A camera apparatus includes an image sensor to output an image signal, a stop aperture, a lens assembly, and a controller. The lens assembly is disposed between the image sensor on an image side of the lens assembly and the stop aperture on an object side of the lens assembly. The lens assembly includes a plurality of lens elements that collectively induce axial chromatic aberration between red, green, and blue light. The controller is coupled to receive red, green, and blue channels of the image signal. The controller includes logic that causes the controller to use the blue channel without the red or green channels of the image signal to perform image recognition on objects captured in a near-field of the lens assembly and to use the blue, red, and green channels collectively when capturing images in a far-field of the lens assembly.