This Fujifilm Surveillance Camera Is So Scary, It Can Read A Car's Number Plate From 1 Km Away

Fujifilm has made a name for itself over the years, with cameras of various types and usages. Now it seems the company is entering into the surveillance camera market with the SX800.

The cool thing though, is when they say this camera is long range, they mean it.

The SX800 has a whopping 40x optical zoom designed with security in mind where you might usually be far away from the subject you're observing. It has a built-in lens with a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 20mm to 800mm, as well as an additional digital zoom of 1.25x.

Fujifilm says this gives the camera the equivalent of a 1000mm focal length. The idea is for it to be used at border security posts or at sprawling commercial facilities.

Which is why the camera can zoom in on a car a kilometre away and still be able to read the licence plate.

Zooming in on a car's licence plate 1km away

We've seen long range cameras in the recent past, meant for commercial use, but the SX800 is still unique. For one, Fujifilm has given it additional features designed to make it usable at extremely long ranges. It's got an autofocus that can sharpen an image in just 0.3 seconds, optical image stabilization, and even an image processor that can reduce the effects of fog and heat haze. It also has ISO levels up to 819200 in order to be effective at night.

In order to promote the camera, Fujifilm released a video of the camera doing some insane things. It manages to read a handheld sign from 2.2km away, as well as get a clear shot of the Tokyo Tower viewing platform from 3km away.

It's not just border security where this could come in handy either, but even places like protected wildlife parks to catch poachers. Places like airports and the like could also use them in order to prevent incursions of all kinds, and they're long-ranging coverage means it can be done for cheaper with fewer cameras.