Has anyone had success using a fixed lens mini-bullet camera for LPR?

[wtimothyholman]

I've been talking to a neighbor who wants to install a camera that is suitable for LPR, or at least LPC. Due to HOA concerns, he is thinking of trying to install a couple of hidden mini-bullet cameras in a mailbox post near the edge of the road. His question to me: "Would cameras this small even work?" Having seen my own system, he wants to avoid the larger size of a varifocal camera. Cars would pass quite close to the mailbox, so the distance to a plate would be perhaps 20 feet or so at most.

There are a couple of mini-bullet cameras available that are fairly compact (especially if the base is removed) and have a 6mm lens option with a reasonable sensor size (> 1/2.8"). I was wondering whether anyone has had any success doing something this with a camera that was installed right next to a road.

 

[wittaj]

Yes plenty here have installed cams on a mailbox for LPR.

It comes down to the right focal length and ability to actually control shutter and parameters.

6mm is probably on the smaller size to get away with but you could probably get a fair amount.

 

[wtimothyholman]

Yes plenty here have installed cams on a mailbox for LPR.

It comes down to the right focal length and ability to actually control shutter and parameters.

6mm is probably on the smaller size to get away with but you could probably get a fair amount.

I've already told him that if he is going to make this work, he'll need either a Dahua or Hikvision mini-bullet. For him, it's all about smallest possible size, and 6mm seems to be the longest focal length in a fixed-lens camera available (at least without some modification of the camera).

So perhaps I should have more correctly asked: "Has anyone had any success with a fixed-lens 6mm camera for LPR?".

 

[wittaj]

@Flintstone61 got LPR by mistake with a 6mm but he is at a better angle than off to the side mailbox.

It can be done. I tested 3.6mm on a mailbox and at night was about 45%, so a 6mm would do better.

 

[TVille]

I've got a 5442 6 mm working LPR during daylight hours. It is at a distance of about 45', at a 45 degree angle to the roadway, roughly 18' off the roadway. This is a turret style camera that is not intended to do LPR, but it does it well enough. It is not an IR camera, it runs color 24/7 due to street lights. Would it work at night with IR? I'm not sure. If it were at the edge of the road, I am pretty confident it would work with IR at night too. I want to be clear - This is NOT my LPR, it just so happens it works for LPR during daylight hours!

 

[wtimothyholman]

I've got a 5442 6 mm working LPR during daylight hours. It is at a distance of about 45', at a 45 degree angle to the roadway, roughly 18' off the roadway. This is a turret style camera that is not intended to do LPR, but it does it well enough. It is not an IR camera, it runs color 24/7 due to street lights. Would it work at night with IR? I'm not sure. If it were at the edge of the road, I am pretty confident it would work with IR at night too. I want to be clear - This is NOT my LPR, it just so happens it works for LPR during daylight hours!

Yes, getting it to work at night would be the greater challenge. I'll advise him to consider some large IR diodes in his installation if the camera alone can't manage enough illumination.

But it does seems that some have gotten it to work to a reasonable extent, so I'll pass that on to him. Some experimentation on his part will be needed.

 

[TVille]

Yes, getting it to work at night would be the greater challenge. I'll advise him to consider some large IR diodes in his installation if the camera alone can't manage enough illumination.

But it does seems that some have gotten it to work to a reasonable extent, so I'll pass that on to him. Some experimentation on his part will be needed.

If you can get the camera near the edge of the roadway, I think it will work with builtin IR. But every LPR install seems to be different.

 

[Flintstone61]

 

[Flintstone61]

Happy accident. 6mm 5442 AS-LED
i have about a 100 watt LED 15 feet straight above the Camera. So i can run 1/2000 in B&W and let the the other outdoor cameras detect color etc..
The rear picture of the Police car is from the LPR 5241ze-12