I've done some research but still confused. I don't mind spending up to 1500 dollars if that is what it takes. I want a security camera that covers a wide viewing angle and at the same time can zoom in about 30 meters and read license plates etc. I know that is hard to do but I figured maybe someone here can point me in the right direction.
Newbie looking for recommendation for security camera
- Thread starter Arin31
- Start date
ICTAlly
n3wb
Hi, yes most likely 1 or 2 cameras. one for the front and one for the back. The front one though I just needed it to be a wide angle and a good 30-40 meters of license plate clarity etc. I figured since the PTZ cameras can track, won't 2 or 3 people confuse it? If they all go in different directions. I was hoping for one that just sees a wide angle and can be zoomed later during replay if needed. I know the more narrow the better for zooming but was hoping there was something like this out there.
Wide-angle + plate clarity at 30–40m is not realistic with a single fixed camera.
Digital zoom after the fact doesn’t magically recover detail, optical zoom or narrow FOV is required.
PTZs are not suitable for general coverage and plate capture at the same time.
One camera doing it all is a unicorn, doesn’t exist unless budget is high and compromises are made.
It sounds like you're hoping for a single camera to both give you a wide view and capture license plates at a distance of 30–40 meters, but unfortunately, those are competing goals. A wide field of view spreads out pixels, which reduces the detail you get on distant objects like plates. To reliably capture plates at that distance, you’ll need a narrower field of view, ideally something like a 6–32mm or longer lens, depending on the scene.
A better setup would be two cameras for the front:
One wide-angle 4K camera for general coverage.
One zoomed-in (or varifocal) camera aimed at the driveway or street to capture plates where cars pass through a predictable point.
PTZs are great for active tracking, but they can’t cover multiple directions at once and they often miss things if not actively controlled or if multiple people are moving.
Digital zoom after the fact doesn’t magically recover detail, optical zoom or narrow FOV is required.
PTZs are not suitable for general coverage and plate capture at the same time.
One camera doing it all is a unicorn, doesn’t exist unless budget is high and compromises are made.
It sounds like you're hoping for a single camera to both give you a wide view and capture license plates at a distance of 30–40 meters, but unfortunately, those are competing goals. A wide field of view spreads out pixels, which reduces the detail you get on distant objects like plates. To reliably capture plates at that distance, you’ll need a narrower field of view, ideally something like a 6–32mm or longer lens, depending on the scene.
A better setup would be two cameras for the front:
One wide-angle 4K camera for general coverage.
One zoomed-in (or varifocal) camera aimed at the driveway or street to capture plates where cars pass through a predictable point.
PTZs are great for active tracking, but they can’t cover multiple directions at once and they often miss things if not actively controlled or if multiple people are moving.
Now if you had almost 10k to drop then I would go with something like this..
Axis Q6100-E + Q6315-LE PTZ Combo
Purpose: Full-scene recording + high-zoom PTZ tracking
Price: ~$6,000–$7,000 for both
Q6100-E: 4 × 5MP sensors = 20MP panoramic view
Q6315-LE: 1/2" sensor, 31x optical zoom PTZ, 1080p @ 60fps, laser focus
These mount together on the same bracket and share power/data via Axis’ Camera Station or Milestone VMS
PTZ can auto-track from a radar trigger or motion rule, while Q6100-E records the whole scene in high detail
This for the backend of it all.. Not 100% needed the Camera Station can do most of what is needed..
Used to tie everything together, handle alerts, zoom-on-event, facial/vehicle tagging
Milestone XProtect Corporate (or Expert)
Axis, Hikvision, Dahua all integrate via ONVIF + plugins
Can do multi-layered alerts (motion + PTZ zooms + tag clip)
Axis Q6100-E + Q6315-LE PTZ Combo
Purpose: Full-scene recording + high-zoom PTZ tracking
Price: ~$6,000–$7,000 for both
Q6100-E: 4 × 5MP sensors = 20MP panoramic view
Q6315-LE: 1/2" sensor, 31x optical zoom PTZ, 1080p @ 60fps, laser focus
These mount together on the same bracket and share power/data via Axis’ Camera Station or Milestone VMS
PTZ can auto-track from a radar trigger or motion rule, while Q6100-E records the whole scene in high detail
This for the backend of it all.. Not 100% needed the Camera Station can do most of what is needed..
Used to tie everything together, handle alerts, zoom-on-event, facial/vehicle tagging
Milestone XProtect Corporate (or Expert)
Axis, Hikvision, Dahua all integrate via ONVIF + plugins
Can do multi-layered alerts (motion + PTZ zooms + tag clip)
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Jan 17, 2017
- 16,210
- 27,176
Welcome @Arin31 ..
"I want a security camera that covers a wide viewing angle and at the same time can zoom in about 30 meters and read license plates etc."
1 camera ..
Wide FOV
Zoom to 30M to read a plate ..
"I don't mind spending up to 1500 dollars if that is what it takes"
What you are asking for is one of the newer beast of a camera, that has multiple lenses .. it will cost you a LOT more than $1500 .. ( actually I do not know how much it will run, check with Andy .. )
Amazon listing
or perhaps this one
Andy should have them up for sale soon .. so look for them ..
For many of us we end up with several smaller cameras instead.
You would have to set the camera up specifically to read plates. You need the proper camera with OPTICAL zoom for the distance you are covering and the angle to get plates.
Regarding plates, 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. You will need two cameras. For LPR we need to OPTICALLY zoom in tight to make the plate as large as possible. For most of us, all you see is the not much more than a vehicle in the entire frame. Now maybe in the right location during the day it might be able to see some other things, but not at night.
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 5241-Z12E camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
Because of this, unless a PTZ is turned into a stationary camera at night, they make poor choices for LPR.
See the LPR subforum for more details.
Regarding plates, 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. You will need two cameras. For LPR we need to OPTICALLY zoom in tight to make the plate as large as possible. For most of us, all you see is the not much more than a vehicle in the entire frame. Now maybe in the right location during the day it might be able to see some other things, but not at night.
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 5241-Z12E camera (that is all that is needed for plates):
Because of this, unless a PTZ is turned into a stationary camera at night, they make poor choices for LPR.
See the LPR subforum for more details.
bigredfish
Known around here
Welcome @Arin31 ..
"I want a security camera that covers a wide viewing angle and at the same time can zoom in about 30 meters and read license plates etc."
1 camera ..
Wide FOV
Zoom to 30M to read a plate ..
"I don't mind spending up to 1500 dollars if that is what it takes"
What you are asking for is one of the newer beast of a camera, that has multiple lenses .. it will cost you a LOT more than $1500 .. ( actually I do not know how much it will run, check with Andy .. )
View attachment 221063
Amazon listing
View attachment 221064
or perhaps this one
View attachment 221065
Andy should have them up for sale soon .. so look for them ..
For many of us we end up with several smaller cameras instead.
8MP on a 1/2,8" sensor...
No thanks