Camera recommendation

J

jkoopmann

n3wb
Jun 29, 2025
4
0
Germany
Hi,

i am using frigate and want to install a new camera mainly for LPR so that when I drive towards my gate the system will recognize my car and open the swing gate for me automatically. Since the LPR is being done by frigate (0.16) which I have already integrated into my home automation system I do not need a camera with built in LPR functionality.

I can mount the camera so that it would be at the height of the typical license plate (or at least at a hight where it will have a straight line of sight to the approaching license plate) and face the oncoming care pretty much straight on (less than 30 degrees angle).

Since if the gate is closed cars are forced to drive towards it relatively slowly there - to my understanding - there is no need for tons of fps here. But lighting conditions could be a problem at least during the night when cars approach the gate with their headlights on. Moreover the focus might be relevant as would be the resolution.

Given these conditions: Is there any recommendation for e.g. a hikvision or OEM brand? If others are more suitable or have a better price-ratio I am happy to use that as well as frigate will pretty much work with everything that is giving a H.264 stream. What would I have to look for in the camera specifically?

Kind regards
JP
 
How far away?

If under 30ish feet then the 54IR-ZE turret and if longer distance upnto 200ish feet then the 52IR-Z12E bullet.
 
wittaj said:
How far away?

If under 30ish feet then the 54IR-ZE turret and if longer distance upnto 200ish feet then the 52IR-Z12E bullet.
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Since the gate is behind a small curve I would say a maximum of 20 feet.

I am new to this forum. When I google for 54IR-ZE it finds several manufacturers etc. This might be a stupid question but please help me out. Are you talking about DH-IPC-HDW5442T-ZE? If so this camera brags about having tons of functionality like deep learning etc... My amateur mind feels that this sort of intelligence is exactly what frigate with the detection models and AI integration will take care of. If this camera is the way to go for optical reasons then so be it. E.g. because the scene detection will make license plates readable even if headlights are on. But if there is something optically equivalent less expensive I would be happy as well.
 
Sadly none of those features will be used as we are setting the camera up to be able to manually read the plates, and in doing so the AI functions won't work properly.

You need a camera that you can set the shutter and it actually honors it. That knocks a lot of camera brands out.

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.

Regarding plates, keep in mind that 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):

1751238542603.png

Yes that camera I suggested is the 5442 ZE. It is about as cheap as you can go to reliably capture plates.

See the LPR subforum for more details.

A trusted vendor here sells Dahua OEM and is having a sale next week and we have many members here from Germany and Europe that buy from him.

E

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The EmpireTech 10th Anniversary Sale 2025 will have support from Dahua. As a tradition, there will be a Lottery plus the sale prices that you all expect. This would also be a great time to upgrade and participate...
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wittaj said:
Sadly none of those features will be used as we are setting the camera up to be able to manually read the plates, and in doing so the AI functions won't work properly.

You need a camera that you can set the shutter and it actually honors it. That knocks a lot of camera brands out.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I read this as: It is mainly for optical reasons. As I said: I am fine with that. :-) Not happy but fine.

wittaj said:
Regarding plates, keep in mind that 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.
Click to expand...

Who is doing the zooming in part in my case? The camera AI itself or frigate via ONVIF PTZ? In my case I am not even sure if zooming would be needed as the camera view is so limited/fixed that it pretty much resembles the photo you sent as a demo even if it is not doing PTZ at all I suppose. But still it would be great to enhance quality and detection speed by using PTZ and optical zoom of course!
wittaj said:
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.
Click to expand...

1751259182994.png


This image shows the gate in question at night with an older hikvision and street light only. Red arrow points the planned position of the LPR camera. Green is the approximate angle where the LPR would "look" to. Colour and street light MIGHT be enough but I want to be sure.

So how do you realize the shutter etc. stuff? I suppose a daylight and a night setting which you let the camera switch between automatically depening on time or lighting conditions?

wittaj said:
Yes that camera I suggested is the 5442 ZE. It is about as cheap as you can go to reliably capture plates.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification. And is it important if this is the turret or bullet version or are they the same?


wittaj said:
A trusted vendor here sells Dahua OEM and is having a sale next week and we have many members here from Germany and Europe that buy from him.
Click to expand...
In the German store on Amazon I currently only see two cameras (one fixed lens) incl the IPC-T5442T-ZE-S3 Black. That is the one we are talking about and that might be in the sale es well next week? If so: Great hint and what I will buy then eventually. Might be that the cables etc. necessary will not be ready for a few months but then at least I know what to get. Is this one of those things in which each month/year a vastly improved version of the camera comes out and one should wait till the last possible moment or is this beast pretty much what you want for the foreseeable future?

Regarding resolution and fps? Resolution as high as possible and 5 fps or what is the recommendation?

Regards
JP
 
No this camera is a varifocal, not a PTZ.

You set the focal length and forget it. This camera does not automatically zoom in and out.

You want the field of view to be basically not much larger than the size of a vehicle.

720 is fine for LPR purposes. It just so happens that you will spend more than for this 4MP LOL.

The turret is smaller. Many like the smaller form factor.

The bullet has more IR and tends to be better, but at that close distance the turret would be fine.

Maybe you can do color, but you would be shocked how much light is needed. Now you may get away with a slower shutter given the vehicle speed (I assume the vehicle is traveling along the same direction as the green line).

You set the shutter speed in the camera.

Shutter speed is what captures the freeze frame, not FPS, so you can pretty much use whatever you want. Some here do 30FPS, most do 15FPS.

LOL - unlike other technology, the tech in these cameras are slow moving. The 5442 has been the most recommended camera for over 4 years, maybe 5 at this point.
 
wittaj said:
No this camera is a varifocal, not a PTZ.

You set the focal length and forget it. This camera does not automatically zoom in and out.
Click to expand...

Ok. Perplexity suggested that since it is varifocal both zoom and focus can be remotely controlled and since it is exposed via ONFIV frigate would or rather could make use of it using autotracking. But frankly: Even if this was the case for this purpose it seems overkill as at that distance and speed there will be no need to zoom in I suppose.

So mount it, position a car at the 2-3 possible locations and then use the webinterface to set focal length so it just shows the car and then forget about it!

wittaj said:
You set the shutter speed in the camera.
Click to expand...
That much is clear. But are you using the same shutter speed day and night? Or one for day and the other for night?

wittaj said:
The 5442 has been the most recommended camera for over 4 years, maybe 5 at this point.
Click to expand...
Meaning it is safe to buy now even if I will start useing it in 6-12 months. :-)

Thanks!
 
Each field of view is different.

Some people simply run 1/2000 shutter B/W 24-7 while others set up a daytime color and shutter and a night time shutter.

For LPR (and even non LPR) yes this camera will still be fine in 12 months. It recently got a newer chipset (S3) after the model number, so it is good for another 3-4 years lol.
 
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