diy-man

prevention is very important I totally agree with that.. this is a full serve station that I'm talking about by the way, even with 2 attendents at the pumps people still look for a moment when no one is paying attention and then they just take off... I really dont know how to explain that mentality I guess stealing is not only saving money for them but also a way of having fun/excitment in their lives thats as best as I can explain it. Now with all that said If I could print out pics of those license plates that ran away without paying and stick those on the store window or maybe even on the pumps themselves I'm sure that would serve the purpose and scare people off.

you guys are great, this really helps. well this is how I look at it, not all the customers that show up at the station is running away w/o paying therefore 100% license capture rate is not completely necessary. If 2 or 3 out of 100 cars that show up try to run away and I get to capture more than 50% of that I'd be happy. I have checked out the Panasonic cameras and they seem much better than those no name brands i've tried earlier. So I will definitely give it a shot and see if they serve the purpose. In the mean time if anyone has a specific brand/model name you would like to suggest I'd be more than happy to hear about it. hope you all have a great weekend... cheers,

that is some great advice thanks to you all... to be more specific with the situation, my friend owns a gas station and with the gas prices sky rocketing people are filling their tanks and running away at the pump. In order to get his money back he wants to install cameras facing the pumps. Bulding is 50 feet away from the pumps thats why I need something with a pretty good zoom capability. 5-50mm lens should take care of that however I believe the chip itself is also very important in terms of pic quality. I have used a model called CL-550 with one installation but i was very disappointed with the picture quality. would I be able to find something in $250-$750 range that is going to make me and my friend happy? PS: The area where the pumps are standing is pretty well lit so a nightvision camera may not be completely necessary once again thanks to you all for your time

I am in need of color outdoor cameras that are day/night capable and I'd like to be able to read a license plate from 50-70 foot range. What brand/models would you suggest and what should I be looking to spend in order to get decent pic quality? many thanks in advance.. diy-man