Looking to buy two camera's that can cover my parking lot and provide details of license plates.

[fediddy]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I am looking to buy two camera that will give me good coverage and details of license plates. Here are pictures of my current setup. Using Amcrest cameras. When I zoom in on the images the license plates get really blurry and unreadable. I appreciate your help in advance.. Thanks

 

[mat200]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I am looking to buy two camera that will give me good coverage and details of license plates. Here are pictures of my current setup. Using Amcrest cameras. When I zoom in on the images the license plates get really blurry and unreadable. I appreciate your help in advance.. Thanks

Hi @fediddy

What model cameras do you currently have up?

 

[wittaj]

You need optical zoom, digital zoom only works in the movies and TV...

Regarding a camera for LPR - keep in mind that this is a camera dedicated to plates and not an overview camera also. You will need two cameras. For LPR we need to 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:

This is the camera for LPR that most of us use:

https://www.amazon.com/Loryta-IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E-Starlight-Network-English/dp/B07RJQT9NB/ref=sr_1_19?dchild=1&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1620937594&redirect=true&s=merchant-items&sr=1-19

This is the camera that you might be able to get by with IF the distances are within 40 feet:

https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-IPC-T5442T-ZE-Vari-Focal-Eyeball-Starlight/dp/B08C77TNY9/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1620937544&redirect=true&s=merchant-items&sr=1-1

And this is the camera you would need for up to 65 feet:

Amazon.com : Loryta IPC-B5442E-Z4E 4MP Starlight+ WDR IR 8mm–32mm Motorized Lens Bullet AI Network Camera English Version

Amazon.com : Loryta IPC-B5442E-Z4E 4MP Starlight+ WDR IR 8mm–32mm Motorized Lens Bullet AI Network Camera English Version

www.amazon.com

Depending on what you are tying to accomplish, you may need more than two cameras. Do you just want to get them coming and going or do you want to be able to read them in the parking spots too? You may need to go lower with the cameras too in order to be able to reliably get the plates. Or make the distance further out to benefit from distance to lessen the vertical angle.

And these cameras are varifocals which mean you optically zoom in tight to get the plates. But these are a set it and forget it. These cameras are not intended to manually zoom in and out all the time. That would be a PTZ.

 

[fediddy]

Hi @fediddy

What model cameras do you currently have up?

I am pretty sure they are the Amcrest IP5M-T1179EW-36MM

 

[fediddy]

@wittaj Thanks for the reply.

I am basically looking to get camera's that have better visibility so I can zoom in on the IMAGE of the recording itself. I am trying to record them coming and going as well as them parked usually during the day. Lowering the camera's would not be in option because that parking lot is in a wonderful neighborhood and they would simply disappear. ..

 

[wittaj]

As I mentioned, you need a camera that is optically zoomed in to get what you want. Digital zoom only works in the movies and TV. You might get by with some, but not much.

Go with the varifocals and optically zoom them in to the entrance and exit.

Then get a PTZ that you set on a tour to slowly pan and stop at each parking spot to get the plates.

But like I mentioned, the camera will have to be dedicated to just seeing the front and backs of cars. They cannot serve as an overview as well.

So keep these cameras as overview, and then add the cameras to read plates right next to it.

 

[mat200]

I am pretty sure they are the Amcrest IP5M-T1179EW-36MM

Hi @fediddy

1) Ideally I would add more cameras to get the coverage you need.

2) You could get an improvement of pixel density if you look to replace these 5MP cameras with a 8MP camera with a larger sensor and the same FOV.

3) I actually like these cameras as more affordable cameras, so if possible I really do like the idea of adding more cameras to your mix instead of replacing these with a 8MP model.

Is it possible to add more cameras to your setup?



FYI - here's the 5MP 2.8mm version .. ( OP notes has 3.6mm version )

 

[wittaj]

Based on my experiences, a 2.8mm or 3.6mm lens at that height and distance will not result in reliable reading of plates. You need optical zoom, not more MP. 2MP is more than sufficient for reading plates when the zoom is correct.

 

[fediddy]

As I mentioned, you need a camera that is optically zoomed in to get what you want. Digital zoom only works in the movies and TV. You might get by with some, but not much.

Go with the varifocals and optically zoom them in to the entrance and exit.

Then get a PTZ that you set on a tour to slowly pan and stop at each parking spot to get the plates.

But like I mentioned, the camera will have to be dedicated to just seeing the front and backs of cars. They cannot serve as an overview as well.

So keep these cameras as overview, and then add the cameras to read plates right next to it.

So the camera's that are out there are more for security. There is fighting, drug dealing, car's being broken into, people getting robbed out there which I am trying to capture. So the PTZ camera in Tour mode would probably not be the proper setup as we would miss some of the action,. I just need to put there a good enough camera with a proper mm to catch things as best as I could... I had shitty RIOLink camera back there a few months ago and I feel that they were doing a better job at capturing the license plates then these new cameras.

@wittaj @mat200
I cannot remember if what I currently have is the 36mm or the 28MM... Is there a way i could check without me having to climb up there? The camera's were set to 2592x1944 which made the image into a SQUARE and squished the license plates together. I set them 2688x1520 and it got a little bit better...

 

[fediddy]

Update: I just figured out that the camera's are IP5M-B1186E and not IP5M-T1179EW

 

[wittaj]

I am not suggesting to replace those with a PTZ, but rather keep your existing as overview cams and add the PTZ into the mix to capture the plates of the parked cars and then get two varifocal cameras optically zoomed in to the entrance and exit to get the plates coming and going.

Depending on if you have an NVR or BI, you could then use these existing cams as spotter cams to move the PTZ to where the action is if it is looking the wrong way. And you get a PTZ with autotrack so it follows the punks around the lot!

 

[mat200]

Update: I just figured out that the camera's are IP5M-B1186E and not IP5M-T1179EW

Hi @fediddy

iirc the internals between the bullet version and the turret version are basically the same.

I'd probably add a few more cameras instead of replace.

 

[Flintstone61]

this is my 5241 ze12 perched under an overview cam model # 5442 Turret ASE LED, I'm getting 99.9% of the plates, on moving vehicles. night and day. unless of course my PC decides to take the weekend off. Grrrrrrrr. I broke down and went to windows media creation tool. and made a Clean install USB stick. Tomorrow The BI PC gets a complete redo.
grrrrrrr.

 

[fediddy]

For my parking lot, would i need a 2.8mm or 3.6mm to catch the plates better?

 

[wittaj]

One of the varifocals I referenced above in Post #3 is needed.

You need OPTICAL zoom that a varifocal can give you to zoom in to the spot you need.

A 2.8mm or 3.6mm fixed lens that you would have to DIGITAL zoom will not cut it reliably.

You currently have the 3.6mm...the 2.8mm would be worse...

To identify someone with the 2.8mm lens that is popular, someone would have to be within 13 feet of the camera, but realistically within 10 feet after you dial it in to your settings.

You have that distance lost just vertically.

Go with the cameras I suggested in Post #3 and keep your existing there as well as overview.

A camera cannot be both an overview and get plates!

 

[wittaj]

As a frame of reference, I wanted to see if I could use a 3.6mm attached to a mailbox.

I set up a temporary rig and isn't wasn't long before I concluded it will not work and abandoned the idea. The 2.8mm and 3.6mm are too wide angle.

I cropped this shot from the 3.6mm to give you an example. This is about as ideal as you can get - the camera just slightly above the plate and about 15 feet away and you cannot reliably read the plate. Sure I can read some and make good guesses, but a varifocal to let you OPTICALLY zoom in a field of view to just the size of the vehicle is what is needed.

Now a varifocal at that location where I could OPTICALLY zoom the field of view to be this tight and not see the whole neighborhood would give me the plates.

You have a lot of vertical distance to overcome and the car needs to be far enough out to get a good angle, thus the varifocal.

 

[mat200]

For my parking lot, would i need a 2.8mm or 3.6mm to catch the plates better?

Hi @fediddy

Depends on how close you can get the cameras to the license plates... iirc you need about 80ppf during daylight conditions to read a plate..

See the DORI section of the cliff notes

 

[Robert hocevar]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I am looking to buy two camera that will give me good coverage and details of license plates. Here are pictures of my current setup. Using Amcrest cameras. When I zoom in on the images the license plates get really blurry and unreadable. I appreciate your help in advance.. Thanks

I have installed a bunch of these in a few walmart parking lots and have held up and do the job very well.They are pretty pricey but ya get what ya pay for.
Hikvision DS-2CD7A26G0-P-IZHS8

 

[Flintstone61]

For my parking lot, would i need a 2.8mm or 3.6mm to catch the plates better?

Use those amcrests to get the color view of the car. But run a LPR cam IPC-5421-Z12e…. Right next to it pointed the same way, time synced, so you have the plate and the car description together.

 

[rahhazar]

I did get this camera Loryta IPC-HFW7442H-Z4 4MP AI IR...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082WSHHTS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

from @EMPIRETECANDY. They are wonderful, you may be able to get by with plates even with overview.
I did a mini incomplete review of it IPC-HFW7442H-Z4 4MP review
Also if you have enough light it can print you color plates at night. I mean good amount of light.