Have customer who wants good license plate shot at apartment complex gate with poor lighting.Have wiring for up to 2 cameras to get best shot Any suggestions

They have cameras designed for just that application...they are a bit on the pricey side though.

Here is an example:
https://www.123securityproducts.com/licplatcapse.html

yeah I have saw those before , this customer wants a decent night time camera that is going to do good for around $400-600 my cost?

In that case I would try a high res. camera with the appropriate lens, which will be determined by how far away the camera is Mounted.


something along these lines:
https://www.boschsecurity.us/index.aspx?prdctid=3233


You may also want to check out this article, it gives some good info on license plate capture.

https://www.securityinfowatch.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=455&id=1057

That's a good article.

I have tried to do this before and believe me, it's hard. I have experimented trying to capture plates at a gas bar that had a problem with drive offs on the far islands.

I originally mounted the camera on the awning looking down, no good. Some plates are tucked up under the vehicle too far. The best I got was mounting it on the awning posts about 4-5 feet off the ground. I now had to use vandal proof units because they were within reach. This meant changing to a board style mini dome. I also found that high resolution B/W infrared with a very narrow view (12mm) was the best (I tried day/night cameras thinking that plate color would be a good thing, didn't work). If the infrared is too strong though, it makes those reflective plates wash out.

I was thinking the same on the day/night I did not even think of wash out..

any particular model youve had luck with, I will be approx.4'6" high and about 15 feet back from car when they slow to go through gate, brake lights have been a problem because they are on, it looks like extreme uses a infared that allows infared light but takes out artifical light from the camera to get a good plate number, do you know of any reasonably priced cameras that will do this. I like when a customer will let you spend the money to do it right, but this has been a customer for 20+ years , so putting forth a little effort to try to find him something, and what a knowledgeable bunch we have here. I figured if anybody knew this you guys would. Appreciate your help in advance.

I tried to look up what I used but I couldn't find it. It was a few years ago but the unit looked identical to this:

I would have probably got it through Burtek and I know I was able to select the lens size (I used 12mm). I remember it being this vandal proof housing because I used conduit to feed it.

Did the camera have built in IR, or did you use a standalone illuminator?

Built in. It looked identical to the one in that picture. I'm assuming it was a National, but I don't see it in their catalogue now.

my vendor is trying to get me to purchase a Extended dynamic Range camera with a 5-50mm lens & no IR, what do you guys think

We have 3 cams running at one location that sounds similar to your issue. First cost was a factor. Every vendor tried to sell them very high end cameras that they just couldn't afford for the night shots. They wanted less expensive cameras, yet they wanted good resolution of the plates at night. The best solution we found for the money was to spend a little on lighting and then much less on the cameras themselves. A couple of flood lights at plate level on each side of the gate pointing in a V pattern allowed the cameras to do well and the client was very happy.

I don't know if that's an option for you, but you might consider it.

What exactly is "Extended Dynamic Range" anyway? I've heard that term before and still don't know what it means.

As for the varifocal 5-50mm lens, dealers are always trying to sell it that way. Most of them don't have a clue on how to pick a lens size so their way out is varifocal. Don't get me wrong, they work great, but they are always more expensive. If you are new to cameras, it's a good way to do it.

As for no IR, like Mac stated, you will need some good lighting then.