Privacy Mode not working as it should - Amcrest IP2M-841

[coffee]

I have an Amcrest IP2M-841 and use Privacy Mode via API to set the camera lens to face downwards/out of sight. This has worked fine for at least a year.

In recent months, when enabling Privacy Mode, the camera will rotate downwards but not all the way - coming to rest at a point where the lens is still visible (see photo further below).

This isn't great for two reasons, a) it defeats the purpose of Privacy Mode as the lens is still visible, and b) it messes with the baseline positioning for the camera - i.e. when I enable the camera again, it's pointing somewhere much higher than the intended angle.

Any advice on how to fix this? I'm hoping it's not a mechanical issue with the rotating mechanism as that sounds like it might be a pain to fix.

Thanks for any help.

[jack7]

I don't see "Privacy Mode" in Amcrest API as you mentioned.
To achieve a black video stream, you could probably use API to set Brightness and Contrast to 0.  It may require using API to set day and night settings to color mode first, depending on normal  settings.

[coffee]

I don't see "Privacy Mode" in Amcrest API as you mentioned.
To achieve a black video stream, you could probably use API to set Brightness and Contrast to 0.  It may require using API to set day and night settings to color mode first, depending on normal  settings.

It's there, just not well documented - to enable/disable privacy mode I use LeLensMask per this link. Rather than modify the brightness/contrast, this has the benefit of physically turning the lens away so it's clear to others that it's not in use.

Thanks for any help.