Beyond the Box: 5 Professional Tips for Your Axis Camera Installation

You’ve invested in a world-class Axis camera system. That’s a fantastic first step. But a successful security system isn’t just about the hardware; it’s about the quality of the installation and configuration. A poorly installed high-end camera will perform worse than a well-installed budget one.

Whether you’re a DIY-savvy business owner or preparing to work with an integrator, understanding these professional tips will ensure you get the maximum performance, reliability, and security from your investment.

1. Master Camera Placement: It’s More Than Just Pointing it at the Door

Where you place the camera is the single most important factor in its effectiveness.

• Avoid Backlight: Never point a camera directly at a strong light source, like the sun or bright indoor lights. This will silhouette your subject, making them impossible to identify. Use Axis’s Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) technology to handle scenes with both bright and dark areas, but proper placement is always the first line of defense.
• Consider the “Angle of Attack”: Don’t place cameras so high that you only see the tops of people’s heads. The ideal height is often 8-12 feet, angled slightly down to capture faces clearly. For facial identification, the camera should be as close to eye-level as is safely possible.
• Minimize Blind Spots: Overlap the fields of view of your cameras. A critical handover point (like the transition from an outdoor camera to an indoor one) should be covered by both cameras to ensure a continuous evidence trail.

2. Optimize Your Network: Don’t Let Your Cameras Slow You Down

IP cameras are network devices. Treating them like an afterthought is a recipe for poor performance.

• Use a Dedicated VLAN: For any system with more than a few cameras, create a separate Virtual LAN (VLAN) for your surveillance traffic. This isolates the camera data from your main business network, improving both security and performance. It prevents a large video stream from slowing down your employees’ computers.
• Enable Axis Zipstream: This isn’t just a feature; it’s a necessity. Go into each camera’s settings and ensure Zipstream is enabled and set to a high level. This advanced compression technology can reduce bandwidth and storage needs by 50% or more without sacrificing crucial forensic detail, saving you a huge amount of money on hard drives.
• Use Quality PoE Switches: Powering your cameras using Power over Ethernet (PoE) is standard practice. Use reliable, managed PoE switches that can provide adequate power budget for all your cameras, especially for power-hungry PTZ models.

3. Secure Your System: The “Default Password” is Your Worst Enemy

An unsecured IP camera is a backdoor into your entire company network.

• Change Every Default Password: The first thing you must do when commissioning a camera is change the default administrator password to a strong, unique one.
• Update the Firmware: Before deploying a camera, check the Axis website for the latest firmware. Firmware updates often contain critical security patches and performance improvements.
• Disable Unused Services: Axis cameras are powerful computers that can run many services (like FTP, SSH, etc.). Go into the system settings and disable any services you are not actively using to reduce the potential “attack surface.”

4. Configure Your Image Settings: Don’t Settle for “Out of the Box”

While Axis cameras have great default settings, a few minutes of tweaking can dramatically improve image quality.

• Set the Correct Exposure: In the camera’s web interface, adjust the exposure settings to match your scene. If you have a dark area, you may need to slow the shutter speed (but be aware this can increase motion blur).
• Focus, Focus, Focus: Use the camera’s built-in focus aids. For varifocal lenses, zoom in to your desired field of view first, then perform the focus. A slightly out-of-focus image is often useless for identification.
• Set Up Day/Night Mode: Ensure the camera’s IR cut filter is set to switch automatically. This allows it to capture crisp color images during the day and switch to light-sensitive black and white mode (using IR light) at night.

5. Calibrate Your Analytics: Tell the Camera What to Look For

Modern Axis cameras come with powerful AI-based Axis Object Analytics. But it needs to be told how to work.

• Define the Detection Area: Go into the analytics settings and draw the specific area where you want the camera to detect people or vehicles. Exclude areas that are not relevant, like a public sidewalk in the background.
• Set Object Size Filters: Tell the system the minimum and maximum size of an object to track. This helps eliminate false alarms from small animals or distant, irrelevant cars.
• Calibrate for Perspective: The camera needs to understand perspective. You’ll need to run the simple calibration tool, which involves marking the ground plane so the camera can accurately judge the size and distance of objects.

By taking these extra steps, you elevate your system from a simple recording device to a professional-grade security and intelligence tool.