Inexpensive long fixed lens camera sources?

JudasFeast

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You used to be able to find lots of people on AliExpress and other places selling cheap-ish full-sized bullets with 16 and 25mm lenses preinstalled. These seem to have dried up since COVID and are still hard to find. It's strange to me to see large bullets with 3.6 and maybe 6mm lenses but nothing longer. You used to even be able to specify the number of IR lights in them for brighter distance work.

Anybody have a source for these anymore? I'm looking for something cheap that'll give me eyeball-readable plates at night without popping for $1000 cameras. Even the less expensive variable focal length cameras would be OK if a fellow could specify a focus instead of them losing focus at night when they can't automagically refocus on black at 1/2000 or whatever if you know what I mean.
 

wittaj

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Most of us here use the Z12E sold by trusted member @EMPIRETECANDY for LPR. Right around $250USD. And the camera has the ability to specify a focus so you don't lose it at night.


See the LPR subforum for more details.

 

JudasFeast

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Thanks. They must've updated the firmware? Seems to me that originally the Dahua varifocal cams couldn't do that. At least there's a medium-priced model that works.

Seems a shame that the older cheap ones aren't available. I've got two unmodified 16mm Dahuas that were about $80 each still doing a good job. And one of the old loved/hated Huisun PTZs for that matter.
 
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