The modern miniature camera objective: an evolutionary design path from the landscape lens
-
Rob Bates
Rob Bates received his M.S. in Optical Science from the University of Arizona in 2008 with an emphasis on lens design desensitization to manufacturing errors. He began his optical engineering career over a decade earlier, first specializing in scientific instrument optical system design in 1997. After moving to Colorado to join Ball Aerospace in 2002, he designed space telescope systems and supported the optical analysis of the James Webb Space Telescope until 2006. From 2006 to 2009, he was an optical engineer at CDM Optics where he became deeply involved in the design for the manufacture of high-volume miniature camera lenses and computational imaging systems. Since 2009, he has been the Director of Optical Engineering at FiveFocal LLC, developing advanced imaging systems from visible through LWIR with consumer, defense, and biomedical applications. In 2010, he provided the top solution to the International Optical Design Competition, building the solution ‘from scratch’ as demonstrated in this paper.
Abstract
The modern miniature camera lens is the most prolific design manufactured today, yet its design form and origins are often not well understood. This paper illuminates the ancestry of the modern miniature camera lens by developing the lens form from ‘scratch.’ Starting with the Wollaston meniscus of 1812, the lens is designed progressively, employing incremental design decisions aimed at correcting limiting aberrations at each step. The result demonstrates an ancestry that is distinctly different than that of the common large-format objective lenses.
About the author
Rob Bates received his M.S. in Optical Science from the University of Arizona in 2008 with an emphasis on lens design desensitization to manufacturing errors. He began his optical engineering career over a decade earlier, first specializing in scientific instrument optical system design in 1997. After moving to Colorado to join Ball Aerospace in 2002, he designed space telescope systems and supported the optical analysis of the James Webb Space Telescope until 2006. From 2006 to 2009, he was an optical engineer at CDM Optics where he became deeply involved in the design for the manufacture of high-volume miniature camera lenses and computational imaging systems. Since 2009, he has been the Director of Optical Engineering at FiveFocal LLC, developing advanced imaging systems from visible through LWIR with consumer, defense, and biomedical applications. In 2010, he provided the top solution to the International Optical Design Competition, building the solution ‘from scratch’ as demonstrated in this paper.
References
[1] R. Kingslake, ‘A History of the Photographic Lens’ (Academic Press, London, 1989).Search in Google Scholar
[2] T. Steinich and V. Blahnik, Adv. Opt. Techn. 1, 51–58 (2012).Search in Google Scholar
[3] S. Noda, ‘Imaging Lens Assembly’, U.S. Patent 8,189,273 B2 (2012).Search in Google Scholar
[4] Y. Kamo, ‘Image formation optical system and imaging system incorporating the same’, U.S. Patent 7,206,143 B2 (2007).Search in Google Scholar
[5] M. Sato, ‘Image pickup lens, image pickup apparatus, and mobile terminal provided with image pickup apparatus’, U.S. Patent 7,215,492 B2 (2007).Search in Google Scholar
[6] H. Yamada, ‘Imaging lens’, U.S. Patent 5,940,219 (1999).Search in Google Scholar
[7] W. H. Wollaston. Phil. Mag. 41, 124 (1813).10.1080/14786441308638715Search in Google Scholar
[8] H. Aldis, ‘Photographic lens’, U.S. Patent 682,017 (1901).Search in Google Scholar
[9] T. Imai, ‘Photographic lens system’, U.S. Patent 4,303,313 (1981).Search in Google Scholar
[10] W. Smith, ‘Modern Lens Design’ (McGraw-Hill, U.S., 2005).Search in Google Scholar
[11] C. Minor, ‘Photographic objective’, U.S. Patent 1,360,667 (1920).Search in Google Scholar
[12] F. Altman, ‘Lens’, U.S. Patent 2,343,629 (1942).Search in Google Scholar
[13] W. Orser, ‘Optical scanning objective lens system for inspection devices’, U.S. Patent 2,747,466 (1956).Search in Google Scholar
[14] I. Sandback, ‘Optical objective’, U.S. Patent 3,011,401 (1961).Search in Google Scholar
[15] W. Johnson, ‘Optical objective’, U.S. Patent 3,011,402 (1961).Search in Google Scholar
[16] R. Bates, Proc. SPIE 7793, 779302 (2010). Available at http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1347508.Search in Google Scholar
©2013 by THOSS Media & De Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Publisher’s Note
- Starting an optics journal in troubled times
- Community
- News from The European Optical Society
- Conference Notes
- Conference Calendar
- Topical Issue: Optical Design
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Tutorials
- The modern miniature camera objective: an evolutionary design path from the landscape lens
- Lens design: optimization with Global Explorer
- Q and A tutorial on optical design
- The importance of induced aberrations in the correction of secondary color
- Review Article
- Lens designs with extreme image quality features
- Research Articles
- Desensitization of axially asymmetric optical systems
- Extrinsic aberrations in optical imaging systems
- Hybrid RBF and local ϕ-polynomial freeform surfaces
- The astigmatic aberration field in active primary mirror astronomical telescopes
- Optical design with orthogonal representations of rotationally symmetric and freeform aspheres
- A new prime-focus corrector for paraboloid mirrors
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Publisher’s Note
- Starting an optics journal in troubled times
- Community
- News from The European Optical Society
- Conference Notes
- Conference Calendar
- Topical Issue: Optical Design
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Tutorials
- The modern miniature camera objective: an evolutionary design path from the landscape lens
- Lens design: optimization with Global Explorer
- Q and A tutorial on optical design
- The importance of induced aberrations in the correction of secondary color
- Review Article
- Lens designs with extreme image quality features
- Research Articles
- Desensitization of axially asymmetric optical systems
- Extrinsic aberrations in optical imaging systems
- Hybrid RBF and local ϕ-polynomial freeform surfaces
- The astigmatic aberration field in active primary mirror astronomical telescopes
- Optical design with orthogonal representations of rotationally symmetric and freeform aspheres
- A new prime-focus corrector for paraboloid mirrors
