LPR / Security Cam duty

[samplenhold]

The camera is great. I love mine. I have an extra one im selling right now but im also trying to make a profit off of it. B&H sells it too.

$990? and not telephoto enough for my use case. I am out to 50mm.

Do you have any night time pics similar to the above? How far away is that car from the cam?

Sorry, no night time shots yet. These were proof of concept test shots before I began the installation. Have yet to run Cat5e to the location.

So the first shot w/the car making the right turn is about 60 feet and the lens is set to 43mm. The second shot is at about 95 feet and the lens set at 50mm.

 

[samplenhold]

I was hoping 4mm would be enough as it gives me a decent driveway and would seemingly capture LP's.

Try the IPVM Calculator.

IPVM Designer / Calculator

Using Google Maps, layout and design cameras, choosing from 10,000+ models, delivering FoV and image quality previews plus export to PDF, Powerpoint and more

calculator.ipvm.com

You can zoom into your house and select a specific camera. Set the distance on the view and see a hypothetical picture. It is fairly accurate.

Don't be married to that location for the camera. You could mount it anywhere with a good view of the street, like in your flower beds, closer to the action. Could put it in a bird house.

 

[mat200]

So I am the first house in on a neighbourhood that has experienced some breakins lately. Most folks here have settled on Ring cameras being setup for whatever reason (a neighbour swears that there the best thing since sliced bread and insists all home owners to switch to them...but I digress).

I'm looking to replace my existing driveway cam with one that has good LPR and I'm setting up a Blue Iris server. You can see the pic below with my existing DS-2CD2142FWD-IS 4mm cam that cars basically stop at the stop sign just in front of my house so would seemingly be great for LPR. I don't use IR's on the camera given the light is decent.

Thoughts on LPR cameras for this setup that I can also use to capture of course anyone approaching my house (i.e., don't "just" want it for LPR!). Not sure what price range yet but certainly do not want to break the bank!

View attachment 63315

Welcome @pbc

As noticed, look at the IPVM calculator and play with it.
Also, I would be considering significantly more than one camera to cover your driveway and street.

 

[wittaj]

I have tried it and someone here recently tried a 12mm varifocal and could not get plates at 80feet, maybe around 30 feet. The FOV is still too great.

You need to zoom in to just about nothing more than the car. In your situation, you would only see pavement it would be zoomed in that tight.

As others have mentioned, keep your existing cam as an overview and then a camera dedicated to LPR.

And play with the IPVM tool and be surprised how much zoom you really need to get plates.

And chasing MP isn't the answer...it is the size of the lens that is more important. My cell phone claims to have a 12MP camera - but the lens is soooo tiny that try to zoom into anything and it is a pixelated mess.

Most here have good success with IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E

This splitter will work perfectly in your situation if you place the camera next to it:

Amazon.com: LINOVISION Mini Passive 2 Port POE Switch POE Extender IEEE 802.3af/at POE Repeater Splitter Power Over Ethernet 330ft Over Cat5/6 Cable Powering 2 POE Devices Like IP Cameras Over One Cat5/6 Cable: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: LINOVISION Mini Passive 2 Port POE Switch POE Extender IEEE 802.3af/at POE Repeater Splitter Power Over Ethernet 330ft Over Cat5/6 Cable Powering 2 POE Devices Like IP Cameras Over One Cat5/6 Cable: Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.com

 

[samplenhold]

You need to zoom in to just about nothing more than the car

Like @wittaj states, you need to zoom in. Think of using a regular DSLR camera, like a Nikon or Cannon. A telephoto lens allows you to see details further away than a wide-angle lens.

Some things to consider: That is a very wide street. If you are only concerned with getting the front plate of vehicles coming at you, that would be very doable with a single HFW5241E-Z12E. If you are also after the rear plates of cars going away from you, you may need a second camera to focus on those two lanes. What about plates going across the view? Unless you point the camera looking left or right down the street, you will not get any of those plates.

 

[coney27]

$990? and not telephoto enough for my use case. I am out to 50mm.


Sorry, no night time shots yet. These were proof of concept test shots before I began the installation. Have yet to run Cat5e to the location.

So the first shot w/the car making the right turn is about 60 feet and the lens is set to 43mm. The second shot is at about 95 feet and the lens set at 50mm.

$990? Its $639 on B&H. And IMO its well worth it. Might be too high for your budget but for others it might not be.

And my captures occur around 85ft at the moment. I have gotten captures as far as 140ft.

 

[samplenhold]

$990? Its $639 on B&H. And IMO its well worth it. Might be too high for your budget but for others it might not be.

Ok. But your link you posted sent me to the below page.



I am sure it is worth it to you. And others may find it perfect for their situation.

 

[coney27]

Ok. But your link you posted sent me to the below page.

View attachment 63329

I am sure it is worth it to you. And others may find it perfect for their situation.

If you log in you see the real price...

 

[pbc]

Hmm.. I don't see how I could run another CAT cable there. It's a finished area. I would imagine the builder probably also stapled the Cat5 or 6 to the studs so I wouldn't even be able to pull it back with two runs sort of thing.

 

[biggen]

Hmm.. I don't see how I could run another CAT cable there. It's a finished area. I would imagine the builder probably also stapled the Cat5 or 6 to the studs so I wouldn't even be able to pull it back with two runs sort of thing.

Run it to another location if you can’t do it there. Do you have attic access? I fished my drops up through an interior wall, into my attic, and then to corners of my house to mount the cameras under the eaves.

There is always a way to run wire.

 

[pbc]

Running it back to the basement where the equipment is is the challenge.

 

[biggen]

Well I didn't say it wouldn't be a challenge.

Running wire through finished construction is always a pain in the ass.

 

[samplenhold]

Running wire through finished construction is always a pain in the ass.

Absolutely. I am in the process of trying to get 4 cables to my front porch. The only access is from over my garage. But there is no direct access from their to the covered porch area. I thought I could go behind the brick veneer, but so far I have not been successful. I may have to do an eight inch run of flex conduit from the soffit in the garage to the beam of the porch. That is my last resort.

I don't see how I could run another CAT cable there

Consider this. I think your camera position is above your garage door, no? Is there attic access above your garage? Is the garage finished? Is there a way to get the cable to that camera into your garage? Post a photo of the camera position giving a view of the house for us to see. If so, you could install a POE switch in the garage and run two cables back to the camera area for both cams.

Another thing to consider is to have a professional low-voltage cable guy run it for you.

 

[wittaj]

Hmm.. I don't see how I could run another CAT cable there. It's a finished area. I would imagine the builder probably also stapled the Cat5 or 6 to the studs so I wouldn't even be able to pull it back with two runs sort of thing.

Or just use the splitter I mentioned in post #24:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HSN5YSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works really well. I am using several and so are many of my neighbors.

 

[pbc]

Or just use the splitter I mentioned in post #24:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HSN5YSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works really well. I am using several and so are many of my neighbors.

Hmmm...how would that work at the NVR? I.e., if it's plugging into one port, how does the NVR know it's two cameras?

Mind you, I'm moving to BI shortly with an external POE switch.

 

[wittaj]

My neighbor used this splitter to put up his LPR camera next to his other camera and by the time we got back into his house, the NVR had already found it. He also added a PTZ with another one of these splitters and the same thing.

He has an 8 port Lorex NVR - ports 1 through 4 have a camera in each port. Port 5 has the two cameras from that run and splitter and Port 6 has the two cameras from that run and splitter. The NVR supplies enough power that he didn't need to an injector.

So he has 8 cameras but only 6 ports plugged into. Granted with it being an 8 port, he cannot use those two now as the NVR will only recognize 8 cameras.

If for some reason your NVR doesn't automatically find it, you simply add the camera manually.

One of the nice benefits of IP cameras!

 

[pbc]

Seems like a good solution and I can hide the device in my soffit. Of course it is cad$75 up in Canada's Amazon.

Which means back to deciding on a camera for LPR mainly at night.

 

[biggen]

It not weather/heat proof. It’s a PoE switch so come precaution needs to be taken to ensure it doesnt overheat or get wet.

 

[Tekbotslaya]

Would I need much more than 12mm given how close the stop sign is to my house? Maybe he recommended it because it can provide more coverage for closer to the house as well given the lower starting zoom? Not sure.

Havent used a varifocal before so I'm not even sure how one would work or the advantages of it (eg it is locked into the zoom that you set it to?). Will see if there is a dummies guide to that on the site!

Try using the IPVM calculator to get an idea of what the PPF will be at the stop sign. IPVM Camera Calculator V3

 

[pbc]

Try using the IPVM calculator to get an idea of what the PPF will be at the stop sign. IPVM Camera Calculator V3

Not sure how to gauge the PPF. If I want just the side of the stop sign (one lane) it's 95 to 100 feet away and about the same PPF.

For the whole width of the street it is 43 PPF.