Thoughts on sidewalk angle

[Cj500]

Thinking about adding a LPR cam at the edge of my property right at the sidewalk. See photo where I would install the camera on a short pole.


Could this angle work to hit the spot with the red X? Photo taken was 4mm.

 

[bigredfish]

It might, but the less severe the angle the better. I'd aim between that white car and the gray pickup

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'm not an LPR expert, but to me that angle looks way too sharp to give effective plate reading. The most effective is at 90 degrees, but mounting in the street is kind of frowned on and maintenance is tuff. I think you'd need to make that angle much more shallow and add some significant zoom.

 

[Cj500]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll try parking a car right next to my driveway to see the best angle I could get under that scenario. I'll try to get the angle bigredfish suggested between those two parked cars without being blocked by a parked car next to my driveway.

 

[Sartorius73]

I have a Hikvision 8-32mm LPR camera mounted on my house, pointing towards the entrance to our cul-de-sac. The angle is about 38 degrees. It gets the great majority of license plates with very good accuracy. I've found that even with the few that it misses, I can review the film in slow motion and make out the plate. The overall distance is about 85 feet from the entrance to the camera.

 

[DsineR]

It is possible to have great results with angled LPR views, the trick is to dial in the cam for optimum results. A lot of these settings & cam types are discussed in the LPR forum.
I have a Dahua IPC-HFW5241EP-Z12E (a popular LPR cam) installed at the corner of my house 10' AFF. Capture area at 85' away, app 40° angle & works great day & night - see pics.

 

[Cj500]

Does zoom change the performance or am I okay as long as I have a very tight shot on the plate (even if I'm not as far of distance from camera to plate in my environment)?

I think I'll probably need to be at 12mm or less in my setup to just see bumpers. This is assuming I can get a less sharp angle.

 

[DsineR]

Zoom does not affect performance, only changes FOV and the capture area.
Recommend going with a vari-focal cam, motorized lens (vs. fixed lens) which will help you dial in the capture area.

 

[Cj500]

When I faked a car parked in the worst possible spot, it would be probably too sharp of angle to a plate.


The only other angle not potentially blocked by cars is from the 1 story house fascia to the street 3 houses away. There is a cross street there, so it would probably miss a few cars turning onto my street.


Zoomed in on the prior shot:


Am I out of luck?

 

[wittaj]

How about from the house but angled to where you won't miss the cross street? The z12 zoomed in will work at that angle. Isn't ideal, but it would work. Mine is worse angle than this. I think your angle at the intersection would get blocked by the tree blowing in wind at times as well.

 

[Cj500]

It's a perfect angle, but my issue seems to be that if there are any parked cars on my side of the street, they would block the line of sight? I have a one-story house, so can't really shoot over the cars.

How about from the house but angled to where you won't miss the cross street? The z12 zoomed in will work at that angle. Isn't ideal, but it would work. Mine is worse angle than this. I think your angle at the intersection would get blocked by the tree blowing in wind at times as well.

View attachment 67818

 

[Cj500]

Here is the IPVM for the very long shot to the cross street and text label for where that silver pickup truck is parked in the other photos. Google says it is almost 250', 116.4 PPF. What is the max distance most have done successfully?

 

[wittaj]

Nothing a fake fire hydrant can't fix lol.

I think at 250 with the trees it would be a tough shot. It may work, but you would want a Plan B in the event it doesn't.

Is that a tree in your front yard you could put it to?

 

[Cj500]

Haha! I do wish I had a hydrant in front!

I may have come up with a solution. What if I replaced this camera on the very edge of house to shoot right over my driveway where no one can park in front of?

Nothing a fake fire hydrant can't fix lol.

I think at 250 with the trees it would be a tough shot. It may work, but you would want a Plan B in the event it doesn't.

Is that a tree in your front yard you could put it to?

 

[wittaj]

That will work!

 

[samplenhold]

What if I replaced this camera on the very edge of house

Is that a varifocal cam? If so, zoom it in as far as it will go and see what the plates look like. If you like the view it is giving, don't replace it. Mount whatever cam you decide right next to it.

Since it is not so far, maybe the B5442Z-Z4E would work for that position.

 

[wittaj]

I doubt a 12mm would pick it up at that distance. I have tried a 13.5mm and beyond 40 feet you are guessing more than not.

 

[samplenhold]

I doubt a 12mm would pick it up at that distance

Maybe I need to be a little more concise. Zoom in as far as it will go and maybe you can get an idea of how foreshortened the plate is. Not saying a 12mm would work in that distance.

 

[Robert G.]

I may have come up with a solution. What if I replaced this camera on the very edge of house to shoot right over my driveway where no one can park in front of?

View attachment 67825
View attachment 67827

I think that is your best option from what I have seen. Your 250ft shot would be cool and fun to try, but realistically probably not work very well. Mounting a camera on your own property, as far away from your driveway as possible and taking the photo through your driveway (so cars are not blocking the camera) is a good idea.

 

[Cj500]

Thanks, all! I have a IPC-HDW5231R-ZE turret in that spot and I'll find some time this week to see how a zoomed in shot looks at like 12mm to see which bullet I should look into.