On which camera you can easily see license plates?

[jokiin]

you guys have it easy, we have maybe 30 different plate types just in our state, different sizes and colours etc, it's all about money and how much they can charge for fancy plates

 

[Dashmellow]

We tend to see the USA as a single country with a single government, the plates are one of the few things we see that are different between states, maybe even the only thing!

It is definitely not the only thing.

 

[jokiin]

check it out http://www.myplates.com.au/

http://www.myplates.com.au/products/index.html

 

[Dashmellow]

you guys have it easy, we have maybe 30 different plate types just in our state, different sizes and colours etc, it's all about money and how much they can charge for fancy plates

What?! Here we all get different colors for free, depending on what state you live in. Aside from the colors, you can pay for vanity plates though.

 

[Nigel]

It is definitely not the only thing.

Well I guess you americans from the United States don't know the difference between the separate countries of the United Kingdom, we all share the same plates though, we even share our plates and registration system with some countries not in the United Kingdom, like the Isle of Man (which isn't in the European Union either).

 

[Dashmellow]

Well I guess you americans from the United States don't know the difference between the separate countries of the United Kingdom, we all share the same plates though, we even share our plates and registration system with some countries not in the United Kingdom, like the Isle of Man (which isn't in the European Union either).

What on earth has such a notion have to do with my statement about how you view the US? And what are "you americans from the United States". Where the hell else are we Americans from, the Moon?

 

[MS-444]

1)Yes, the Mini 0803 can, but not for long, best to just assume that the battery is only good enough for it to shut down without corrupting the files. It does run nicely plugged into a USB battery pack though, I got 4 hours on a smallish battery pack last week.

Great, thank you!

2) Not certain what you mean by seamless. Mine is set to record 5 minute files, when the card is full it deletes the oldest and records a new one. There are no missing frames when you play them in sequence.

When it records like a regular camera, in 1 file, without splitting. Do you have this option?

 

[Nigel]

What on earth has such a notion have to do with my statement about how you view the US? And what are "you americans from the United States". Where the hell else are we Americans from, the Moon?

Well there are lots of americans in Canada, a larger country than the USA, and there are lots more American countries to your south with a combined population larger than the USA. At least that is how we see the world, and your first question suggests that your view of the UK is probably less accurate than our view of the USA!

 

[Nigel]

When it records like a regular camera, in 1 file, without splitting. Do you have this option?

I've never used it recording a single file, but I think that if you do then it can't make space by deleting old files so gets stuck once the card is full. Also it has a fairly small maximum file size due to the use of the FAT16 card format, not sure what the maximum file size is if using FAT32 but I think the instructions say 5GBytes, which isn't long at full resolution.

There doesn't appear to be any disadvantage to using multiple small files though, they get joined together by the viewing software so you see them as seamless anyway.

 

[Dashmellow]

Well there are lots of americans in Canada, a larger country than the USA, and there are lots more American countries to your south with a combined population larger than the USA. At least that is how we see the world, and your first question suggests that your view of the UK is probably less accurate than our view of the USA!

So you drag the entire Western hemisphere into the discussion over a comment that was specifically about license plate design in the USA? Making an irrelevant point accomplishes little. The discussion was about having the same highly readable plates in the UK not whether there are different national entities but certainly glad to know that you speak for absolutely everyone in the UK.

You know, it is unfortunate that a post about the unique history of the 50 US states and how that relates to the variation in license plate design.....along with a friendly humorous remark about redcoats and colonies would lead to a fellow like you making uncalled for provocative remarks such as "you Americans".

 

[Nigel]

provocative remarks such as "you Americans".

You have Canadians to the north, Mexicans to the south, I have to admit that I have no idea what you call the people who live in the middle. I use "Americans" to refer to all the people who live on the continents of North America and South America thus I had to narrow it down to just the USA. What collective name should I use for the citizens of the United States of America which is not provocative?

 

[Dashmellow]

You have Canadians to the north, Mexicans to the south, I have to admit that I have no idea what you call the people who live in the middle. I use "Americans" to refer to all the people who live on the continents of North America and South America thus I had to narrow it down to just the USA. What collective name should I use for the citizens of the United States of America which is not provocative?

@Nigel, This is an unproductive conversation that is causing friction and is a distraction from the thread. Let's let it go and go back to the topic and the friendly and interesting discussion we usually enjoy around here, OK?

 

[USDashCamera]

The problem is the highly reflective coated metal plates the US uses.
If you look at night footage of other countries you can read the plates since they are non reflective flat plastic/vinyl etc.
The "Reflector" Properties of the U.S. plate causes intense hot spots since it focuses the light back into the camera.
Combine that with fast motion and it's tough for any DashCam to read USA Plates at night.

ugh, that explains why no matter how hard i try to adjust my EV settings the plates can sometimes just look like hot spots. been messing with the g1w-c and during the day its too dark and at night the plates look completely white.

 

[MS-444]

I've never used it recording a single file, but I think that if you do then it can't make space by deleting old files so gets stuck once the card is full. Also it has a fairly small maximum file size due to the use of the FAT16 card format, not sure what the maximum file size is if using FAT32 but I think the instructions say 5GBytes, which isn't long at full resolution.

There doesn't appear to be any disadvantage to using multiple small files though, they get joined together by the viewing software so you see them as seamless anyway.

I need this feature for recording sceneries on the road. So, does your camera has this option?
I understand why it splits the files.

 

[Nigel]

I need this feature for recording sceneries on the road. So, does your camera has this option?
I understand why it splits the files.

Although all my files are only 5 minutes long, if I want a 23 minute section of video (As I did after a procession and firework display the other night)then I just open the viewer software to display all 80 files on the card, mark the beginning of the 23 minute section, mark the end and select "save fragment", I then have a 23 minute video which I then reduce in resolution to 1080P so that it can be viewed on an average computer. That works perfectly well and can be recorded just by powering up the camera, I believe it will record a single file if set up correctly but I don't see any reason to bother when I can just power it up.

P.S. It is quite good at fireworks and video of the procession was good, but the sound for the procession is terrible as it doesn't appear to even have an automatic volume control!

 

[olePigeon]

I, too, am looking for a dashcam that can read license plates. My problem is that I need one that can read them from a distance of about 80 feet. I was thinking of getting two cameras, one as a regular dashcam to capture the whole scene, and second I would keep permanently zoomed. I'd then just overlay the zoomed image as a picture-in-picture on the other camera.

Is there a camera that has a particularly good zoom feature with auto-focus?

Thanks

 

[USDashCamera]

i dont think any cameras zoom other than cheap ones with digital zoom. its pointless because if you are zoomed in you are getting such a small portion of your surroundings. do you just want it to be able to zoom straight forward to catch someone infront of you?

 

[jokiin]

Is there a camera that has a particularly good zoom feature with auto-focus?

Thanks

The cameras are fixed focus, if you wanted a greater focal length you'd need to look at a different lens type to what is normally used on dashcams

 

[olePigeon]

its pointless because if you are zoomed in you are getting such a small portion of your surroundings. do you just want it to be able to zoom straight forward to catch someone infront of you?

That's why I was thinking about having 2 cameras. 1 would be a normal dashcam to catch the whole surroundings, the other would be zoomed in. Then I'd just have the zoomed one as Picture-in-Picture on the main camera.

There're a few analog old school dashcams with optical lenses with 24x zoom, but that would require a computer, wire harness, additional batteries, etc. Bunch of stuff I don't want to deal with.

 

[niko]

That's why I was thinking about having 2 cameras. 1 would be a normal dashcam to catch the whole surroundings, the other would be zoomed in. Then I'd just have the zoomed one as Picture-in-Picture on the main camera.

There're a few analog old school dashcams with optical lenses with 24x zoom, but that would require a computer, wire harness, additional batteries, etc. Bunch of stuff I don't want to deal with.

I have tested similar solution a while ago by using two mini dashcams mounted close , one with ultra-wide lens and other with ultra-narrow lens FOV. It gave me quite good overall result. One big advantage of ulta-narrow lens was that is was able to read at noght front car numberplates despite very strong headlights reflection from numberplates, but camera with wide FOV lens didnt show any numberplates because of strong reflection, which is a common "issue" on most dashcams with standard or wide fov lens.
Hope one day some manufacturer will come out with dual lens solution ( wide + narrow ).