faces at night - (5231E-Z12)

[Andrew F]

We finally have LPR figured out for our camera setup (we moved the 5231s up the road - we'll hide them in a "birdhouse" next to our new lamp post).

Now we're trying to figure out how to get good pictures of faces at night. The daytime is no problem with the LPR camera setup. But night is proving difficult.

Does anybody have any tips to get a clearer picture?

We have a 5231E-Z12 on a post under a tree. It's turned 90 degrees and zoomed a bit, since we really just want a solid pic of people walking by.



Here's what we're getting:



I've attached the settings we have.

Thanks in advance!

 

[pozzello]

i see a little ghosting, possibly from too much noise reduction.

also, the person looks a little blown own compared to the surroundings.
maybe try some WDR (in backlight mode.)
and/or boost the gamma setting in the image page...

 

[looney2ns]

Turn down the noise reduction as far as you can stand it.
That's actually a pretty good capture.

 

[bigredfish]

Agree with @looney2ns . Beyond that its all about light. Any chance that new lamp post can assist with white light in that area?

Ive actually had some recent success using HLC backlight for a similar situation. Ive never liked WDR at night in B&W as it creates blur and a haziness. If you do use WDR just a teeny bit will go a long way, under 20.

 

[Andrew F]

Thank y'all! I didn't get a chance to test last night. Hopefully tonight.

 

[dmiller]

Realize that a zoom, and especially a superzoom, will be less sharp and slower than a fixed lens camera. (Slower means smaller aperture so more gain and noise). Ideally you would frame the target area will a fixed lens large pixel starlight equivalent and light it with visible light.

 

[Andrew F]

Ideally you would frame the target area will a fixed lens large pixel starlight equivalent and light it with visible light.

Thanks for that tip! I may look into that. Our lamp post that we're putting in will hopefully help with visible light, but we may need to select a different camera angle to best capitalize on that.

 

[Revlus]

I'd love to see your birdhouse solution.

 

[Andrew F]

I'd love to see your birdhouse solution.

I will definitely post it on here. I got the idea from these forums. It's going to have a bullet camera facing out each end, angled to the road for LPR. Gotta figure out all those details and get my handy neighbor to help build it so it doesn't look like a kindergarten craft project.

 

[MichaelWeston]

Sounds like a fun project... Would also love to see the birdhouse and light post camera.