Ubiquiti’s G3 Flex makes a surprisingly good bird box camera—if you’re willing to void the warranty and pick up a screwdriver.
The Setup
A nest box has been sitting empty in my backyard for months. With nesting season approaching, I wanted to see if I could finally catch some feathered tenants moving in. Hopefully owls—they’re fascinating creatures, especially when raising chicks.
I had an old G3 Flex camera gathering dust and decided to repurpose it. I ran ethernet out to the box, mounted the camera inside, and fired it up.
The Problem
Not great.
Zoom in on that image and the problem is obvious—everything is a blurry mess. The G3 Flex uses a fixed-focus lens optimized for viewing subjects dozens of feet away, not adorable baby birds just inches from the sensor.
Options are limited: move the camera farther back (impossible in a small box), add a clunky lens adapter (Handycam style lol), or accept the blur.
I wasn’t ready to give up on this perfectly good PoE camera.
The Solution
While researching, I found Reddit user eigenein who documented hacking a G5 Flex to adjust the focus for their own bird box. They even shared some tips via DM—huge thanks for that!
The fix is straightforward: disassemble the camera, break the factory glue holding the lens, and manually adjust the focus. Simple in theory, slightly nerve-wracking in practice.
The Surgery
The G3 Flex sat on my desk for a day, doubling as a fidget toy between meetings. I periodically unscrewed another layer, referencing this Imgur album for guidance. Like a nesting doll, each shell revealed another until I finally reached the sensor board.
Hot glue holds the lens mount in place. After carefully chipping it away, the lens became twistable. With the camera still disassembled, I temporarily reinstalled it in the box and focused it on my phone, positioned at roughly “baby bird” height.
A few turns of the lens later, everything clicked into sharp focus at about 8 inches.
Drumroll please… Here’s the before and after:
Zoom in now and compare it to the earlier shot. It’s a night and day difference.
The Verdict
The warranty is toast, but for a $60 camera (often cheaper used), you get sharp 1080p footage of your future tenants. The G3 Flex is surprisingly rugged, too—it handles years outdoors without complaint.