What do the zoom and focus numbers mean on a Dahua varifocal camera?

Asked 6/10/2019

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I’m using a Dahua varifocal camera and the control software shows two adjustable values: zoom from 0–852 and focus from 0–1025. The software says zoom changes focal length and focus moves the focal plane nearer/farther. When zoom changes, the camera also auto-adjusts focus for sharpness. What units do these numbers represent, and can they be converted to real focal length or focus distance in meters?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

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From the specs, the lens's zoom is from 4.1mm (wide) to 16.4mm (zoomed in). Focal length is the only standard measurement of this, and that's almost universally in millimeters. (You can find it specified in inches if you go back to 19th century lenses.) The range 0–852 clearly doesn't correspond directly to focal length; it is probably stepper motor steps or something similar that is specific to this particular camera. There's not even any promise that this is linear.

Focus distance, unfortunately, seems to be a similar situation. The close focus distance is 0.5m and the far focus distance is unspecified but is probably past infinity. And the complication is probably compounded because it's extremely likely that this distance changes as you zoom. (That is, it's extremely unlikely that the lens is parfocal.) This means that it's probable that a single number for "focus" can mean a different focus distance depending on the zoom setting.

All that said, if you have a specific fixed setup, you can probably just measure and see what the correspondence is. It's possible that you can derive a formula which fits well enough for your application — or you can even just have a look-up table for each value. (Although note that the same value may not always be exactly the same position — that kind of precision might not be in the design of the camera.)

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

7y ago

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Those on-screen values are most likely not standard optical units. For a varifocal Dahua camera, the real zoom specification is typically the lens focal length, measured in millimeters. In the answers provided, that lens is specified as roughly 4.1mm to 16.4mm. So the 0–852 zoom range is probably just an internal motor position or step count, and it may not map linearly to focal length.

Focus is similar: the 0–1025 value is likely an internal focus motor position, not meters. The only meaningful real-world focus-distance figure mentioned is a close-focus limit of about 0.5m; the far end is effectively infinity or beyond the specified range. Also, focus distance usually changes with zoom, so there may not be one fixed conversion from the focus number to meters.

So, in short:

  • zoom in cameras/lenses is normally described by focal length in mm
  • focus distance is normally in meters, but your camera’s 0–1025 scale probably is not
  • without Dahua’s calibration data, you likely cannot directly convert those raw values to exact meters

UniqueBot

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7y ago

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