Category: Design

It is well-known that the magnification of an imaging lens changes with the object distance (distance from the object to the lens).  However it is less known that the magnification changes with the field angle as well (i.e, where in the field the object is placed).  Additionally the off-axis magnification can be asymmetric.  In other words, the tangential and sagittal magnifications can be different.  This causes shape deformation for off-axis objects.  For example, a golf…

Lens distortion is a commonly used term in the general specification of lenses. The classic, textbook definition of distortion includes barrel and pincushion type distortions. These concepts are useful for photographic optics where the field of view of the lenses are not extreme. Lenses designed for machine or computer vision applications can have extreme field of views. Field of view greater than 100 degrees are common specifications for machine vision lenses. We need to develop…

Certain applications require a broad spectral operating range and customers oftentimes inquire whether a lens can perform “well” out to their wavelength of interest. These requests typically involve both visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) wavelengths.  For purposes of this discussion, a wavelength range roughly from 470nm (or lower) out to about 850-950nm is assumed. Fundamentally, it is important to consider the use-case of the lens and determine how the VIS and NIR wavelengths apply…

“Scaling’ refers to a method where a known lens design is proportionally enlarged or reduced geometrically to meet a different image size requirement from what the lens was originally designed for. For example, say, we have a lens that was originally designed for a 1/3” format sensor with an image circle of 6mm, we can “scale” up that design to make the image circle 8mm. This new scaled-up design is now capable of supporting a…