This is quite a useful lens

Posted by ecat on 24th Jul 2010

I bought two and I think I may buy more.

Its angle of view is very wide, probably around 150 degrees, so IF you don't have the flexibility you might want to move back from the subject location, you can use this lens and zap, problem solved.

The depth of field on lenses this wide is always excellent, and this one, although its relatively inexpensive, is no exception.

Focus it once and forget it, everything will be in focus. This is not a fisheye, in that the barrel distortion, although visible, is fairly minimal. It also fills the full frame with the image. The BB001 is similar, but not quite as wide (that one is maybe a bit better in low light- too, its also bigger. Harder to hide.)

A tip- In security applications, its best to use two cameras if you can, pros always like to team a wide lens shot up with a longer lens on another camera -

Use this one for the big picture, and if you set it up right, you can use subtle marks on a door to get the 'perp's' exact height, their posture, etc, Then use the other one, that might be hidden, with a longer focal length ('telephoto') lens for the face identification.