LPR Setup SUCCESS with HFW5241E-Z12E

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Thanks to Andy and Loony, I ordered an IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E from Andy's Amazon store, a bit of a sting at $250, but so far I am VERY impressed. This is just with me playing with random settings, haphazardly mounted on a tree at an awkward angle












I have had a few that were not great, like this one. I think better placement might help, but I think the guys plate was just a complete mess



Then I had some fails, no front plate and only one camera? No go. This happened a few times despite the fact we are required to have front plates





This guy had a paper plate and it wasn't great, I think maybe better placement could help




Here are my settings for anyone interested

 

[wittaj]

Those captures look great. I have the Z12 as well and run a 1/2000 shutter.

Some plates are just going to be trouble - particular paper plates and mangled/rusty/dirty plates. But besides those, wow those were clean. The tighter the image of just the car or plate area that you can zoom into, the better chance you have of getting some of the crap plates. Are you at max zoom or do you have room to go tighter? Adding some contrast will do wonders as well.

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Thanks, maybe I'll give 1/2000 a try when I get a mounted permanently, right now its here on this tree in the first picture, at the top. And then you can see where the vehicles get caught on the second picture. I plan on running cable and mounting it to those front trees you see near the street, then they have no chance!







Still plenty room on the Zoom



And I did manage to get a regular paper plate, so I'm hopeful I'll have a pretty good success rate

 

[wittaj]

oh yeah you have plenty of room to zoom it in. I would zoom in a lot closer. The bigger the plate is on the screen, the better the chance of reading it.

I would zoom it in at least this tight, if not tighter:

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Just zoomed in a little, getting the focus right is tough

Now to wait for another car

 

[wittaj]

Yeah, you have to set focus during the day with it set to b/w OR send someone out in a car and stop in the camera view and focus it.

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

I floated the idea to my wife that she could stand in the street with a spare plate, but it didn't work

 

[wittaj]

That works too LOL.

Tell her it is for the safety of the house LOL.

My cam picked up the plates or door checkers from this morning, so you never know when it may happen.

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Just zoomed in a bit, managed to get focus good enough. Seems to be getting paper plates a bit better

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Good call on zooming in, I could even go further I think

 

[wittaj]

Yeah, zoom is your friend when it comes to getting plates. I'd make the whole frame be the plate LOL if they traveled that tight of a pattern. But all you care about is the plate, so find the zoom that will be tight enough to get the cars traveling between the edges of pavement and high enough for a vehicle with higher plates.

 

[CCTVCam]

If you're getting a good picture I might be tempted to leave the cameras where they are. The trouble with moving them adjacent ot the street is kids or or those up to no good may either pull your cameras off or simply point them in another direction such as up. At least where they are now, set back, they're less likely to be interefered with. If you don't like the look of them, you could always go with the fake birdhouse or hollowed out tree branch as a disguise. I can't remember how the latter was made, but I'm sure someone made one on here awhile ago.

 

[samplenhold]

These are great shots. Others have already given you good feedback. A faster shutter speed at night, like 1/2000, will improve your shots. Paper plates are hard at night as they do not reflect IR well. If the car does not have a plate light on it, then all bets are off.

See this thread for some other info:

New to LPR? Considerations Before You Begin

Thought I would throw together a post on my experiences so far with LPR in an effort to help others that are considering running down that rabbit hole. There are some practical considerations you should know about LPR. I am approaching this from the position of using Blue Iris and Plate...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Here are some 1/1000 shots in the day, so far very good. Tonight I will play with 1/2000 at night

The issue with keeping it where it is is that if a car parks on the corner near my driveway, It will block all the shots! I would put them high on the tree so no one could move them

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

THERE IS NO HIDING FROM ME BUDDY

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Interesting, a higher angle would have missed that one. Something to think about

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

This angle is quite good, even with a trailer I get a partial plate



Works for dogs too

 

[wittaj]

As someone else posted, you may want to consider leaving it there - this camera has plenty of zoom and to get plates like that with trailers you would probably miss with one of the closer trees.

I would zoom in until the tree on the right is out of the frame - gets a tighter shot and eliminates IR bounce from that tree. You will then probably have to tilt the camera up just a bit. I would have the right corner be where the dog legs and tree touch.

 

[IReallyLikePizza2]

Yeah, I'm torn. Not often do people park there to the left in front of the curb, but it does happen. If someone parks there, I'm boned

 

[wittaj]

That is why you get another one for redundancy LOL.