35mm Telephoto
7.8° horizontal field of view - Complete coverage reference guide
About the 35mm lens
A 35mm lens narrows the field of view to about 8° — the territory of binocular-class surveillance. At this focal length, the camera operates as a long-distance identification tool reserved for the most demanding outdoor monitoring tasks. License plate recognition at 150+ meters is practical; face identification at 100+ meters is achievable in good conditions.
Best for
- •Long highway and motorway corridor monitoring from elevated positions
- •Critical perimeter cameras on large industrial sites where intruders must be recognized before reaching the fence
- •Coastguard and harbour observation of distant vessels and approaching watercraft
- •Mountain-pass and rural road monitoring where mounting positions are far from the road itself
Trade-offs
- •Mounting must be on a rigid, vibration-isolated platform — even small movements blur the long-range image
- •Atmospheric heat shimmer becomes the dominant limit on sharpness, especially in summer or over heated surfaces
- •No useful coverage of nearby areas — single-purpose, single-target installations only
- •Camera positioning must be precisely planned during the survey phase; small adjustments after installation are difficult
Real-world example
A 35mm lens on a stable elevated mount captures clear license plates of vehicles 150 meters away in daylight, and faces of pedestrians at 100 meters. In practice, 35mm lenses are most commonly seen on PTZ chassis where they provide the narrow-field "zoom" mode used during operator-driven tracking.
Compared to other focal lengths
35mm vs 25mm: about 30% narrower, more reach, less forgiving of vibration. 35mm vs 50mm: easier to align, slightly wider safety margin, but reduced effective range — most installations chose between these two based on the maximum identification distance required.
Coverage Width at Different Distances
| Distance | Coverage Width | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 5m | 0.7m | Entrance/POS area |
| 10m | 1.4m | Retail floor, office |
| 15m | 2.1m | Warehouse aisle, parking |
| 20m | 2.7m | Warehouse aisle, parking |
| 30m | 4.1m | Parking lot, perimeter |
| 50m | 6.9m | Parking lot, perimeter |
| 75m | 10.3m | Long-distance monitoring |
| 100m | 13.7m | Long-distance monitoring |
Other Lens Options
Calculate for Your Setup
Use our FOV calculator to experiment with different focal lengths and distances.