I have a friend who had garbage dumped on his property. He has a lot on his plate, especially having lost his wife a few months ago, and I want to help him solve this problem so he can focus on all the other things he does. Where they dumped garbage is too far away from his router that he can't use a regular ip camera, at least I don't think that's possible. I was wondering if there might be an option that doesn't use wifi or mobile data that records to an sd card and hopefully has a way to activate via movement and records clear enough to capture faces and license plate info? He doesn't have a lot of money but he does so much for the community that I want this to be as painless as possible for him so he doesn't get discouraged. Thank you in advance.
Helping a friend
- Thread starter Nersciple
- Start date
We don't recommend wifi cameras here....
Hard-wired is the only way to ensure motion isn't missed.
While this is a great request, you will find you need more than one camera. A trail camera may capture some of it, but probably not enough to help the police.
Regarding plates, you would have to set the camera up specifically to read plates. You need the proper camera with OPTICAL zoom for the distance you are covering and the angle to get plates.
This is a camera dedicated to plates and not an overview camera also. It is as much an art as it is a science. You will need two cameras. For LPR we need to OPTICALLY zoom in tight to make the plate as large as possible. For most of us, all you see is the not much more than a vehicle in the entire frame. Now maybe in the right location during the day it might be able to see some other things, but not at night.
At night, we have to run a very fast shutter speed (1/2,000) and in B/W with IR and the image will be black. All you will see are head/tail lights and the plate. Some people can get away with color if they have enough street lights, but most of us cannot. Here is a representative sample of plates I get at night of vehicles traveling about 45MPH at 175 feet from my 2MP 5241-Z12E camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
See the LPR subforum for more details.
Unless the dumping is always at the same location, and even then, you may need more than one camera to capture what you want.
This thread is used as the go to for the new person here outlining the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value/best bang for the buck in terms of price and performance day and night. It might be a 2MP camera in some instances. Many here feel 4MP is the current sweet spot for these cameras.
The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection
And coupled with that thread is this great thread which will show why all of the same 2.8 or 3.6mm cameras is the wrong choice (these are the common focal lengths consumer brands sell):
i-want-2-8mm-cameras-everywhere-to-see-everything-this-is-why-you-need-specific-fovs-with-purposeful-focal-lengths.70053/
We would encourage you to look at those threads in detail.
It will probably raise more questions than answers LOL.
Hard-wired is the only way to ensure motion isn't missed.
While this is a great request, you will find you need more than one camera. A trail camera may capture some of it, but probably not enough to help the police.
Regarding plates, you would have to set the camera up specifically to read plates. You need the proper camera with OPTICAL zoom for the distance you are covering and the angle to get plates.
This is a camera dedicated to plates and not an overview camera also. It is as much an art as it is a science. You will need two cameras. For LPR we need to OPTICALLY zoom in tight to make the plate as large as possible. For most of us, all you see is the not much more than a vehicle in the entire frame. Now maybe in the right location during the day it might be able to see some other things, but not at night.
At night, we have to run a very fast shutter speed (1/2,000) and in B/W with IR and the image will be black. All you will see are head/tail lights and the plate. Some people can get away with color if they have enough street lights, but most of us cannot. Here is a representative sample of plates I get at night of vehicles traveling about 45MPH at 175 feet from my 2MP 5241-Z12E camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
See the LPR subforum for more details.
Unless the dumping is always at the same location, and even then, you may need more than one camera to capture what you want.
This thread is used as the go to for the new person here outlining the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value/best bang for the buck in terms of price and performance day and night. It might be a 2MP camera in some instances. Many here feel 4MP is the current sweet spot for these cameras.
The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection
And coupled with that thread is this great thread which will show why all of the same 2.8 or 3.6mm cameras is the wrong choice (these are the common focal lengths consumer brands sell):
i-want-2-8mm-cameras-everywhere-to-see-everything-this-is-why-you-need-specific-fovs-with-purposeful-focal-lengths.70053/
We would encourage you to look at those threads in detail.
It will probably raise more questions than answers LOL.
You said "....Where they dumped garbage is too far away from his router that he can't use a regular ip camera".
- About how far away?
- Is there power available or would it have to be provided (a cable installed) ?
- Is there LOS (Line Of Sight) between the dump site and his residence?
It must be too early in the morning as I for some reason saw IP cameras and immediately thought WiFi. I know those are different. I'll check out the info you posted but I have a feeling this is not the place to get the answer he would want. I know him well enough in that all he'll want to do is strap a camera to a tree with either solar or an internal battery and wait...all the while staying under a specific price range. I do thank you for all the info and for setting me straight on my early morning confusion.We don't recommend wifi cameras here....
Hard-wired is the only way to ensure motion isn't missed.
While this is a great request, you will find you need more than one camera. A trail camera may capture some of it, but probably not enough to help the police.
Regarding plates, you would have to set the camera up specifically to read plates. You need the proper camera with OPTICAL zoom for the distance you are covering and the angle to get plates.
This is a camera dedicated to plates and not an overview camera also. It is as much an art as it is a science. You will need two cameras. For LPR we need to OPTICALLY zoom in tight to make the plate as large as possible. For most of us, all you see is the not much more than a vehicle in the entire frame. Now maybe in the right location during the day it might be able to see some other things, but not at night.
At night, we have to run a very fast shutter speed (1/2,000) and in B/W with IR and the image will be black. All you will see are head/tail lights and the plate. Some people can get away with color if they have enough street lights, but most of us cannot. Here is a representative sample of plates I get at night of vehicles traveling about 45MPH at 175 feet from my 2MP 5241-Z12E camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
See the LPR subforum for more details.
Unless the dumping is always at the same location, and even then, you may need more than one camera to capture what you want.
This thread is used as the go to for the new person here outlining the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value/best bang for the buck in terms of price and performance day and night. It might be a 2MP camera in some instances. Many here feel 4MP is the current sweet spot for these cameras.
The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection
And coupled with that thread is this great thread which will show why all of the same 2.8 or 3.6mm cameras is the wrong choice (these are the common focal lengths consumer brands sell):
i-want-2-8mm-cameras-everywhere-to-see-everything-this-is-why-you-need-specific-fovs-with-purposeful-focal-lengths.70053/
We would encourage you to look at those threads in detail.
It will probably raise more questions than answers LOL.
It's a great distance from his house. Maybe football field length, might be longer. There is no power and I doubt he'd be willing to set it up for just this issue and no there really isn't decent line of sight.
Yeah, we get it.
Most of us have been there too and have boxes of cheap cameras we thought for sure would do the job LOL.
I guess you throw up some trail cams and revisit when they don't capture what you want.
Here is a thread dedicated to the cheap (and some not so cheap) consumer cameras people use to try to capture incidents. Many of these are the completely wireless, battery and solar operated type.
The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.
Most of us have been there too and have boxes of cheap cameras we thought for sure would do the job LOL.
I guess you throw up some trail cams and revisit when they don't capture what you want.
Here is a thread dedicated to the cheap (and some not so cheap) consumer cameras people use to try to capture incidents. Many of these are the completely wireless, battery and solar operated type.
The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.
Thanks everyone. Yeah, I think a trail cam will be the best bet and am a little ashamed I didn't think of it sooner but in any case that seems like a worthy path to search down. I thank you again for helping me come to this conclusion and I hope everyone has a good rest of the day.
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Jan 17, 2017
- 16,102
- 27,054
Hi @Nersciple
You can see if a trail camera helps in this case.
Normally I like to record 247, a trailcam will give you a recording on motion detection.
You can also get trail cams that send an alert on activation. So maybe catch in act.
If he’s well known in the community, there are probably some hunters who can loan the gear and even help set it up. They’re pretty good at how to use them.
Then not much cash outlay and more people watching/helping.
If he’s well known in the community, there are probably some hunters who can loan the gear and even help set it up. They’re pretty good at how to use them.
Then not much cash outlay and more people watching/helping.