Enough Lens/Camera for LPR?

[TheWaterbug]

My neighborhood has a single entrance/exit that every car must pass through, so it's a natural place for an LPR camera. The HOA has been dragging its feet for years, but the new owner of the house closest to the intersection is game to work with me on this. She has a big tree that might be a good mounting point, so I dragged my inverter, my POE switch, an ancient IPC-HFW4431R-Z, and my laptop and parked my car right next to the tree. I fired everything up, opened the sunroof, put the camera on the roof of my car. That's not exactly where a camera would be mounted on the tree, but it's not too far off either. A camera might be mounted 6' to the right and maybe 4-5' higher. Boresight distance to the intersection is ~80':



She has budget to buy a new camera and whatever else is needed to make this work, so today with the IPC-HFW4431R-Z is just a proof-of-concept test to see how much FOV we need at this intersection.

Is this much camera/lens going to work for LPR?



The IPC-HFW4431R-Z has a 2.7-12mm lens on a 1/3” 2MP sensor. How does that FOV compare to that of the 8mm–32mm on 1/1.8" 4MP sensor of the EmpireTech IPC-B54IR-Z4E-S3?

Can I catch the comings and goings on one camera? Or will we need one for each? Plus one for the overview, of course.

Thanks!

 

[TheWaterbug]

I dragged my inverter, my POE switch, an ancient IPC-HFW4431R-Z, and my laptop and parked my car right next to the tree. I fired everything up, opened the sunroof, put the camera on the roof of my car.

I did get some very strange looks from our other neighbors as they drove by

 

[bigredfish]

Good news is you have a number of options.

Going with a 2.8-12mm lens you may pick up a good portion of the inbound front plates, But nighttime will be tougher needing reflected IR across a wider area to get that. Im also guessing becasue of the tree shadows, you'll see various differences in capture at various points. I have a similar issue on one location.

My gut says go with the B54IR-Z4E-S3, prioritize outbound rear plates and if you happen to get some inbound great.

 

[TheWaterbug]

My (and my neighbor's) procrastination has paid off, and our HOA has secured funding from the adjacent city for managed LPR cameras at the entrance to my neighborhood, at no cost to us!

View attachment 195551

 

[bigredfish]

Oh, FLock

 

[Parley]

I would move the camera to the left just a tad. That way you can see more of the inbound traffic while still getting a good view of the outbound traffic. The B54IR-Z4E-S3 is excellent for your use.

 

[bigredfish]

It looks like the HOA decided to spend A LOT more money and go with FLOCK.

Oh well

 

[TheWaterbug]

It looks like the HOA decided to spend A LOT more money and go with FLOCK.

Oh well

Well, the adjacent city is funding it, so our HOA won't even pay the bill.

I volunteered to be on the technical committee a couple of years ago, but the HOA staff went ahead and did their own thing. And pretty well, too, as they got us a managed system on someone else's nickel!

 

[TheWaterbug]

They're in. Anyone recognize the model? The downside is that I have no access to the video. The upside is that LE does, and I had to do zero work, and contributed zero dollars.

 

[tangent]

They're in. Anyone recognize the model? The downside is that I have no access to the video. The upside is that LE does, and I had to do zero work, and contributed zero dollars.

View attachment 199556
View attachment 199557

It's made by flock safety.

 

[wittaj]

Yep, those are Flock. First time I have seen one that isn't solar powered.

 

[TheWaterbug]

What's the deal with Flock? I see from above that their reputation is for "expensive," but how about functionality? Are they good cameras?

Some other taxpayer is paying for these , so the cost doesn't bother me

 

[wittaj]

Generally Flock costs $250 per camera for installation and $2,500 per camera annually.

From what I have seen and from talking to police officers, our captures with the less than $260 per camera 5241-Z12E and the 5442-ZE and Z4E are of better quality than the Flock. And even more so on the 3M printed plates that many states are going to.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Generally Flock costs $250 per camera for installation and $2,500 per camera annually.

From what I have seen and from talking to police officers, our captures with the less than $260 per camera 5241-Z12E and the 5442-ZE and Z4E are of better quality than the Flock. And even more so on the 3M printed plates that many states are going to.

Jeebus. I'd have monitored those cameras for only $2,400/year.