I have a system with several IP3M-954E 3MP bullet cameras that I've had for a couple years now. For the most part the cameras have worked well however I recently had a real world test where a porch pirate stole some items off my doorstep. They were captured on camera however in the few frames where she did not cover her face there is not enough detail to make anything out and the license plate on their car is just a blur. I picked up a IP8M-2496EB-40MM 8MP camera to try in a location where it could catch license plates and was a bit disappointed to find that even with the narrower angle 4.0mm lens the field of view is even wider than that of my 3MP cameras. The net effect is it consumes much more bandwidth and disk space while capturing loads of useless pixels off to the sides and about the same level of detail, I should have read the specs closer. These suuuuuper wide angle cameras are great for surveying an area overall to see what's going n but near useless for actually identifying suspects. At least I do have a location where I can make good use of the IP8M camera but it's no good for what I'd planned to use it for.
Does anybody have suggestions for an Amcrest PoE IP camera with a much narrower FOV that I can strategically place to try to capture details such as faces of people passing up or down my walkway or license plates of cars entering my driveway? There are a few models with 3x zoom lenses that claim a 55 degree FOV which is better but still much wider than I need. There are some big bulky PTZ things which are way overkill and not exactly discreet, I don't need the pan/tilt functionality and even zoom might as well be manual since nobody is monitoring the cameras live to zoom in on things anyway. Are there any 3rd party replacement lenses that will fit any of the bullet style cameras? Also I've seen some comments that the older 2MP cameras have much better low light performance than the higher resolution types, is that still the case?
What camera for capturing details like faces and license plates?
Re: What camera for capturing details like faces and license plates?
Might have better luck with some idea of the area we are working with. I have a 1.3mp IP camera that I can get LP on my drive way. No not down where it matters but I can read mine coming and going when I am parking the car or Suv.
About 2mp over higher being better in low light. There are some NEW cameras out there that will out preform even the best 2mp any day or night...
A Solution that might work is move the camera down to the area closer to where you want to get the LP. Some times 1 Camera can't do what everyone wants it to. So on back on the corner of the house facing down with maybe a 6 ot 8mm lens would be good to get faces. Then one closer to the drive at a less then 30 degree angle for LP. Also you will want to think about how that camera will work. Some of the Best Quality ones are Full time B/W
About 2mp over higher being better in low light. There are some NEW cameras out there that will out preform even the best 2mp any day or night...
A Solution that might work is move the camera down to the area closer to where you want to get the LP. Some times 1 Camera can't do what everyone wants it to. So on back on the corner of the house facing down with maybe a 6 ot 8mm lens would be good to get faces. Then one closer to the drive at a less then 30 degree angle for LP. Also you will want to think about how that camera will work. Some of the Best Quality ones are Full time B/W
Be Safe.