Mini-Review - 5241-Z12E-S2 - Replacement for the 5241-Z12E

wittaj · 2023-08-28T20:21:02+00:00

Because we have had so many incidents over the years, I had finally convinced the neighbor at the beginning of the subdivision to allow me to put my LPR camera on their house so we could get everything coming in and out as they have a better angle and shorter distance than I do. I think many of us have been waiting for the 5442 series to come out with a Z12E version, but it doesn’t seem likely, and I was always concerned that the 5241-Z12E may stop production, so since I still wanted to maintain LPR duty at my house, my thought was get a new 5241-Z12E and put my existing 5241-Z12E on their house. That way I would have a newer Z12E if they stopped making it. @EMPIRETECANDY assured me that the Z12E would still be around and in fact followed the 5442 series by moving to the S3 version that promised better performance within the same sensor. So I was relieved to hear that the Z12E will be around longer! I am sure many of us are glad to hear that as well! Here is the review thread of the original 5241-Z12E, which replaced the 5231-Z12E. Here is the Amazon link to the new 5241-Z12E-S2 So I got the new Z12E-S2 and fired it up and the first thing I noticed is it is using the new GUI. I know many of us hated the GUI change and like the simplicity of the old GUI, but the more I play with the new GUI on my other cameras that have the new GUI (4K-T, mini-PTZ, T180) the more I start to like it. It has way more options and flexibility. It still has some quirks as well LOL. Many of the specs remained the same. Similar to the 5442 series with the new chipset, the minimum illumination was the biggest change: Minimum Illumination old Z12E: 0.002Lux/F1.5 ( Color,1/3s,30IRE) 0.020Lux/F1.5 ( Color,1/30s,30IRE) 0Lux/F1.5 (IR on) IR Distance Distance up to 200m (656ft) Minimum Illumination new Z12E-S2: 0.0007 lux @ F1.5 (Color, 30 IRE) 0.0004 lux @ F1.5 (B/W, 30 IRE) 0 lux (Illuminator on) So since the GUI is different and the minimum illumination specs indicate a better performing sensor, I thought what better way than to hang the new one up next to the existing one and compare the old versus new side-by-side. So my existing Z12E has been a solid workhorse getting plates at 175 feet away with just the built-in infrared. There are no street lights and very few homes with outside lights on to assist. Here is a representative sample during the daytime from my existing Z12E. Hmm the FedEx truck is missing a plate LOL. Drumroll….here is the same truck taken at the same time with the new Z12E-S2 sitting next to the existing Z12E. WOW – I cannot believe this is 2MP. It looks vibrant and better. Granted the existing Z12E is older and may suffer from a little bit of glass cloudiness and soft focus at full zoom (more on that in a bit), but wow. I think it is clear to see that sensor technology has improved over the years for the same MP/sensor combination. The night time isn’t as dramatic of a change. The existing Z12E: Versus the new Z12E-S2: I would consider these comparable with the edge to the new Z12E-S2. Another area I think the newer chipset will help is with the 3M printed plates. This is how many of the new plates look on my existing Z12E: Compared to the new Z12E (different plate than above) that benefits from better sensor technology: Now the advantage the S2 has is that some of us would notice the previous Z12E would suffer in some situations with a trailing tail or fish gill type look. I know @bigredfish knows what I am referring to. Here is an example of what it looked like with the previous Z12E – notice this fish gill look in red and comet trail in yellow: I have yet to see that phenomenon with the new Z12E-S2. Another benefit of this camera is that we can run it full zoom. Many of us recall the older Z12E for some would get blurry at full zoom and would have to back down to like 90% zoom in order to get a focused field of view. I ran my existing Z12E a little closer to full zoom and that probably contributed to some of the soft focus as well. Another benefit is that the day/night profile holds the focus and zoom day and night (confirmed by @jeremycolvin that is using this camera for LPR in his thread) unlike many of us experienced with the prior Z12E and had to use this sunrise/sunset utility to keep the day and night focus and zoom. Another great benefit is they added a built-in mic on this one as well! In summary, I think similar to what @bigredfish saw with the newer 5442 series, we are seeing similar improvements in the 5241-Z12E with the newer sensor, chipset, and GUI.