lens experiments ( 12 mm ) long range dashcam

[Matt_V939]

for "zoom" (not the right word but hey, everybody should understand) lenses for mobius camera you can see over here a report on different focal length
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29765197&postcount=11914
And I suggest also to google on airsoft forums/youtube video, lot of "sniper" mounted mobius for even longer focal length (even way too much for dashcam use)

 

[kamkar]

I have a 70 mm pinhole lens, but its UV pass.
But it is a lot smaller at least in diameter to the lenses i see people use on sniper airsoft cameras.

 

[TonyM]

How does this telephoto lens perform in the dark?

Is there a practical reason why you used the X camera instead of a Mobius?

 

[Lola]

Just 40 buks at Peau productions in the US ( Cali i believe )

https://www.peauproductions.com/collections/gopro-hero-3-3-black-lenses

They are here in Maryland. About a 2 hr drive from where I live. Do you happen to know the lens format size of the one you used? No big deal just wondering.

I don't know where I got this information, it's wrong!

While researching to find the lens I want, I found an address for Peau lenses as I said in the beginning, it is located as I said, Maryland. It must be a satellite business of Peau.

 

[Lola]

@kamkar1 I keep thinking about that customs mess you had to go through to get your lens. I've never had to really deal with customs so don't know anything about it. Is it for just when you buy something? What if someone just sent you something, does it still have to go through customs and you have to pay for a gift so to speak?

 

[kamkar]

Here it dosent really matter how a parcel are labeled, some think if it say gift then you can bypass customs, byt sadly that not the case.
I do have parcels that have come to me this way and not had to pay any taxes, latest this was the parcel SJcams sent to me with a SJ6 Legend and SJ6 Air camera. ( true value +300 USD )
But this are solely to blame on the incompetence of Danish postal acting on behalf of Danish customs, so some parcels fly strait thru customs no fuss at all, and others get caught out even if it is a small padded envelope.

The dividing issue are the 90DKkr where parcels under that are defacto considered a gift and as such not subject to customs and taxes, but parcels more than that are.
So lets say i get a parcel with the value of 100 kr, i then have to pay customs and taxes of that and this will be something like 20 DKkr,,,,,, BUT ! then i also have to pay a 160 Dkkr handling fee that DK postal / DHL /GSL are allowed to collect for their effort, and so my little 100 DKkr parcel end up being a 280 Dkkr parcel in total.

90 Dkkr = 14.5 dollars.

Chinese sellers often know this and undervalue the parcel on their own accord, some you can ask to do that when shopping, like the parcel i got last week with a real world value of 100 USD, but it was just valued 10 USD on the label, so no extra charge for that one.

I have also had huge heavy parcels sail strait thru customs even with a invoice on the box saying several 100 USD value, but sadly its not every time, but it is nice when it happen not least with a expensive parcel that would have cost a lot in customs and taxes.

Some times there are no value on the postal label and no invoice in the parcel, then i get a letter saying i have to document for the value, so i copy paste the text in the order confirmation you always get on E mail, and then if i feel like i edit the numbers there.
And e mail that to customs, and they are happy about that never a question asked.

My friend use a Danish company called Shop USA for larger things from the US, so he have a US postal address at their warehouse in Maryland i believe, so for instance some years ago en got a overhauled Dodge engine for his ram charger, costing +2000 USD, but since Shop USA handle customs he just told them he paid 1000 USD for the engine and so he got is a lot cheaper.
Shop USA use both airmail and shipping, needless to say the heavy engine ended up in a container and took a month or so to get over here.

Over here it are pretty annoying you have to wait for a snail mail letter to pay your customs, but when you get that letter i just go online and pay the customs in seconds using the Invoice ID and pin provided in the snail letter.
it is pretty easy just add a few days when it happen, or more due to incompetence, my 100 USD worth of parts was in customs warehouse for 11 days before i finally got them.
And some times they forget all together i have paid the customs and then i have to call them, and then they say " O yes i can see you have paid customs 4 days ago, i make sure your parcel get released now",,,, and no "i am sorry for the inconvenience".

I have just been part of a group buy on another forum, there the forum designed item was sold with Banggood as distributor as they can handle 2000 items to worldwide customers in a short time with no problem, and it was made sure the 40 USD item was undervalued enough to sail strait thru EU country and US customs and so they also did.

If it wasent for these terror days i am pretty sure i could get a American to buy a 9 mm H&K pistol, and then a similar H&K airsoft pistol, then put the real gun in the box for the airsoft gun and ship it to me, its not the human aspect that would worry me, only explosive sniffing dogs and machines could ruin that deal im sure.
As long as it was labeled airsoft pistol and 15 USD value i am pretty sure it could work if it wasent for terror paronoia.

It is pretty discouraging that Denmark as one of the front running countries in making things digital and still still have to wait for a snail mail letter to pay customs, not least as Danish postal have a tracking app, so they could make it so i could pay customs thru that app.

 

[lacibaci]

How does this telephoto lens perform in the dark?

Is there a practical reason why you used the X camera instead of a Mobius?

For me a big plus is that JVX has an HDMI so it makes focusing a breeze.

 

[TonyM]

Imagine taping two Mobius or X's together, affixed to the bottom of each other - one with a standard lens and an 8mm or 12mm lens.

Something like this? That's a Mobius1 and Mobius2 stuck together with clear VHB to keep the lenses aligned for testing. Might need more separation if using a larger/longer telephoto lens - this was just enough to fit the lens caps on each camera.

 

[kamkar]

The lens work just as fine as any other usable lens, if have a F1.6 value so it let thru a lot of light.
And yes the HDMI on the X cam sure are nice when setting up a new lens.

 

[kamkar]

The lens are not larger in physical size, though it dont screw in as much as the original x camera lens it still sit more or less like the stock lens would.

 

[Dashmellow]

The lens are not larger in physical size, though it dont screw in as much as the original x camera lens it still sit more or less like the stock lens would.

View attachment 33517

@kamkar1, I've been looking into these S-mount extensions a bit further and it seems to me it would be the perfect solution for the back focus problems you encountered with your new lens. They come in plastic or metal versions, often with a locking ring and only cost a few bucks.



https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=S-mount+lens+extension&_sacat=0

 

[Dashmellow]

Something like this? That's a Mobius1 and Mobius2 stuck together with clear VHB to keep the lenses aligned for testing. Might need more separation if using a larger/longer telephoto lens - this was just enough to fit the lens caps on each camera.
View attachment 33515 View attachment 33516

I did something very similar one time except that I used 3M Dual Lock Tape instead of VHB. That way the two cameras could be separated and reconnected easily and if desired you could adjust the relative positions of the cameras.

 

[TonyM]

I did something very similar one time except that I used 3M Dual Lock Tape instead of VHB. That way the two cameras could be separated and reconnected easily and if desired you could adjust the relative positions of the cameras.

Good idea. I have a big roll of VHB so that's usually my go-to sticky stuff, although as you point out it's not suited to adjusting once stuck in place. I didn't think I had any dual lock tape, but I just found a short strip in the Mobius box

 

[kamkar]

One of those will be good to have in my collection of camera gizmos.

 

[Dashmellow]

One of those will be good to have in my collection of camera gizmos.

I know just what you mean. Where would us DIY geeks be without our boxes of miscellaneous camera parts and other junk?

 

[DT MI]

I know just what you mean. Where would us DIY geeks be without our boxes of miscellaneous camera parts and other junk?

You got that part right.

 

[kamkar]

Here are some nighttime footage i just made.

 

[lacibaci]

I have to try something like this on my JVX. Hey @kamkar1 any recommended source for 6mm?

 

[Harsh]

Shipping for the PP version is equivalent to the price of the lens.

Any suggestions for a fixed 12mm lens, m12lenses shows 'out of stock'.

 

[kamkar]

I got my lens from peau productions as they deal with action cameras and MOD lenses, so i just figured they got to carry what works as it can otherwise be a jungle out there.

As we are using for dashcan and some times low light it is important you keep a eye out for the F value, it should at least be under 2.0 i think, this one i use here are F1.6 as i recall.