1/1.8" cameras at night

[Flintstone61]

Are those reflectors in your neighbors yards? How did you ask them to place a reflector on their pole? (I would have to use their mailbox in my tight Field of View I'm zoomed into.

one is on my yard. one is on a Public utility pole, intalled at midnite in an Unacknowledged Special Access Program,,,,MFLPR

 

[Flintstone61]

Any advice for locking in the focus on the Northbound traffic camera? I could add a reflector to that tree. But the tree is 70ft away. My vehicle choke point is only 15-25ft from this mailbox as vehicles pass by. The plan is to get plates long before they get to the tree, or stop sign 135ft at the end of the road. Focusing on the tree would be off.

stick it to the curb

 

[Flintstone61]

 

[wittaj]

The newer cams don't suffer from focus hunt like the older cameras do.

I simply had someone stop a vehicle in the center of the field of view and hit area focus and drew the box around the back of the car. I did this for the day and night profile and the camera goes to that focus number for each profile.

 

[biggen]

Is there a reason why my Camera's IP address admin user interface screen is White & Blue, I don't have the Gray & Orange user interface others have posted screenshots look different than mine. Is it a old firmware or a plug-in I need to add to the camera's? Why the different User Interfaces?

Lots of people on this site were bragging about how great these EmpireTech (Dahua) cameras with the 1/1.8" image sensor and optical zoom lens works for them capturing LPR with the default settings, and just shutter speed at night, that was all I needed to touch. It wasn't until I asked for help that I'm getting way more advice to change IR, Gain, Contrast, etc. Maybe they should be checked by other users if "works great with default settings" isn't correct, those gleeful reviews and responses were not helpful.

Unfortunately weather delay, I don't want to open the PoE connection and switch cameras and risk water in the connection. The first Turret camera 1/2.8" 8mm max zoom didn't look great after 6 months with the waterproof connection and inside conduit, so I added dielectric grease to the Turret 1/1.8" 12mm max zoom camera couple weeks ago. I'll have to mount the Bullet 1/1.8" 32mm max zoom camera a few feet higher on the tree where it blends in better with a branch.

No reputable member here posted anything to the sort of “default camera values work fine for LPR”. Id challenge you to find a post saying otherwise…

You have plenty of information now on proper settings. You have been asked to show us your camera settings. Come back when you have done this so we can actually help.

 

[Flintstone61]

Try doing LPR with a 5241 on a 1/2.8 sensor for about 3 months and see all that it encompasses.
Then when you get ahold of a Z4 on 1/1.8 and have it start grabbing plates based on your knowledge gained from the 5241 model you could see why I would say its easy.
Easy for me anyway.
But i had to learn about all the settings and make mistakes and miss plates and let catalytic converter stealing assholes get away to dial it in.

 

[RJM_50]

Try doing LPR with a 5241 on a 1/2.8 sensor for about 3 months and see all that it encompasses.
Then when you get ahold of a Z4 on 1/1.8 and have it start grabbing plates based on your knowledge gained from the 5241 model you could see why I would say its easy.
Easy for me anyway.
But i had to learn about all the settings and make mistakes and miss plates and let catalytic converter stealing assholes get away to dial it in.

That's part of why I selected these cameras, I felt I could figure it out without much struggle bus or crazy long optical zoom. But, no, I still have to invest my time learning, ride the struggle bus, and replace this optimistic 2.8-12mm Turret camera for a longer 12-32;mm Bullet camera when the weather won't risk compromising the connections. The bullet camera should be able to pull in 66% closer. I can rotate the camera to be closer as they pass, but I'm trying to keep my camera angles as close as possible.

The Northbound traffic camera in the mailbox is 0° vertically, and 10° horizontally as cars pass by. Are there any problems that occur when the camera is too close to perpendicular to the licence plate? Like reducing the Infrared even more to prevent glare back at the camera?

I ordered a 3½x2" white reflector, that I can attach to my neighbors post, horizontally just below the mailbox. It should blend in and it's recommended for focusing.

Is there a 3rd profile besides Day/Night for the Dawn & Dusk? That's when I get more failed hits. Or is this why some users run B&W Infrared 24/7 and don't user Color Day Mode?
I have 16 security cameras around the property with zero blind spots, this was an obsession, and now it's a new skill I need to learn with all your patience and help.

Try doing LPR with a 5241 on a 1/2.8 sensor for about 3 months and see all that it encompasses.
Then when you get ahold of a Z4 on 1/1.8 and have it start grabbing plates based on your knowledge gained from the 5241 model you could see why I would say its easy.
Easy for me anyway.
But i had to learn about all the settings and make mistakes and miss plates and let catalytic converter stealing assholes get away to dial it in.

Do you really want to see my struggle buss screenshot settings with this incorrect Turret camera? Or wait until I swap in the ideal Bullet camera with the correct zoom for LPR? (I'm debating if I should paint the camera, or cover it in camouflage duck tape before it's mounted in the tree. The Turret was black version and I left it alone, and covered the conduit with camouflage duck tape.)

 

[RJM_50]

No reputable member here posted anything to the sort of “default camera values work fine for LPR”. Id challenge you to find a post saying otherwise…

The very first response (post #2) told me how easy they were getting LPR results with just 1/500 Shutter Speed and default settings. That post set me on the wrong path afraid to make changes.

You have plenty of information now on proper settings. You have been asked to show us your camera settings. Come back when you have done this so we can actually help.

I was very embarrassed that I had caused a problem or was failing to access the camera because all of there screenshots from members were Gray/Orange, but my GUI was White/Blue. I didn't know what I had done wrong, what plug-in I was missing, or was incompetent at checking firmware updates.
Now that I understand White/Blue is a new model camera, and this post was originally asking about doing LPR with color night vision (which is stupid and practically impossible even with the newest models). I'll likely start a new post with less of my ignorance, the new Bullet camera (with more zoom), and none of my weird ignorance.

I'd like to thank everyone here for helping me quit the color night vision idea, swap out the turret camera for more zoom, many good links to read, understand my S3 chipset has a new GUI that is not broken or user error, and push me in the correct directions. Thanks everyone!

 

[wittaj]

The very first response (post #2) told me how easy they were getting LPR results with just 1/500 Shutter Speed and default settings. That post set me on the wrong path afraid to make changes.

I was very embarrassed that I had caused a problem or was failing to access the camera because all of there screenshots from members were Gray/Orange, but my GUI was White/Blue. I didn't know what I had done wrong, what plug-in I was missing, or was incompetent at checking firmware updates.
Now that I understand White/Blue is a new model camera, and this post was originally asking about doing LPR with color night vision (which is stupid and practically impossible even with the newest models). I'll likely start a new post with less of my ignorance, the new Bullet camera (with more zoom), and none of my weird ignorance.

I'd like to thank everyone here for helping me quit the color night vision idea, swap out the turret camera for more zoom, many good links to read, understand my S3 chipset has a new GUI that is not broken or user error, and push me in the correct directions. Thanks everyone!

Again, you are referencing a post about "how easy it is" that is in your thread AFTER you bought the camera. You couldn't have seen that post prior to you purchasing the camera and making this thread unless you have a time machine LOL.

You have the right camera, but for some reason refuse to do our suggestions to re-angle the camera and to post screenshots of your settings.

This camera works on a mailbox - don't have it pointed so far down the street.

Look at the difference between your field of view and mine for the same camera in roughly the same location (mine is lower but materially the same)....

Mine:



versus yours:



As I have said, you either have it angled TOO FAR down the road that makes everything too small or you are not all the way zoomed in.

Look how much bigger the vehicle is in my view versus yours. That is the difference between getting plates or not.

 

[Flintstone61]

Getting plates isnt the whole story anyway. the experienced bad guys used stolen plates and stolen vehicles at our property in some cases. The dumb ones used their own car. The cops can only visit in the aftermath and try building a database that may or maynot lead to a perp. And then you have masks and hoodies and hats. So they cannot easily pin the crime on somebody because the video capture evidence is inconclusive.
I could sense the frustration of some of the LEO’s that came to generate a case# .

 

[Flintstone61]

About the only crime i’ve captured at home is a hit and run
committed by my gf running the Nissan into the workbench in the garage.
And one Townhouse squirrel ️ crossing the road to steal my squirrels nuts.

 

[TonyR]

(I'm debating if I should paint the camera, or cover it in camouflage duck tape before it's mounted in the tree. The Turret was black version and I left it alone, and covered the conduit with camouflage duck tape.)

FWIW, "duct" tape would work better than "duck" tape......

 

[Parley]

That's part of why I selected these cameras, I felt I could figure it out without much struggle bus or crazy long optical zoom. But, no, I still have to invest my time learning, ride the struggle bus, and replace this optimistic 2.8-12mm Turret camera for a longer 12-32;mm Bullet camera when the weather won't risk compromising the connections. The bullet camera should be able to pull in 66% closer. I can rotate the camera to be closer as they pass, but I'm trying to keep my camera angles as close as possible.

The Northbound traffic camera in the mailbox is 0° vertically, and 10° horizontally as cars pass by. Are there any problems that occur when the camera is too close to perpendicular to the licence plate? Like reducing the Infrared even more to prevent glare back at the camera?

I ordered a 3½x2" white reflector, that I can attach to my neighbors post, horizontally just below the mailbox. It should blend in and it's recommended for focusing.

Is there a 3rd profile besides Day/Night for the Dawn & Dusk? That's when I get more failed hits. Or is this why some users run B&W Infrared 24/7 and don't user Color Day Mode?
I have 16 security cameras around the property with zero blind spots, this was an obsession, and now it's a new skill I need to learn with all your patience and help.


Do you really want to see my struggle buss screenshot settings with this incorrect Turret camera? Or wait until I swap in the ideal Bullet camera with the correct zoom for LPR? (I'm debating if I should paint the camera, or cover it in camouflage duck tape before it's mounted in the tree. The Turret was black version and I left it alone, and covered the conduit with camouflage duck tape.)

I can see right now that the license plate in that picture is blurred. You need to increase your shutter speed for starters. There is no magic shutter speed or IR light setting. At my place I have 4 LPR cameras. They have shutter speeds of 1/250, 1/500/, 1/1000 and 1/2000. I have had shutter speeds up to 1/10000 and as low as 1/100 while trying to find the right shutter speed. Also, as to the IR light, I have gone from 0 to 100 while trying to find the right amount of IR light. In the other photos that you have posted, you have to much light reflection from the plates, and it is washing them out. You need to lower the IR light or increase the shutter speed or a combination of both. I run color in the daytime and B/W at night.

 

[RJM_50]

New bullet camera with more zoom, time to get into the settings from scratch again.

 

[biggen]

New bullet camera with more zoom, time to get into the settings from scratch again.

Now that is the right amount of zoom!

 

[RJM_50]

Now that is the right amount of zoom!

Took 15x zoom, is the angle good for passing vehicles and plates? Not too steep of an angle, doesn't that effect the Infrared reflection of the angle is too aggressive?

My opposing camera needs to be tilted more, it's 0° vertical and 10° horizontal, it's 15ft from passing vehicles, but with only 5x zoom it could be adjusted for a smaller Field of View.

 

[bigredfish]

It’s fine

 

[samplenhold]

is the angle good for passing vehicles and plates?

Only you can answer this question. You do that by working the cam settings and position/zoom until you get the desired results.

 

[mat200]

Took 15x zoom, is the angle good for passing vehicles and plates? Not too steep of an angle, doesn't that effect the Infrared reflection of the angle is too aggressive?

My opposing camera needs to be tilted more, it's 0° vertical and 10° horizontal, it's 15ft from passing vehicles, but with only 5x zoom it could be adjusted for a smaller Field of View.

Keep it up .. as often noted lpr can be a bit of an art form to get setup. Thankfully we have a number of members with great experience that they are sharing on this.

 

[RJM_50]

I can't get this camera to reliably save the setting changes, at first it would not flip to night mode until I logged into the web GUI, without touching any settings or radio buttons, just logged in and it flipped to night IR mode. And it won't stay in 24hr mode, I changed it back to 24hr last night. I had failed LPR captures in day color mode, but then it was working great once it flipped to my night profile. And again during day mode, and back to +8 Beijing time zone.

But it went back to 12hr mode, and I'm not sure if it will flip to night mode tonight, (have to wait and find out). Any suggestions on why it's not saving the profile when I keep pushing the "apply" settings button repeatedly?