3.6mm Wide Angle
67.4° horizontal field of view - Complete coverage reference guide
About the 3.6mm lens
A 3.6mm lens sits between the extreme 2.8mm wide-angle and the standard 4mm view, providing about 78° horizontal coverage. It is the default factory lens on many entry-level dome cameras because it produces a natural-looking image without the edge distortion of 2.8mm while still covering enough area for typical room and corridor monitoring.
Best for
- •Office hallways, residential corridors, and apartment building common areas
- •Medium-sized retail spaces where 2.8mm would be too wide and 4mm too narrow
- •Gas station forecourts, small parking islands, and short driveways
- •Reception desks and waiting areas where you want both context and recognizable faces
Trade-offs
- •Reliable face identification only inside ~7 meters — beyond that, you can recognize movement but not features
- •Mild edge softness, though less pronounced than 2.8mm fisheye effect
- •Not wide enough for full-room coverage in spaces over 8m wide from a single corner mount
Real-world example
In a 6×8 m office, a 3.6mm camera mounted in the corner facing diagonally captures both desks and the entrance with usable face detail at all desks. The lens is also a favourite for short corridors (under 15m) where the slightly narrower angle concentrates pixels along the length of the hallway rather than wasting them on the side walls.
Compared to other focal lengths
3.6mm vs 2.8mm: roughly 20% less horizontal area, but visibly cleaner geometry and ~40% more identifiable distance. 3.6mm vs 4mm: slightly wider, very similar in practical use — the choice between them is often determined by what the camera ships with rather than active selection.
Coverage Width at Different Distances
| Distance | Coverage Width | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 5m | 6.7m | Entrance/POS area |
| 10m | 13.3m | Retail floor, office |
| 15m | 20.0m | Warehouse aisle, parking |
| 20m | 26.7m | Warehouse aisle, parking |
| 30m | 40.0m | Parking lot, perimeter |
| 50m | 66.7m | Parking lot, perimeter |
| 75m | 100.0m | Long-distance monitoring |
| 100m | 133.3m | Long-distance monitoring |
Other Lens Options
Calculate for Your Setup
Use our FOV calculator to experiment with different focal lengths and distances.