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 nest box with ethernet running to it
Camera view
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.
A disassembled G3 Flex
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.
POV: Focusing the camera at my phone
A few turns of the lens later, everything clicked into sharp focus at about 8 inches.
Drumroll please… Here’s the before and after:
Before
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.