That bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to a camera’s viewing angle.

It’s a common idea that a wider angled camera is always BETTER in CCTV.

While a “wide angle” camera may see a wider area, it begins to lose detail the wider you go. For detail, the NARROWER angles are best. If you need to identify a face or read a license plate, a narrower angle is going to be the best way to do it. Below is an example of how an image would look through a 700TVL camera at 3 different viewing angles: 73°, 53°, and 30°.

73° viewing angle.

53° viewing angle.

30° viewing angle.

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Swann offers a range of variable focus cameras to suit a range of situations. We will provide some examples below.

For traditional analog systems, we have the Pro-980 camera. This camera has a significant zoom adjustment, able to zoom in to approx. 25° viewing angle.

For our OS#1 NVRs (7200, 7095, certain Costco models), we have the NHD-830 camera. This camera has a very good zoom adjustment, down to approx. 35° viewing angle. The viewing angle on this camera is a bit wider than analog due to the nature of the sensor (1080P wide angle), but the increased resolution of 1080P still means that you will achieve an image with very good detail at a wider angle.

Our new AHD systems (4400, 4600) have the Pro-A850V. This camera has a similar angle adjustment to the Pro-980 camera above, down to approx. 25° viewing angle, but the increased resolution will result in a much better picture at the same distances.