New budget bullet varifocal needed

[SergeyAU]

Hi all
I have been using HFW4431R-Z 2.8-12mm varifocal facing the road and that has worked great for me for the last 7 years
Just noticed today that it must have gotten water into it recently - image is blurry in parts etc
I will take it apart to check, but if water has been in for some time and I just noticed it, it may have had its toll on electronics
Anyway, I thought I will start looking for a replacement
Has there been much progress in the last 7+ years?
Looking for a varifocal with at least 12mm, as I am currently utilising at its max zoom. IR needs to be powerfully enough to light up the car plates at night (have it on night mode just for plate capture)
Looking for a budget side one - only plates at night and general street activity during the day as I have another camera pointing at the road at 90 degree to this one
12mm zoom works OK for me, but 15mm would probably be even nicer =)

 

[SergeyAU]

Before



Now

 

[Ri22o]

Define "budget".

 

[looney2ns]

Cameras have improved tremendously the past 7 yrs.
If you want good cameras, look at these two for your situation.
Buy once, cry once.

EmpireTech IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 1/1.8" CMOS 4MP IR Starlight 2.7mm–12mm Var

The EmpireTech IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 offers advanced features such as a 4MP 1/1.8" CMOS image sensor, 40 m max. illumination distance with integrated IR LED, deep learning algorithms for face and object recognition, 512GB Micro SD card slot, built-in microphone, IP67 rating, and SMD 3.0 support.

empiretech01.com

This one is probably the best option in your situation, it has more powerful IR than the above turret.

EmpireTech 1/1.8" CMOS 4MP IR Vari-focal Bullet Network Camera IPC-B54IR-Z4E-S3

4-MP 1/1.8" CMOS image sensor | Built-in IR LED | The max. illumination distance is 120 m | Deep learning algorithm | Supports max. 512 GB Micro SD card | Built-in MIC | IP67 and IK10 protection | SMD 3.0

empiretech01.com

 

[tigerwillow1]

There have been 3 generations with improved low light performance since the 4431R-Z's time.

If you want to go really low budget look for a used 5231R-Z, either bullet or turret. I have a few that are out-of-service, and I suspect a lot of other people do, too. Its max focal length is 12mm. Compared to your 4431R-Z the daytime resolution will be a bit less, but it kicks the 4431's butt at night. If you want even better low light sensitivity, pony up and buy a 541R series camera, which gives the same resolution of the 4431R-Z and kicks the 5231's butt at night.

I'm surprised your 4431R-Z has lasted so long because the 2 or 3 that I had all died when they were 2 or 3 years old. Back in its day, that was a killer camera for the price.

 

[SergeyAU]

I'm surprised your 4431R-Z has lasted so long because the 2 or 3 that I had all died when they were 2 or 3 years old. Back in its day, that was a killer camera for the price.

I guess it depends on the location (geographical and where installed). I disabled all the "smarts" as I had to do reboots often when cross line etc was enabled. So it was just sending video to NVR and at night was used mainly for the licence plates capture, so with these exposure settings could not see anything else
I am not chasing MPs - the others I have are 2MP turrets starlights from Empiretech (from the same era)

 

[SergeyAU]

Define "budget".

The current one I am replacing was under $100