We use too PS3-eye webcams on Linux for various IR input management (we don't output the input image) For our installation we have modified the lens part:removed original lens and replaced with a new one M12x0.5 lens mount + a set of cheap M12 for various distance.
Image quality is not the best you can have but you have a great camera for less than 100 euro (including modifications) considering high framerate - very important for us.