CCTV Camera Lens Guide

This chart is intended as an approximate guideline to help you select the appropriate lens.

Due to the physical nature of lens optics, the numbers listed below should be considered accurate to within ± 3° and therefore a few feet / meters as well. While each camera in fact has its own unique field of view with each specific lens. In addition, C- and CS-mount lenses typically deliver a slightly narrower field of view than our comparable board lenses.

Lenses wider than roughly 5mm produce “artificially” wider fields of view than most telephoto lenses. In order to do so, the video image is slightly curved at the edges of the screen. While this artificial distortion is nominal for focal lengths between 4.3 and 3.6mm, curvature increases with wider angle lenses. Also, most 1/4″ CCD cameras produce a significantly narrower field of view with the same focal length lens.

Active Vision Lens Size Comparison Chart

Lens Size

Viewing Angle

Distance to Object / Size of Picture (Width x Height)

2.8mm

3.6mm

4.0mm

6.0mm

8.0mm

12mm

16mm

25mm

50mm

75mm

Horiz.°	Vert.°	Diag.°
109°	82°	136°
74°	56°	92°
67°	50°	83°
42°	32°	53°
32°	24°	40°
22°	16°	28°
16°	12°	21°
11°	8.4°	14°
5.5°	4.2°	7°
3.6°	2.8°	4.6°

5 ft.
14.0′	10.5′
7.5′	5.7′
6.6′	5.0′
3.8′	2.9′
2.9′	2.2′
1.9′	1.5′
1.4′	1.1′
1.0′	0.7′
0.4′	0.3′
0.3′	0.2′

10 ft.
28.0′	21.0′
15.0′	11.4′
13.2′	10.0′
7.6′	5.8′
5.8′	4.4′
3.8′	2.8′
2.8′	2.2′
2.0′	1.4′
0.8′	0.6′
0.6′	0.4′

15 ft.
42.0′	31.5′
22.5′	17.1′
19.8′	15.0′
11.4′	8.7′
8.7′	6.6′
5.7′	4.5′
4.2′	3.3′
3.0′	2.1′
1.2′	0.9′
0.9′	0.7′

25 ft.
70.0′	52.5′
37.5′	28.5′
33.0′	25.0′
19.0′	14.5′
14.5′	11.0′
9.5′	7.5′
7.0′	5.5′
5.0′	3.5′
2.0′	1.5′
1.6′	1.2′

50 ft.
140′	105′
75′	57′
66′	50′
38′	29′
29′	22′
19′	15′
14′	11′
10.0′	7.0′
4.0′	3.0′
3′	2′

100 ft.
280′	210′
150′	114′
146′	110′
76′	58′
58′	44′
38′	28′
28′	22′
20.0′	14.0′
8.0′	6.0′
6′	5′

(631)585-0088 Active Vision www.active-vision.com

The pictures below represent the magnification relationship between different lens types

2.8mm Lens	3.6mm Lens	6.0mm Lens

8.0mm Lens	12mm Lens	16mm Lens

CCTV Camera Lens Guide

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