“If I was being nit-picking I would rate this lens just acceptable for performance (at the price) and very good for value.
Performance wise the lens is vari-focal rather than zoom, meaning that the focus setting affects the angle of view and vice-versa. This makes it a little fiddly to set up. The optical quality is fair at best in the visible spectrum (again, forthe price). It vignettes at certain focus / zoom combinations. Distortion, field curvature and other optical defects are there for those who care to look, but would you buy this lens if cost was not the influencer - of course not.
Infrared performance is suprisingly good (it is marked IR), with little of the internal reflections that plague some optics.
It's a great lens to use for deciding what focal length you need for the HQ camera, setting up a system in the field or just being able to view a subject over a range of angles.
I have paid much more for a lens cap than the cost of this unit, so it's a great choice if cost is the prime factor or operating conditions make the lens expendable.”
“Nice quality lens, feels solid and good quality picture. Be aware that this lens is not auto-focus and the High Quality Pi Camera module has a limited range that it can auto-meter the image. You can influence the metering through the aperture setting on the lens but this is a manual action. Wide-Angle but not very-wide-angle, which means there is limited lens-distortion but if you’re close to the lens you can get some distortion which can be fixed in post-processing.”
