An image processing method and a camera are provided to implement that a relative position of an intelligent analysis rule relative to a corresponding reference object can remain unchanged when a camera with a pan tilt zoom (PTZ) function is rotated and/or zooms in/out. The method includes receiving an image operation instruction, where the image operation instruction includes performing at least one of a rotation operation or a zoom operation, performing an operation on an image according to the image operation instruction, where the image is overlaid with a rule which is a tripwire or a geometric region and includes a reference object, and displaying the rule on the image on which the operation has been performed such that a relative position of the rule relative to the reference object remains unchanged before and after the operation.