12mm Telephoto

22.6° horizontal field of view - Complete coverage reference guide

Focal Length

12mm

Field of View

22.6°

Lens Type

Telephoto

Sensor

1/3"

About the 12mm lens

A 12mm lens narrows the field of view to about 25° — well into telephoto territory by CCTV standards. This is no longer a general-purpose lens; it is a targeted surveillance tool for situations where you need to read faces, plates, or labels at significant distances from the mounting point.

Best for

•Long driveway monitoring (40–70 m approach)
•License plate capture at parking lot exits and gas station forecourts
•Stadium and arena seating-area observation
•Shooting down long warehouse aisles where the rack height limits viewing angle

Trade-offs

•Very narrow coverage — a 12mm lens at 5 m distance only captures about 2.1 m of width
•Requires careful mounting and stable mounts: the long focal length amplifies any vibration in the image
•Difficult to use as a standalone camera for general monitoring

Real-world example

At a property boundary 50 meters from the camera, a 12mm lens identifies a face that a 4mm lens at the same position could only register as "a person." This makes 12mm a popular choice for boundary cameras paired with a wider-angle "overview" camera nearby — the combination provides both context and identification without compromise.

Compared to other focal lengths

12mm vs 8mm: roughly half the horizontal coverage, but proportionally more usable identification distance. 12mm vs 16mm: slightly more forgiving framing, less affected by camera-shake, but shorter effective range.

Coverage Width at Different Distances

Distance	Coverage Width	Use Case
5m	2.0m	Entrance/POS area
10m	4.0m	Retail floor, office
15m	6.0m	Warehouse aisle, parking
20m	8.0m	Warehouse aisle, parking
30m	12.0m	Parking lot, perimeter
50m	20.0m	Parking lot, perimeter
75m	30.0m	Long-distance monitoring
100m	40.0m	Long-distance monitoring