diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 685b1446..b8feb3a0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2099,6 +2099,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "tikv-jemallocator",
+ "time",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-stream",
  "tokio-util",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8b582b71..30ba266d 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ serde = { version = "1.0.228", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.149"
 tokio = { version = "1.50.0", features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros", "io-util", "tracing", "signal"] }
 tokio-stream = "0.1.18"
+time = { version = "0.3", features = ["local-offset"] }
 tokio-util = { version = "0.7.18", features = ["full", "tracing"] }
 toml = "1.0.7"
 uuid = { version = "1.22.0", features = ["v4"] }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6dafef6..b2c3937d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ merged, plus additional improvements:
 - Low-latency RTSP mode with frame draining, live-mode AppSrc, and reduced buffers
 - Docker images published to GHCR instead of Docker Hub
 - Updated dependencies and Debian Trixie base image
+- Use local timezone when using `update_time` to set camera time
 
 **Inherited features from upstream:**
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 4e66b2a7..d86ae90a 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ enable_low_latency = false       # reduce stream delay (default: false)
 # Diagnostics
 debug = false                    # dump raw XML from camera
 print_format = "None"            # "None", "Human", or "Xml" for status messages
-update_time = false              # force camera clock sync on connect
+update_time = false              # force camera clock sync on connect (uses local wall-clock time)
 
 # NVR channel (for multi-camera NVRs)
 channel_id = 0                   # 0-indexed camera on NVR
diff --git a/src/common/camthread.rs b/src/common/camthread.rs
index 6254ab9c..2cd2e424 100644
--- a/src/common/camthread.rs
+++ b/src/common/camthread.rs
@@ -194,7 +194,11 @@ impl Drop for NeoCamThread {
     }
 }
 
-async fn update_camera_time(camera: &BcCamera, name: &str, update_time: bool) -> AnyResult<()> {
+async fn update_camera_time(
+    camera: &BcCamera,
+    name: &str,
+    update_time: bool,
+) -> AnyResult<()> {
     let cam_time = camera.get_time().await?;
     let mut update = false;
     if let Some(time) = cam_time {
@@ -207,11 +211,21 @@ async fn update_camera_time(camera: &BcCamera, name: &str, update_time: bool) ->
         log::warn!("{}: Camera has no time set, Updating", name);
     }
     if update {
-        use std::time::SystemTime;
-        let new_time = SystemTime::now();
-
-        log::info!("{}: Setting time to {:?}", name, new_time);
-        match camera.set_time(new_time.into()).await {
+        use time::{OffsetDateTime, UtcOffset};
+
+        let utc_now = OffsetDateTime::now_utc();
+        let offset = UtcOffset::local_offset_at(utc_now).unwrap_or(UtcOffset::UTC);
+        let local = utc_now.to_offset(offset);
+        log::info!(
+            "{}: Setting camera time to local time: {} {}",
+            name,
+            local,
+            offset
+        );
+        // Strip the offset so the camera stores wall-clock local time as-is
+        let new_time = local.replace_offset(UtcOffset::UTC);
+
+        match camera.set_time(new_time).await {
             Ok(_) => {
                 let cam_time = camera.get_time().await?;
                 if let Some(time) = cam_time {