Turret CCTV Cameras

Turret CCTV cameras, sometimes called eyeball cameras, are our best-selling camera style, and for good reason. The ball-and-socket design lets you angle the camera head after installation, making them easier to position accurately than most other styles. They're compact and tidy looking, so they suit homes as well as commercial premises. Unlike dome cameras, turrets have no glass cover over the lens, so there's no foggy glare from infrared light bouncing back at night, and you get cleaner night-time footage.

The one place a turret isn't the best choice is where the camera can be reached and might get knocked or tampered with. For those spots, a vandal-resistant dome is the tougher option.

Choosing the right turret

Match the format. If you're adding to an existing system, match the camera to your recorder. A DVR needs HD-TVI analogue turrets, an NVR needs IP PoE turrets. If you only need one camera on its own, go for an IP turret with a microSD slot, which records to the card and lets you view it on your phone.

Pick the right lens. A 2.8mm lens gives a wide view, good for gardens, driveways and anywhere close to the building. A 4mm or 6mm lens gives a narrower view but more detail further away, so it's the better choice for identifying people at a gate or the end of a long drive.

Choose your night vision. Standard IR gives clear black and white footage in total darkness. ColorVu keeps footage in full colour at night using a large lens and a soft built-in light. Smart Hybrid Light records in IR until it detects a person, then switches on its white light, so you get colour footage when it matters and a visible deterrent.

Then resolution. Our turrets range from 2MP Full HD up to 16MP, with analogue models topping out at 8MP 4K and IP going up to 12MP and 16MP. For most homes, 4MP or 5MP is the sweet spot. The higher resolutions earn their place on larger sites, where you want to cover a wide area and still zoom in on detail in the recording.

Not sure which camera style suits your installation? Our CCTV buyers guide covers camera placement and style selection in detail.

Many of our turret cameras include a built-in microphone, and some offer two-way audio so you can speak through the camera. If sound matters to you, browse our CCTV cameras with audio. Bear in mind that recording audio is considered more intrusive than video under UK data protection guidance, so it's worth thinking about before you switch it on, especially if the camera covers a neighbour's property or a public path.

Turrets can be mounted on walls or ceilings. If you're fixing to a soffit or eaves, you can usually drill a small hole and feed the camera's fly lead straight through into the roof space, so the connections stay inside and out of the weather. On a brick wall it's a different story, as you'd need a large hole to fit the connectors through. That's where a junction box comes in. The camera mounts on top and the cable joints sit inside it, protected from the rain.

If you're planning a whole new system rather than adding a camera, a matched kit is usually the easier and better value route. Browse our IP CCTV systems or HD over Coax systems, or use Find My System to narrow it down.