside wall.  So I think that will have reset the camera to its original state.

Today I will add it back to the hub and do some testing while it is still inside the house.  I will get post back here when I have done that.

Meantime:

• I have sent you the MAC address by private message.
• I do have another C420 camera at the back of the house, which doesn't seem to have the same problem.
• I think the problem started after I had set the camera to Privacy Mode for a while, and then exited Privacy Mode.
• The microSD card (from Amazon) is a "SanDisk 128GB Ultra microSDXC card up to 140 MB/s with A1 App Performance UHS-I Class 10 U1"
• I formatted the card in the H200 hub, using the app
• I previously posted another question on the forum about inserting the card into the hub and then removing it.  It doesn't click or bounce back like some card readers I've used.  I just have to push it in until it seems to stop.  To get it out is really difficult, and I have to try to get a fingernail behind the tiny ledge on the card, to prise it out of the slot.  It is recognised by the hub, though, and has been storing / playing back the recordings OK.
• The problems happened on 26 July 2023, in the UK

More later ...

@Solla-topee 

OK, I've added the camera back again now, and it's set up on the outside wall.  Sadly, I think it's still doing the same as before.  It looks like it detects motion but doesn't create a recording.

From the app Home screen, I tap the envelope at top right, to get Notifications, and then the camera name
I get this list (all UK BST times, today 27 July 2023):
Motion was detected at 18:47:00
Motion was detected at 18:15:04
Motion was detected at 17:30:04
Motion was detected at 17:12:15
Person was detected at 17:07:46

But if I tap any of these, and go to the camera playback page, the last recording is at 17:07:42.  There are no recordings for the four, more recent motion detections.

As you suggested, I have checked by putting the SD card into a PC with a card reader.

The folder structure is TapoHub > TapoCam_{macaddress} > tapo_20230727 > 17

There is just one video in this folder - with the timestamp 2023-07-27, 17:07:51

Camera's Motion Detection settings

Sensitivity 6, and two activity zones, including only my driveway, and not the public road outside my property

Camera's Activity Notification settings

Rich notifications: Off; Send me notifications: Always.

-----------------------

The camera at the back of the house is behaving fine.  It creates recordings whenever it detects motion, so I think this shows that the SD card is OK.

When I first installed the camera at the front of the house, I was using privacy zones to block the public road.  That was working OK, although annoyingly, privacy zones can only be rectangular.  So I changed to using activity zones instead, which can have sloping sides.

As I say, the camera at the back of the house has no activity zones and works OK... so I'm now wondering if the problem is to do with the activity zones. 

A thought - is it possible that when motion is detected outside the zones, a notification is sent, but no recording is made?  If so, it isn't correct, but it might explain what I am experiencing.

As a new test, I have removed the activity zones from the front camera, and I'll report back ...

Thanks for sticking with me on this.  I hope we'll get it sorted out and it may be useful info to other users.

  @Solla-topee 

Thanks for following up on this with a possible solution. I saw that the update was available, so I'll apply that a bit later today and check if it fixes the problem.

  @Solla-topee 

I have updated the cameras to the new firmware (1.2.11).

So far, I get recordings with every notification, which is good. 

But I think the camera is detecting motion and generating a recording for movement outside the activity zones, which is not good.  

Here's a diagram of the two zones I have created.  The triangular area at top right is the public road, and motion there should not be detected or recorded.

However, today I have several notifications and recordings of cars passing in that top right area.  I have looked carefully at the recordings, and the cars are clearly outside the activity zones, so they should not have triggered motion detection.

Maybe the camera doesn't use the edges of the zones as precisely as they are drawn.  I will try changing that zone a bit, so the sloping edge is further from the road.

@Solla-topee 

I've tried a number of different activity zones, all further away from the public road.  The camera is still detecting some vehicles passing by, which are well outside the activity zones.

To be fair, it doesn't detect every vehicle.  Some pass by undetected.  I can't work out what the difference is between the ones that it detects, and the ones that it ignores.

Question - does the camera detect sound as well as motion?

I have now reduced the Motion Sensitivity setting to 4, and I will see if that improves things.

  @Solla-topee 

The Tapo C420 does not detect sound as a motion.

OK - thanks for confirming.

You may go to the Camera Settings>Detection&Alerts>AI Detection page to check if you have enabled Person, Pet, or Vehicle Detection. 

I have Person Detection ON, but Pet and Vehicle are both OFF

Please note that the Activity Zone works for Motion Detection only, and it won't take effect for AI Detection. The AI Detection's activity zone is the full screen.

Ah, that's interesting information.

If the detection types are turned off on the AI Detection page, may I have the video that shows a motion outside the activity zone but be recorded?

As I said, I have Person Detection ON.  But the motion outside the zone is a vehicle, and it was detected even on motion sensitivity 4.

I will PM you a link to the video and a screenshot of the activity zones. 

Is there any way to download the video via the app, or do I have to remove the SD card from the hub?