25mm Telephoto
11.0° horizontal field of view - Complete coverage reference guide
About the 25mm lens
A 25mm lens delivers about 12° horizontal field of view — the territory of dedicated long-range surveillance. At this focal length, the camera is no longer monitoring an area; it is targeting a specific point of interest tens of meters from the mounting position. License plates remain readable at 100m+ in good conditions, and faces are identifiable far beyond the reach of any standard CCTV lens.
Best for
- •Highway and motorway license plate recognition at 80–150 m approach distances
- •Border, perimeter, and fence-line cameras on large industrial or government sites
- •Airport apron monitoring and runway-edge observation
- •Critical infrastructure protection where intruders must be identified before reaching the protected area
Trade-offs
- •Field of view is so narrow that mounting must be precisely aligned to the target area
- •Requires rigid mounting and ideally an enclosure with active stabilization for outdoor use
- •Atmospheric conditions (heat haze, fog, rain) reduce effective range significantly
- •Very limited use for any general monitoring task — strictly a single-purpose tool
Real-world example
On a motorway overpass, a 25mm lens reads license plates of vehicles in a single lane at 100+ meters. The same lens mounted to look across an industrial yard at 80 meters identifies the face of any person approaching the protected building. Outside of these specialty roles, 25mm is rarely chosen.
Compared to other focal lengths
25mm vs 16mm: roughly 35% narrower, with significantly more reach but much less margin for mounting error. 25mm vs 35mm: somewhat more forgiving framing, easier to align, less affected by atmospheric distortion.
Coverage Width at Different Distances
| Distance | Coverage Width | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 5m | 1.0m | Entrance/POS area |
| 10m | 1.9m | Retail floor, office |
| 15m | 2.9m | Warehouse aisle, parking |
| 20m | 3.8m | Warehouse aisle, parking |
| 30m | 5.8m | Parking lot, perimeter |
| 50m | 9.6m | Parking lot, perimeter |
| 75m | 14.4m | Long-distance monitoring |
| 100m | 19.2m | Long-distance monitoring |
Other Lens Options
Calculate for Your Setup
Use our FOV calculator to experiment with different focal lengths and distances.