what does it mean when you have a 3.6 MM wide angle lense on a security camera in normal people language?

Question

i bought some security cameras and i wanted a wide angle ,the guy says these are 3.6 mm lenses . i said thats all greek to me
can someone explain ???

Answer 1

The site listed below shows different images of the same subject using different lenses. This will give you a visual representation of what, or how much of an area different lenes will cover.
Scroll down to about 1/3 of the page, the area covered by a 3.6mm lens is represented in the second frame,a 22mm focal length with a 94* angel.

http://www.skywaysecurity.com/cctv_lenses.cfm

Answer 2

A standard lens is 50mm. that is what the human eye sees. Anything under 50mm. is classed as wide angle because you can get more in the viewfinder. Anything greater of 50mm. is classed as a telephoto lens. If you can obtain a range say from 70mm. to 200mm. then you have what they call a zoom lens. Basically, a telephoto lens is a fixed aperture and a zoom has a region of scale. The telephoto lens will always provide a better photo especially on portraits which a 115mm. lens. Usually to be able to get within 2 cm. of a subject you would normally need a macro lens.

Answer 3

3.6 mmm is a VERY wide angle lens, meaning you will see a wider view than the human eye (which sees approximately 53mm). I think it would even be classified as a Fish-eye lens which actually bends the picture a bit.

For example... a 200mm lens pointed at a deer 10 feet away might only show it's head, whereas a 80mm might show the entire body and a 25mm would show half the forest with this tiny deer in the middle.

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

In plain English it simply means that if set in a room you would be able to view more of the room than with the naked eye.

Answer 5

Nah... You also have to factor in the size of the sensor.