Dome G90 fitted with a Mobius B wide lens

[reverend]

OK so I said I'd try this on a rainy day - it's only spitting today but that still counts.

So yesterday I took the G90 apart to focus the lens and got some good results with the factory lens:

The much better quality raw file is here:

https://mega.co.nz/#!VUlQ1JJQ!BUKgmLbAt1dDU6yiA076OJlSpWHAoy5-dXkzdCcL0fM

It was really sharp but I did wonder how much difference a new lens would make to things like the chroma noise which you see on most of the G90s at the corner edges on the videos. So I picked up a spare Mobius B wide lens and fitted that today.

There was a risk that the Mobius lens may not be high enough quality for the extra megapixel the OV4689 sensor has in the G90 but it has come out fine. I'm not sure how the lenses are specced so it's possible that there are just lower than one megapixel lenses which are the cheap old ones using lower quality glass and then lenses for above megapixel uses which use better quality components.

You can see from the pictures the differences between the two - the factory G90 lens uses a square IR filter whereas the Mobius one uses a round one. The threads are slightly different but other than that they're the same thread and the same width at the top.



It turns out the Mobius B lens has a much wider FOV than the factory G90 lens which you can see from the below captures (both from the same G90, just a different lens):




The wider lens also causes things to look further away, so numberplates etc will be smaller and footage of someone cutting you up doesn't look as dramatic. The very top extreme corners are slightly out of focus but to be honest you're never going to see a numberplate you need up there (unless someone is going Dukes of Hazard on you or you've got the Doc's Delorean flying overhead in which case his reg number is OUTATIME anyway!)

Anyway here are the results:

And then the same raw video clips (Mega is on a go slow so this will be updated as they get up there) so you can see the real performance of this combination.

https://mega.co.nz/#!VdlC3BhI!RQytL4GqBAzmVrpNWV4IlN9OK3oqts1eeOcwvODvDHI
https://mega.co.nz/#!UV8xiLwa!P9hDuVxq9BPPc0rJYy54t2N8lA_v0q4I44OoV3U62e8


All in all I'd say the quality of the G90 when focussed is great, but like anything it can be improved upon. I've got a Mobius standard version on the way so I can see how that lens compares as that would potentially be better for people who prefer everything close up at the loss of what is going on around you.

I think the G90 A7LA70 version when focussed up with a wider lens like this and the cropped 2560x1080p mode is potentially what I've been looking for.

I'll get this updated with night footage when I get chance.

 

[Sabe]

I'm very glad that you did it because now i don't have to.
Difference is not dramatic in any way, it's only that field of view which is everyone's personal taste i think.
I think that the optimal solution for ultimate dvr would be a girlfriend sitting next to you holding HD camera and pointing and zooming all important events without asking.

 

[reverend]

Well I've just tested it out - it's not bad at all, but there's a new strange star burst type effect on street lights - I've seen the Mini0803 have a similar effect. I wonder if the lens is overpowering the sensor, or it's just that the camera is tuned for the factory lens which would make sense.

Just uploading footage now.

 

[reverend]

HDR Off

HDR On

 

[jokiin]

Firmware isn't calibrated to suit this lens

 

[reverend]

Yeah I reckon I'll be going back to the stock lens - the footage really is nice and sharp though. I wish I'd manually sorted the focus on all my cams a long time ago now!

This is still a pretty decent effort though.

 

[reverend]

The factory plastic mount appears to be similar to this one:


I also found some plastic locking rings which might be a good alternative to glue:

http://www.m12lenses.com/M12x0-5-Lock-Ring-Plastic-p/pt-lr001p.htm

 

[reverend]

Actually this is strange but I just rewatched the crash video from @BobDiaz and that has a similar style of lens flaring around lights - I don't have that on my Mobius with the B lens - I'm half wondering if it's maybe something I've cleaned it with or there are maybe slightly different versions of the B lens?

Here's another clip with the same style of lens flare:

Mine is totally different:

@niko's is the same as mine:

I've got another Mobius coming soon with the standard lens so I can try that on the G90 and try this B lens in that and run them side by side to see what differences I get

 

[Mandami]

@reverend If I have understood correctly, one wide lens was bought together with the sensor and the other one alone ?

 

[reverend]

That's correct - the first B lens I have came already as part of the Mobius cam and the second I bought just the lens alone.

The second Mobius (with the standard lens) will be here next week and I'll do some side by sides. I have given the lens I got the weird starbursts with a serious clean in case it's something left on from manufacture

I cleaned the G90 lens and it's looking super sharp!

 

[Mandami]

@reverend the ultimate test is to take the lens which came with the sensor and use it with G90 (of course, later, you'll have to refocus your Mobius).