What Lens Should I Buy?
That’s probably the most common question we get asked and it depends on what you are looking to do with the camera. For reference the standard GoPro lens is 2.8mm, so 3-12mm are good for wide/medium shots. 16mm – 25mm are great for closeups with soft backgrounds and longer lenses are great for zoom and telephoto. Before getting into details, first let’s look at the different lens types that our modified cameras support.
C-Mount
C-Mount was originally developed in the 1920’s for film cameras and has been in use ever since. These can be attached to the camera by attaching the 5mm spacer ring. There are a vast array of C-Mounts available as they were commonly used on home movie cameras in the 50’s and 60’s, security and TV cameras and now for machine vision, factory automation and inspection applications that require the highest quality optics. You can buy vintage or new!
CS-Mount
These attach to the base mounting ring on our modified GoPro cameras when no extra mounts or spacers are added. CS-Mount was developed mostly for security applications so there are thousands of ultra sharp high megapixel lenses available at a relatively low cost. This lens type also commonly has ‘IR-Corrected’ or ‘Day&Night’ capability. That means they can focus on Infrared and visible light at the same time which a normal lens can’t.
M12
Also known as ‘S-Mount’ or ‘Board lenses’. They are lenses similar in size to the original GoPro lens. Typically these are best used for applications requiring small size and weight such as use with small drones and gimbals. This lens type typically has a fixed focus and fixed iris so they are meant to be set up once and locked in. One M12 adapter comes with our modified GoPro cameras, but if you buy one adapter per lens you can keep each one pre-focused and locked into its own mount for quick changes.
Lens Adapters
A large variety of lens adapters are available so you can mount different manual lens types on your modified GoPro or Sony RX0 / RX0 II. Popular adapter types include Canon FD & EF, Nikon F/G, Sony A, Pentax, Olympus OM, M42 and many more! We also offer a custom MFT adapter for our H9PRO – H13PRO modified cameras.
Handy Calculators
When choosing a lens for your camera you can use these handy tools to see what the capture area size will be, the horizontal field of view, crop factor and compatibility.
Field of View Calculator
*Results assume that the camera stabilization (Hypersmooth / Steadyshot) is disabled for the largest field of view. Stabilization typically crops the field of view roughly 10% when enabled.
Sensor & Focal Length Calculator
While you can connect any M12, CS or C-Mount lens to your modified GoPro, 1/2.3″, 1/2”, 1/1.8″ and 2/3” format lenses are best. Choose 1″ format C-Mount lenses for the modified Sony RX0 / RX0 II.
Here are some general guidelines to follow when choosing lenses:
- 1/2.3”, 1/2”, 1/1.8” and 2/3” M12, CS-Mount and C-Mount lenses are ideal for use with your modified GoPro.
- 1/2.5” lenses are ‘technically’ slightly too small for the sensor in the GoPro but in most cases have complete coverage in 16:9 aspect ratios.
- 1/3” or 1/4” lenses are too small for the GoPro sensor and will vignette, but you can use the narrow or digital zoom settings on the camera to reduce the effect.
- Auto iris CS or C-Mount lenses are not recommended as they require an external power supply in most cases.
- Focal lengths ranging from 4mm up to 25mm will prove to be most useful for general shooting. Focal lengths under 4mm will have a similar or more pronounced fish-eye effect than the stock GoPro lens unless they are labelled ‘rectilinear’ or ‘low distortion’.
- We’ve found it best to use lenses labelled ‘HR’ or ‘Megapixel’ for HD shooting. 5MP and 10MP+ lenses should produce outstanding results.
- If you have a camera that supports shooting in infrared, IR corrected or D&N (day & night) lenses are recommended. These lens types allow IR and visible light to be in focus at the same time.
- Only lenses with manual features are supported. GoPro and Sony cameras are not capable of powering and controlling fully automatic lenses.
- Brands we have tested and find to be generally quite good are Computar, Kowa, Tokina, Fujinon, and Tamron. A selection of recommended lenses can be found in our shop.
When using a lens adapter to connect DSLR or mirrorless camera lenses, only lenses with fully manual features are supported. GoPro and Sony cameras are not capable of powering and controlling fully automatic lenses. Fully manual lenses typically have a mechanical focus ring and manual iris (f-stop) ring.
