I've read thread after thread leaving me more confused than I'd hoped regarding which would be best to purchase. I'm looking at the IPC-5421e-z12e or the IPC-Color4k-x 3.6mm bullet. I'd tried the IPC-B5442e-ze and found the image blurry on one side and just not very clear in general which I see is a common complaint. Between those two (or even the IPC-5442e-z12) and given use case as follows: camera to be installed top corner of garage facing down the driveway to street ~ 125 feet away. I want identification of persons as far out as possible and do want to be able to capture a plate (with the right conditions as this wont be dedicated LPR) from across the street. B5442 failed at both of these tasks, perhaps I just got a lemon but it was very soft at more than 65ft or so. Basically this will be overview with the possibility of reading a plate of a stationary vehicle (say parked in front of the house) and next to a light mounted on the front of the garage. Night color desirable but not required. Any advice is appreciated.
Just starting to purchase Dahau cameras, seeking advice.
- Thread starter badgenes
- Start date
Most have found that the 5442-Z4E will struggle much beyond 60 feet. At 125 feet you either need the Z12E or a PTZ. The 4K/X is a great camera but will be useless at 125 feet to IDENTIFY.
Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.
One camera cannot be the be all, see all. Each one is selected for covering a specific area. Most of us here have different brands and types, from fixed cams, to varifocals, to PTZs, each one selected for it's primary purpose and to utilize the strength of that particular camera.
So you will need to identify the distance the camera would be from the activities you want to IDENTIFY on and purchase the correct camera for that distance as an optical zoom.
You may get plates during the day, but not at night if you plan to use this to see things also.
Regarding a camera for plates (LPR) - keep in mind that this is a camera dedicated to plates and not an overview camera also. It is as much an art as it is a science. If you want to capture plates, you need a camera just for that.
During daytime it may act as an overview, but at night the shutter tends to need to be faster to capture the plate, and the faster the shutter, the darker the image.
Most of us run B/W to take advantage of the reflective properties of a plate which is why we can run a faster shutter to get the plates. Once you decide to keep it in color, the shutter speed slows way down and might not be fast enough to actually capture a plate.
You may have enough light and the car moving slower to capture, but you may also need to decide what is more important - the overview or the plate. Most of us run two cameras.
At night, we have to run a very fast shutter speed (1/2,000) and in B/W with IR and the image will be black. All you will see are head/tail lights and the plate. Some people can get away with color if they have enough street lights, but most of us cannot. Here is a representative sample of plates I get at night of vehicles traveling about 45MPH at 175 feet from my 2MP camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.
- 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
- 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
- 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
- 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
- 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
- 49225 PTZ - great auto-track PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.
One camera cannot be the be all, see all. Each one is selected for covering a specific area. Most of us here have different brands and types, from fixed cams, to varifocals, to PTZs, each one selected for it's primary purpose and to utilize the strength of that particular camera.
So you will need to identify the distance the camera would be from the activities you want to IDENTIFY on and purchase the correct camera for that distance as an optical zoom.
You may get plates during the day, but not at night if you plan to use this to see things also.
Regarding a camera for plates (LPR) - keep in mind that this is a camera dedicated to plates and not an overview camera also. It is as much an art as it is a science. If you want to capture plates, you need a camera just for that.
During daytime it may act as an overview, but at night the shutter tends to need to be faster to capture the plate, and the faster the shutter, the darker the image.
Most of us run B/W to take advantage of the reflective properties of a plate which is why we can run a faster shutter to get the plates. Once you decide to keep it in color, the shutter speed slows way down and might not be fast enough to actually capture a plate.
You may have enough light and the car moving slower to capture, but you may also need to decide what is more important - the overview or the plate. Most of us run two cameras.
At night, we have to run a very fast shutter speed (1/2,000) and in B/W with IR and the image will be black. All you will see are head/tail lights and the plate. Some people can get away with color if they have enough street lights, but most of us cannot. Here is a representative sample of plates I get at night of vehicles traveling about 45MPH at 175 feet from my 2MP camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
Flintstone61
Known around here
It really takes two. this is hot off email alerts. not the greatest example but it's live today images. The red cars plate will be readable when I back up the video tomorrow a few frames and get it in view.
Run one over view cam (3.6/2.8/or varifocal) and one 5241e- z12.
I switched my 5442 S LED 2.8 mm out with a T2231T-ZS yesterday on the over view cam.
Z12's when zoomed have to have a very specific job in mind, as they will have a narrow view as they are zoomed up enough to read plates and the end of your driveway.
Run one over view cam (3.6/2.8/or varifocal) and one 5241e- z12.
I switched my 5442 S LED 2.8 mm out with a T2231T-ZS yesterday on the over view cam.
Z12's when zoomed have to have a very specific job in mind, as they will have a narrow view as they are zoomed up enough to read plates and the end of your driveway.
What @wittaj and @Flintstone61 said. A single 5442 does one job. Great overview, great for closer (depending on the lens) identification. Not so good for distances. I have a 5442-ZE (varifocal) covering the front area of my house. Provides a great overview, couple of streets, allows me to see 400 feet down the road, and the green belt that goes in front of the house. It does not really identify people. Just not close enough. I have the 5241-Z12E for license plate duty in the same area, but it covers about 15 feet across a road way at 140'. Not much, but it gets plates, and if someone walks by that, I can clearly identify them. In another location I have a 5442 fixed 6mm camera that struggles to capture license plates at 50 feet. It does it, but barely, and only in good lighting. I put it up to watch a blind spot on my property which also covers an adjacent street. The fact it captures plates is a bonus.
The best way to set up cameras is trial and error. To reduce that, post up an aerial (or map showing buildings, obstacles, etc.) and proposed camera locations. Folks will be happy to share their ideas on it. Post up a picture of the blurry image and see if folks can offer ways to improve it. Often times image settings and manual focus can improve them. You can never have too much money, horsepower, or cameras. But, you always start with less!
The best way to set up cameras is trial and error. To reduce that, post up an aerial (or map showing buildings, obstacles, etc.) and proposed camera locations. Folks will be happy to share their ideas on it. Post up a picture of the blurry image and see if folks can offer ways to improve it. Often times image settings and manual focus can improve them. You can never have too much money, horsepower, or cameras. But, you always start with less!
InfiniteJustice
n3wb
Soo, how about something low-budget for license plates in the situation below?
That is from reolink RLC-510A
I have a good distance and lighting conditions, but the main issue is vehicles are moving too fast. I can even see the license plates of the ones that drive very slowly, but that's it. Most people saying that good shutter speed is the key? Is that right?
Mike A.
Known around here
- May 6, 2017
- 4,199
- 7,066
Generally, yes. Look for a manual or shutter-priority setting. Note that when you make the shutter speed faster you'll have less light at each step so the image will get much darker as speed increases. Day won't be much of a problem. At night to capture plates at speed the shutter setting needed likely will result in a very dark overall image (see wittaj's image above).
Look at the blur in that picture during the day - the reolink cannot do it during the day. The reo will never cut it at night because you will need a 1/2000 shutter and the reo will not adhere to that setting. It will override it to give an image that you can see something with.
Most low budget cams will not actually adhere to settings the user puts in. The algorithm is setup to provide a nice bright image at the expense of blur motion.
Most low budget cams will not actually adhere to settings the user puts in. The algorithm is setup to provide a nice bright image at the expense of blur motion.
sebastiantombs
Known around here
That capture is very representative of the "best" you'll get from a cheap camera. It takes a better quality camera that allows full adjustment, and adheres to those adjustments, to get blur free captures that will allow for LPR even with the human eye.
At the angle and distance you're working with, apparently, I'd say a 2231T-ZS, 3241T-ZS or 5442T-ZE would do the job, but those are in the $130-$180USD class of cameras. At night all you'll see is head or tail lights and a license plate. Everything else will be black.
At the angle and distance you're working with, apparently, I'd say a 2231T-ZS, 3241T-ZS or 5442T-ZE would do the job, but those are in the $130-$180USD class of cameras. At night all you'll see is head or tail lights and a license plate. Everything else will be black.
Wow thanks for all of the constructive feedback folks. This must be one of the most hospitable forums on the Internet LOL. Seriously. I tried getting some confirmation of bad fuel pump diagnosis on an older vehicle of mine last week and boy was that an experience in "being the bigger person". I should have added I've got some really cheap cameras up now running off BI5 (SMONET WiFi cameras purchased off of Amazon...I know...) and thought to replace the first camera with a Dahau. I see now that the individual role determination is paramount, which in this case must see close to the garage as well as as far down the driveway as possible. I think that puts me in the 2.8 or 3.6 or varifocal with a low end around 3-4mm. I suppose the next question is that given the price delta being miniscule is it better to go with the new Color4k given the additional features and light gathering capability as demonstrated in the review here or to stick with the 5442?
Yeah but our low budget cams are pretty awesome with good lighting, which we don't have on all sides of the house. I did look at the blur during the day and he moved the camera and it was still at the same place so I think water or something got inside the front glass part but it was only up there for one day when we noticed.
It's hard to buy things lately so bothers me when he spends so much time researching. lol Thank you, everyone, for answering him quick so he can order already.
Please post some "pretty awesome" night video with motion from the low budget cams.
People will buy a camera if someone can prove it's worth....
People will buy a camera if someone can prove it's worth....
Ordered the Color4K-X 3.6mm from Andy, thanks for the help ya'll!
That is a great camera! I am shocked how little light is needed for it to do well.
I'm stoked, but won't arrive until Wednesday...spoiled by Amazon Prime Same-Day....
Oh, damn you got the camera I was going to buy. Now it looks like I have to wait till the end of the month
My bad! Check this out: Mine is due to arrive on Wednesday but hours later there was one left (yours, purchased by unknown fiends) and this one stated arrives by Monday. I asked a rep in chat why, they were beyond clueless so I gave up and decided to wait it out. So it appears that someone else grabbed yours sir, i took the one prior though. I'll think of you when I'm looking out at the driveway though....Wednesday.....
Well TBH awesome is a relative term. We've made due with them for the past year and they aren't bad by any stretch....plus they were 4 for 250.00 rather than 250.00 for 1 so given the visibility into surroundings and their aid in (potentially) laying down fields of fire if necessary, they are "pretty awesome."
