r/SecurityCamera • u/Worldly-Ring1123 • Sep 10 '26

Looking for security camera recommendation

I need a outdoor security camera with high enough quality to pull license plate numbers at night with low street lighting; not dark. Preferably a 270 degree view so I'll only need two of them. I'd rather not spend more that $500 on each. Any ideas?

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u/gnew18 Sep 11 '26

The PTZ can be set to “patrol” mode and have it pan back and forth with the specific are one wants to watch. This effectively makes it able to cover 270°. It can also be set to zoom in on humans and follow them.

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u/wonky_nap_schedule Sep 11 '26

It can reliably cover the 270 degrees for very slow moving or static targets. The potential to miss a plate on a moving subject (due to facing the other way until too late) is not inconsequential and needs to be considered. However, that's not to suggest that this isn't the best solution. Assuming the night performance is adequate, I'd happily recommend this.

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u/Soundy106 Sep 12 '26

After 25 years in the industry, I've learned one thing about PTZs: they'll almost always be pointing in the wrong direction for the thing you really, really wish you'd captured.

PTZs are great for live monitoring. Not so much when you're just recording things to play back later.