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Jason Studer

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I am looking for a good licence plate camera that won't cost an arm and leg. Does anyone have a camera that they are using and love the way it works.

I have a perfect area where the vehicles enter the parking lot and drive along the side of the building for about 150 feet or so.

The cameras I have now will get washed out by the head lights or if I try to capture from the rear is blurry if the vehicle is traveling over 5-6 MPH.
 

Jeff_L

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I like the idea of the speed bump cameras, however their coolness would quickly fade away for me the first time I accidently plow up the speed bump! Might want to consider that if you are in a snowy climate.
 

Jason Studer

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Speed bumps and a stop sign were my first thought, but I would have to put down asphalt speed bumps. The pin down ones would never make it threw the winter, and my plow guy will not be happy. Oh well.

I would still like to have a good tag camera as well, speed bumps will only slow down people that care not the idiots we all deal with every day.
 

I.B. Washincars

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speed bumps will only slow down people that care not the idiots we all deal with every day.
I have two, spaced about 25' apart and they work fine for me. Unless you have better idiots than I do, I see no reason they shouldn't work. I realize that they may be a problem for the plow guy, but if he is told beforehand that he will be expected to pay for any he scrapes up he may be more careful.
 

JustClean

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I am looking for a good licence plate camera that won't cost an arm and leg. Does anyone have a camera that they are using and love the way it works.

I have a perfect area where the vehicles enter the parking lot and drive along the side of the building for about 150 feet or so.

The cameras I have now will get washed out by the head lights or if I try to capture from the rear is blurry if the vehicle is traveling over 5-6 MPH.
I think I mentioned that somewhere before. Get your local surveillance "expert" to your site and tell him you want to buy a licence plate camera but only if it gets 95% of the plates day and night. Let him do the installation and everything but negotiate that you won't pay until he achives it. According to my japanese friends saying: "Big mouth makes trouble!" He will agree and depending on his skills will spend hours and hours fiddling around to get this result. If he doesn't get the result kick him out and get the next one in. For me this was the cheapest way of getting a working number plate camera that gets almost all plates.
You need a very good camera, an infrared beamer that is stronger than the headlights of the car and it has to be at an angle where the headlights won't shine into the camera. There are complete number plate systems on the market but you can get it cheaper when installing the camera and the beamer separately. But as I said get someone "professional" to do it. It'll save you money in the end.

BTW I wouldn't get built-in speed bump cameras as you end up fighting issues like snow, rain and dirt.
 

MEP001

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I mounted a Sony 520 line camera directly above a metal halide wall-pack and aimed it at the entrance. It's about 100' away and gets a good, straight view of most cars entering. Aside for a short period of the day where the sun shines almost directly into the lens it gets most plates, especially at night. The ones it can't get are entering at an angle and moving too fast - someone driving straight toward it regardless of speed is captured clearly. Headlight glare is a non-issue.
 
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