GS varifocal lens test

[Sabe]

Test report using varifocal lens on GS5000.
I used cheap lens first because i had no idea what it does, and this is dx item sku 45186, very cheap and quality is not good i think.
Why i did this? Just for fun, and so that you don't need to do it.

What i have found is that lens is very heavy and my lens mount broke, but add some glue and then you are back in business.
I had to widen the front opening with a grinder to get lens fit properly, and it would be good idea to attach lens to outer cover with glue.
What is good in this type of lens is that outer ring where you can set focus to desirable distance without disturbing basic lens setting.
What is really good is better night view because this kind of lenses have better F rating. Basic lens have aperture size like F 2.0 and this varifocal have F 1.6 so it is better in the dark. This number goes backwards, smaller the reading, bigger the hole.
This lens has range of 3.5 to 8 mm, but i have to say that this lens can't really go to traditional 3.5, so the angle of view is not so wide.
You can see from test image that it really improves night sight, there is two samples side by side, one is taken with original lens GS1000 and other one is GS5000 with this lens, and there is very clear difference at night view.
If you are very in to this idea, you should buy better lens with better ratings, like this one which starts from 2.8 mm.
http://peauproductions.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26_4&products_id=59
I don't have any daytime samples yet, it is still possible that too much light can burn sunny image to useless.
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[Sabe]

Wrong image tag, here is larger image.

 

[Tekno]

Did you get new lens mount or repair old?

 

[Sabe]

Did you get new lens mount or repair old?

Lens mount broke from screw holes. This gs5000 is more or less just for experiments so i used epoxy glue and now i can't change lens mount anymore.

This CS lens mount would have been interesting if it would be a little bit cheaper, there is much more CS lenses on sale than 12mm lens.
http://peauproductions.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_101&products_id=66

 

[DashCamMan]

That is a serious lens Sabe You can see the improvement in night quality. Perhaps in the future there will be dash cams with easily replaceable lenses, like DSLRs!

 

[Tekno]

I'm going to buy and fit sku45186...

price seems ok for quality. main problem with gs1000 is bad quality in dark...
(I mainly drive in dark, because this time of year in Finland, it is bright only 6h a day)

 

[Sabe]

I'm going to buy and fit sku45186...

price seems ok for quality. main problem with gs1000 is bad quality in dark...
(I mainly drive in dark, because this time of year in Finland, it is bright only 6h a day)

Here is one close up image, you really should cover the gap with hot glue to support heavy lens after you have made basic settings.

This dx lens is not the best, but at that price it's worth to try.
It is very difficult to set the focus because lens is so delicate and precise, if you breathe too heavily to lens it goes out of focus...very frustrating.
Here is couple of samples, left side is this new lens. It is slightly out of focus, and GS5000 is out of focus from left side anyway. Colors are different because at the moment lens is without ir-filter. To get wider view i used resolution 1280x720.
Samples are made at night because that is the hole point of this lens, it has some kind of zoom but i didn't test it.
And before anyone asks, you can make side by side videos with Sony Vegas, 30 day fully functional trial or acquire it from where ever you like.

This is city and part highway.

And this is rural area and totally dark road.

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi Sabe,

You can really see the improvement in the countryside video. Great modification.

 

[Tekno]

daytime footage of my gs1000 + same lens

without ir filter of course

more to follow... (dark video also)

 

[Sabe]

To me it looks that camera view is rather narrow, and i think you should try to get hole lens screwed more in, eg. closer to cmos.
And if you have old lenses or broken down digital camera you may find ir-blocker from there, it is pinkish piece of glass like in this image. Filter can be removed easily, and small drop of superglue can hold it.

My test camera stopped working so i will continue my testing when i buy a new camera in the future.

 

[Tekno]

To me it looks that camera view is rather narrow, and i think you should try to get hole lens screwed more in, eg. closer to cmos.
And if you have old lenses or broken down digital camera you may find ir-blocker from there, it is pinkish piece of glass like in this image. Filter can be removed easily, and small drop of superglue can hold it.

My test camera stopped working so i will continue my testing when i buy a new camera in the future.

But ircut-filter affects small amount to visible light, blocking it. Very relevant when trying to gain more light in dark environment...

 

[Sabe]

But ir-filter affects small amount to visible light, blocking it. Very relevant when trying to gain more light in dark environment...

That's true, here you must balance between wrong colors or better night vision.