Spec me a CCTV System

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From my initial appraisal I was favouring Dahua or Hikvision , would I be correct in saying they seem to be somewhat better than Reolink?
Hikvision and Dahua are the biggest players worldwide. Reolink is a more budget option as their specs show but it all depends on what you want. There are other higher end brands as well.

I choose cameras based on their capability and pair them with whatever software or NVR best suits the particular install but for many the ease of Ring, Eufy, Reolink etc is the deciding factor. On camera forums Reolink are often despised because of the limited camera setting options and firmware limitations but many of their users don’t even realise these issues and compared to the extreme budget cameras they have bought before they are better so they are happy.
 
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Hikvision and Dahua are the biggest players worldwide. Reolink is a more budget option as their specs show but it all depends on what you want. There are other higher end brands as well.

I choose cameras based on their capability and pair them with whatever software or NVR best suits the particular install but for many the ease of Ring, Eufy, Reolink etc is the deciding factor. On camera forums Reolink are often despised because of the limited camera setting options and firmware limitations but many of their users don’t even realise these issues and compared to the extreme budget cameras they have bought before they are better so they are happy.
I did think Dahua & Hikvision offered more industry grade type kit , the remit here I think demands decent quality & capability, the premises in question have been subject to attempted thefts before & have seriously expensive stuff around & in the sheds.
 
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I need another Hik camera to monitor traffic going past my house here in the countryside preferably able to read plate numbers if possible. Currently using colorvu cams this past 4 years. Traffic goes past very quickly and they come up very blurred and all I can manage is getting the colour of the vehicle. Just looking for something I can position correctly dedicated to recording the vehicles maybe something with ANPR ability. Any suggestions?

IPC-B5442E-Z4E

I got one of those as a dedicated licence plate cam. Set the exposure to very fast and the IR will light up the plate making it very clear.
 
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Which model is the 4k one you're looking at?

I think the one I posted was about $250 shipped from Hong Kong (EMPIRETECANDY).

I saw there were some new ones out, but they were a fair bit bigger and more like $450

The one I got I wrapped in some camo tape and put in a tree and you can barely see it unless you're looking for it.

I'm super happy with the image quality as I've got it on quite a tight crop

3q851em.png
 
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Soldato
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Which model is the 4k one you're looking at?

I think the one I posted was about $250 shipped from Hong Kong (EMPIRETECANDY).

I saw there were some new ones out, but they were a fair bit bigger and more like $450

The one I got I wrapped in some camo tape and put in a tree and you can barely see it unless you're looking for it.

I'm super happy with the image quality as I've got it on quite a tight crop

3q851em.png
I can't remember the exact model, saw it on same forums that the vendor you mention is popular.

That image is excellent, does it capture this as good when car is going at speed?
 
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Yeah, it's only a 30mph street, but capture is still great.

Shutter speed is set to 1/10,000 (hence why the car itself is so dark), but haven't had a shot yet of a plate that isn't clear.

That speed works great in daylight, and great on the plates at night with IR near light set to 40/100 and far light disabled.
 
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Soldato
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Yeah, it's only a 30mph street, but capture is still great.

Shutter speed is set to 1/10,000 (hence why the car itself is so dark), but haven't had a shot yet of a plate that isn't clear.

That speed works great in daylight, and great on the plates at night with IR near light set to 40/100 and far light disabled.
Great information, real world experience, cheers for that
 
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A neighbour had a tradesperson around a few weeks ago and their van was broken into in the middle of the day while in the neighbours house. Managed to catch the thieves plate (and even face) as they drove off using this new setup. Got the info shared pretty quick via the local What'sApp group. Not sure if they caught them as I've not followed up. If they're professionals they may have been using cloned plates, but at least we have the evidence and could get a plate to police very quickly after the crime to plug into ANPR network should the vehicle get pinged while driving around, cloned plate or not.
 
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A neighbour had a tradesperson around a few weeks ago and their van was broken into in the middle of the day while in the neighbours house. Managed to catch the thieves plate (and even face) as they drove off using this new setup. Got the info shared pretty quick via the local What'sApp group. Not sure if they caught them as I've not followed up. If they're professionals they may have been using cloned plates, but at least we have the evidence and could get a plate to police very quickly after the crime to plug into ANPR network should the vehicle get pinged while driving around, cloned plate or not.
They'll be caught surely unless using cloned plates as you say, they probably weren't, probably opportunists & reckless crazies.
 
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Hopefully. There's so much house renovations going on around where I based (London), there's tradespeople and vans constantly coming and going on the surrounding streets. We've had loads of van break ins recently.

There's definitely groups that target certain vans they know they can get into very quickly to nab tools.

The police should probably just setup a bait van tbh, thinking about it now.
 
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Hopefully. There's so much house renovations going on around where I based (London), there's tradespeople and vans constantly coming and going on the surrounding streets. We've had loads of van break ins recently.

There's definitely groups that target certain vans they know they can get into very quickly to nab tools.

The police should probably just setup a bait van tbh, thinking about it now.
Jeez, kinda glad I'm in the sticks
 
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Not massively fast tbh, it's a residential street with a 30mph speed limit. At a frame rate of 25fps though, I think a vehicle would have to be travelling over 200mph to miss 1/25 second frame. over a distance of about 12ft in the picture (it is at full zoom). Even at 100mph I recon at 1/10,000s shutter speed a decent frame would still be captured.

I might need to borrow a fellow forum members Lambo or Ferrari to get some concrete stats though....
 
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Soldato
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The police should probably just setup a bait van tbh, thinking about it now.

What really needs to happen is for the High St cash for goods places need to be banned from accepting tools, so that the thieves can't immediately turn tools into cash. This would not affect normal people, because tradesmen and DIYers don't actually ever sell their tools.
 
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Maybe, I don't know what the answer is. But it totally sucks for those that rely on the tools that are nicked. Makes me feel sick to my stomach every time I hear about a local small business have all their expensive gear nicked. It's part of the reason why I said **** it and dropped a few hundred bucks on this kit for the (hopefully) benefit of the neighbourhood. So sick of thieves and fly tippers getting away with **** like this. Combined, as a neighbourhood we've managed to get some great informative footage before and after theft events and holistically upped our security game as a neighbourhood. I caught some random trying door handles of cars on the street recently live and was able to alert the locals to it. It's a pain in the ass, it's costly, and it takes up way too much of my evenings which should be better spent elsewhere, but calling out these dipshits and keeping the neighbourhood informed feels like it's ultimately a massive local net positive and results as a legit deterrent when they're caught out and confronted so quickly.
 
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