Why fish eye?

[Whitard]

I am not knowledgeable about photographic lenses. I am sure there is a reason that the Vision 2 Plus lens is a fish eye lens. I don't like the distorted view that it provides though. Can anyone explain why it is necessary that this lens be fish eye?

 

[TeamYankee]

A wide angle fish-eye lens is a lot cheaper and much less complex (smaller and lighter) than a "flat field" (rectilinear) lens of the same angle of view.

You can change the lens on a GOPro to have a flat field lens but I've not heard of anyone changing the lens on a Vision(+)... with a modded GoPro the field of view is not as wide as it once was.

Here is a very good comparison of the stock lens versus the flat field lens... GoPro but .. you get the idea -
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aMemm-xO8U[/youtube]

 

[Whitard]

Thank you. I appreciated the education and the pros and cons of these lenses.

 

[HermosaDrones]

What is the difference between using this lens and the narrow view on the gopro?

 

[dptcalvin]

Using the narrow POV on your GoPro is just cropping the image digitally. When possible, using (quality) optics is a better solution.