benf 0 Posted May 2, 2012 I'd like to change out the lens on a couple Vivo IP8332 cams for a wider angle view. Has anyone changed lens out on these before that can provide feedback? Curious if there's a particular lens I should/shouldn't get, if it will degrade image quality, will the lens cover still fit afterwards, is IR affected, etc. I'm thinking in the 2.X-3.6 range, anything wider than the stock 4mm, but am concerned the end section of the bullet (end piece that screws off which holds lens cover in place) will cut off edges of the picture if the angle is too wide. The IP8332 seems to have a fairly deep placement of the lens within the bullet. Can anyone confirm how wide you can go before interference like that might come into play? These are only for monitoring horses in a barn area so am not concerned with super high quality, but don't want to be like looking through an ice cube either. Thanks for any feedback. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MaxIcon 0 Posted May 2, 2012 I haven't changed them on my Vivoteks, but changed one recently on my Messoa, and it took a bit of time to find one that was both IR and MP rated. It's a bit of a jungle out there for inexpensive 12x0.5mm board cam lenses. I found 2 ebay vendors with decent selections and reasonable prices: MOTechnology - http://stores.ebay.com/MOTechnology RageCams - http://stores.ebay.com/RageCams-Wholesale-Outlet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
benf 0 Posted May 3, 2012 Thanks for the links/info. I gather M12 and "board lens" are sort of the generic things I need to be looking for but after that I'm getting confused. Some state "megapixel" lens but others don't. My assumption is I can use any lens as long as it fits, but if it's not specific to megapixel I'll lose some resolution. Is that true or just a marketing thing? Same confusion with IR. Some state "IR coated", others have "IR cut". I'm pretty sure IR cut is a function of the cam and not the lens, but what I'm not sure is if IR coating is required and/or affects the ability to see IR light in night mode. Essentially I'd want the same functionality my 4mm lens provides now but in a wider angle. How I convert that to what to look for in terms of specs has my head spinning. As you said, it's a jungle out there! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
camera-newbie 0 Posted May 3, 2012 the other option would be to change to a more standard bullet camera that has a CS mount lens and then go shopping just about anywhere for the lens of your dreams.. Just my $0.02 worth.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MaxIcon 0 Posted May 3, 2012 Yes, "board lens" is the generic term for M12, or 12x0.5mm threads. The Vivotek has a 1/4" sensor, so any lens will work, but if you ever need 1/3" or more, you have to make sure they specify that, as many don't. I accidentally bought a 1/4" lens for one of my 1/3" cams that way. IR focusses at a slightly different focal point than average visible light, and can result in images where focus shifts between day and night. An IR corrected lens is designed to focus both the visible spectrum and IR at the same point, so you have the same focus in both modes. Here's a link that discusses this: http://www.cctv-information.co.uk/i/Resolving_the_Problem_of_Focus_Shift You can google ir coating lens cctv for lots more info if you want. Some lenses have IR blocking or filtering coatings (mostly photography lenses, but some cctv lenses as well), so you'd want to avoid this. As for MP ratings, that's hard to say whether it's marketing or what. My assumption is that MP rated lenses from reputable vendors are going to be higher quality (many of the really cheap lenses are plastic, for instance). I don't know that it really matters with the Vivotek so much, especially in your application. For the most part, you'll lose resolution starting around the edges as lens quality goes down. I tried getting some rough TVL readings from an ISO 12233 chart as I swapped lenses, but it's pretty hard to get meaningful images with a wider-angle lens. So, I ended up looking for IR and MP rated lenses, or alternately including "glass" in the search. The people at RageCams are pretty responsive to questions, so you might send them an email asking about what lenses they have that they'd recommend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MaxIcon 0 Posted May 3, 2012 the other option would be to change to a more standard bullet camera that has a CS mount lens and then go shopping just about anywhere for the lens of your dreams.. Just my $0.02 worth.. CS mount lenses have the same issues - you generally will pay more for MP and IR, or less for generic ones. This is particularly true for inexpensive older lenses, which were mostly used on D1 cameras with low resolution sensors. MP cams have raised the bar on lens quality overall, but it doesn't really matter for a lot of applications. However, it's true that there's a lot wider variety of CS lenses out there, with a huge range of prices, and the quality's often better overall on CS, since there's a lot more design room to work with. It's rare to find board cam lenses over $40-50. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
benf 0 Posted May 4, 2012 Yes, "board lens" is the generic term for M12, or 12x0.5mm threads. The Vivotek has a 1/4" sensor, so any lens will work, but if you ever need 1/3" or more, you have to make sure they specify that, as many don't. I accidentally bought a 1/4" lens for one of my 1/3" cams that way.-snip- Good stuff. Thanks for all the detailed info, that helps a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skane 0 Posted May 6, 2012 Evetar makes lenses that can be used for replacing lens on the IP8332. I believe they supply the stock lens for the IP8332 as well. It's not on site, but I've heard from my distributor they make a MP IR board lens with focal length less than the stock 3.6mm lens. http://evetar.ru/en/products/board_1mpix_lens/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
