About to pull trigger on IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E for LPR duty. Layout/placement opinions before I order?

[Holbs]

I tried to read all there is to read about LPR camera's here on IPCT for the last couple days. Doesn't help I feel rushed due to my recent vehicle vandalism event. But what I gather is an ideal setup would be the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E for LPR.
My LPR situation could be construed as ideal as there is only 1 entry way into our dead end street and the vehicles have to slow way down to hop over a sidewalk. I will be putting a lamp post at the end of my 30' driveway where the white starting dot is by the bush which will also include a 5442 pointing toward the house, will have a Bosch TriTech PIR aimed towards the house, and the 5241 LPR facing towards entryway. This is a project as I have to do some trenching and installing 4 Cat6 cable runs out to post (2 will be in use, 2 will be spare), 110v or 24v lighting (unsure as of yet), and 4 wire for the PIR.
Do things look cool other than bush/weed removal? Only out to capture what I can of vehicles that come/turn onto my little dead end, not the longer road portions. Bonus if captures face AI purposes.
I may consider putting lamp post and all devices on other side of driveway as well, adding another 10' to the measurement. Unsure as of yet.
If not combo face AI and LPR duty camera... I could have 2: 1 for dedicated LPR, 1 for dedicated facial ID. All vehicles / walking persons have to come in at the entrance way. How would a 5241 fair as dedicated facial ID? Or would a different model be preferred? Already gotta order 2 more 5442's for lamp post towards house and for garage to catch both left & right sides instead of my current right side only.
This will put me up in the 18-20 camera range. Might of been cheaper to lease spy satellite time

 

[bigredfish]

Does Nevada mandate front plates or just rear? Something to consider......

And yes the 5241 would be the way to go imho


...now you have me wondering about satellite time... hmmmmm

 

[Holbs]

Does Nevada mandate front plates or just rear? Something to consider......

And yes the 5241 would be the way to go imho


...now you have me wondering about satellite time... hmmmmm

The definitive answer is “maybe.”

Kevin Malone of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles said if there’s a way to attach that front plate to your car, you must. If the vehicle isn’t designed to display a front plate, you’re OK.

The DMV website is even more explicit.

“Nevada law requires most vehicles to display front and rear license plates at all times, except motorcycles and trailers, which require only a rear plate. You must display both plates if the vehicle is designed for a front plate or if the manufacturer offers an add-on bracket or frame.”

So a 5241 for LPR duty, gotcha. Now to figure out facial ID cam for the same viewing angle

 

[wittaj]

The LPR camera will be just for LPR and you cannot do double duty for AI - maybe in daytime you could, but no way at night. At night you will probably only have a black image and only thing you will see are head/taillights and plate.

I saw someone earlier in the week was selling the 5231 version of the z12, so maybe you could pick that off at a good price.

 

[bradner]

I use the IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E for my LPR cam. Here's an example of my captures:

• Vertical camera height - 11 feet
• Horizontal angle - nearly straight on (maybe 5 degrees)
• Distance from target area - 102 feet
• Zoom - full zoom (64mm)

I also use the DahuaSunriseSunset utility that @bp2008 created to change between day and night profiles.

My night shots biggest enemy is mist/fog (weather related) which I seem to get on occasion - can see a bit in the shot I posted below.

edit: figured I'd add in my Day and Night settings for the cam since I was always wanting to see others' settings myself when I was setting mine up:

Note: I may not have any exact reason for my settings below, I just tweaked them all after reading many posts here and on other sites. They seem to be ok for me so that's why I've stuck with what you see below. I can't really explain "why" I've chosen some of the settings below.

 

[bigredfish]

I use the IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E for my LPR cam. Here's an example of my captures:

.........Horizontal angle - nearly straight on (maybe 5 degrees)

Sigh.....

 

[bradner]

Sigh.....

I know I'm lucky to get a fairly head-on shot, thereby reducing all that horizontal movement to deal with for my shutter speed.

 

[Holbs]

same for my situation. Nearly straight on shot of incoming vehicles.
will order the 5231. amongst other cams another $1k bill coming due!

 

[samplenhold]

Realize that you do not need to go all the way down that road. You could focus half way down that road or less and still have a great angle. A B5442E-Z4E would do a great job for faces.

 

[gwminor48]

I recently installed a 5241 and I'm very happy with the results. With that nearly straight on angle you'll have good results too. Use the settings in the LPR threads that you've probably already seen for a start in your setup. My only issue is the people that don't have a (required in Texas) front plate as @bigredfish referred to.

 

[Holbs]

Realize that you do not need to go all the way down that road. You could focus half way down that road or less and still have a great angle. A B5442E-Z4E would do a great job for faces.

I ordered the 5241E-Z12E with 2 more cams last night from Andy. I will try it out. Never had to ask Andy about returns, but I'm sure that is an option.
Also ordered a vinyl lamp post. Since storing my work vehicle in my wood shop, that hobby is dead in the water for a couple weeks. I hate fake stuff but the price was not too shabby if I decide on a different route later on:

 

[bigredfish]

I use the IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E for my LPR cam. Here's an example of my captures:

• Vertical camera height - 11 feet
• Horizontal angle - nearly straight on (maybe 5 degrees)
• Distance from target area - 102 feet
• Zoom - full zoom (64mm)

I also use the DahuaSunriseSunset utility that @bp2008 created to change between day and night profiles.

My night shots biggest enemy is mist/fog (weather related) which I seem to get on occasion - can see a bit in the shot I posted below.

edit: figured I'd add in my Day and Night settings for the cam since I was always wanting to see others' settings myself when I was setting mine up:

Note: I may not have any exact reason for my settings below, I just tweaked them all after reading many posts here and on other sites. They seem to be ok for me so that's why I've stuck with what you see below. I can't really explain "why" I've chosen some of the settings below.

View attachment 71075
View attachment 71071
View attachment 71074

with that straight on shot and height you have a great location. And you seem to be getting great caps. Congrats!

That said only two things I’d try for your night shots and mist.
1) I run high contrast at night. Like 70
2) while the exposure range is great for day, sometimes at night it will try to correct and lose focus. Try manual shutter about 1/1000 and it tends to stay put, it may resolve fog/mist issues as well.

then again, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it

 

[sebastiantombs]

A little off topic, but if you use a solar post light take it apart and add a couple of extra batteries to it. I have one that I changed the original, wimpy, battery in and added a second to provide 6000mah of capacity. Only in the dead of winter if there's a few cloudy days in a row does it fail to stay on all night.

 

[Holbs]

A little off topic, but if you use a solar post light take it apart and add a couple of extra batteries to it. I have one that I changed the original, wimpy, battery in and added a second to provide 6000mah of capacity. Only in the dead of winter if there's a few cloudy days in a row does it fail to stay on all night.

Always a future option. I'll be slapping in either a 10' or 12' 4x4 in dirt 2' of depth (no concrete at this time) for temp purposes. Will get 50' of PVC 3/4" conduit and lay on the ground, run 6 burial rated Cat6 cables (2 for network cams, 1 for PIR, 1 for 12v/24v lamp, 2 spare). All of this will be above ground for temp purposes. Once I like what I see in regards to positioning and getting 'call before you dig' folks out, I'll do the trenching and finalization. For now, I was planning on using a 24v feed for the lighting instead of 110vac. If it was a cabling challenge, I certainly would consider solar.