LENSES

How a lens work

I. LENS
The lens of a camera consist of one or more glass or plastic disk with flat, concave, or convex surfaces, each disk
is called element. The purpose of the lens is to focus light on the film.

DEFINITION OF LENS

 A transparent material that has two opposite symmetrical surfaces.

 Any transparent device for concentrating or dispersing radiation by diffraction.
 A lens is a piece of glass, plastic or any transparent substance bounded by two surfaces of different curvature,
generally spherical, or by one spherical or curved, and one plane surface, by which rays of light maybe made to
converge or diverge.

The focal length of the lens is the distance between the optical center and the film. For any given film size, the
shorter the focal length is, the greater the field of view – that is, the greater the area covered in the picture. Focal length
also affects depth of field – the amount of the foreground and background that will be in sharp focus in the picture. The
shorter the focal the greater is the depth of field.
Lenses of various focal lengths can be used interchangeably on some cameras, allowing the photographer to vary
the field of view without taking the camera to a different position. A zoom lens has an adjustable focal length and stays
focused on one object as its focal length is change.
The light power of the lens is determined by the ratio of its focal length to its effective diameter (the effective
diameter is equal to the diameter of the aperture - the circular opening that controls the amount of light that passes
through the lens). The ratio expressed with the symbol f/ , is called the f- number. The larger the aperture in relation to
the focal length, the smaller is the f- number.

BASIC JOB OF LENSES

All photographic lenses do the same basic job. Collect light rays from a scene in front of the camera and project
them as images unto the film at the back. However, the choice of lenses also plays a very important role in the creative
aspects of photography.

CAMERA LENSES CAN BE USED TO CONTROL THE

 Amount of light that reaches the film.

 Magnification of the image.
 Lastly, area of the image to be recorded on the film.

II. Typology Of Lenses

There are two types of lenses, the converging and diverging lens. As to converging lenses we have the double
convex, Plano convex and the concavo-convex. Under diverging lenses we have double concave, Plano concave and the
concavo concave.
1. CONVEX LENS – CONVERGING LENS

Used in the focusing assembly/mechanism of the camera. A lens that gathers light and refract them to meet at
the certain point.

A convex lens causes light rays to converge, or come together, and is called a positive lens. A positive lens
focuses light form a distant source into visible image that appears on then opposite side of the lens to the object.

A convex lens is thicker in the middle than at the edges. When parallel rays of light pass through this type of lens,
they are bent inward and meet at a point called the focus. The distance from the center of the lens to the focus is known
as the focal length.

The size, position, and type of image produced by a converging lens vary according to the distance of the object
from the lens. If an object is more than one focal length from the lens, an inverted real image of it is formed on the
opposite side of the lens. Light rays from the object pass through a real image and can be focused on a screen. When an
object is located a distance of two focal lengths on a converging lens, the image is the same size as the object and is
located on the opposite side of the lens. A smaller image of the object can be obtained by moving the objects by more
than two focal lengths from the lens. Placing the object between one and two focal lengths from the lens can produce a
larger image.

If the object is less than one focal length from the lens, no real image can be formed. Instead a magnified virtual
image is formed behind the object and is right side up. Light rays from the object do not pass through a virtual image,
and such an image cannot be focused on the screen.

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 A convex lens has a thick centre and thinner edges. Light passing through a convex lens is bent inward, or made
to converge. This causes an image of the object to form on a screen on the opposite side of the lens. The image is in
focus if the screen is placed at a particular distance from the lens that depends upon the distance of the object and the
focal point of the lens. This diagram shows how rays of light starting from a point, O, on the object, strike the lens and
are then brought to focus at another point, I. The same applies to every point on the object, as is shown by the pair of
points P and J; thus an image, exactly similar to the object is built up.

a. SIMPLE CONVEX – convexo – convex

b. SPECIAL CONVEX – special positive lens
B.1 – Plano – convex
B.2 – convexo – concave

2. CONCAVE LENS – DIVERGING LENS

Concave lens or negative lens spreads the light depends on the amount of curved on the faces of the lens. The
distance between the lens and the image it produces is called the FOCAL LENGTH. The shorter the focal length, the
smaller the image. The greater the curvature of the faces of the lens, the shorter its focal length will be.
Lens that posses at least one surface that curves inward. It is a diverging lens, spreading out those light rays that
have been refracted to it. Concave lens is thicker at the edges than they are at the center. Light rays passing through a
diverging lens are bent outward. Diverging lens form only virtual image.

A. SIMPLE CONCAVE – concavo – concave

Biconcave lens (with both surfaces curved inward)

B. SPECIAL CONCAVE – special negative lens

b.1. Plano - concave – lens with one flat surface and one concave.
b.2. Concavo – convex

A concave lens is curved inward; it is shaped like two dishes placed back-to-back. Light passing through a concave lens
bends outward, or diverges. Unlike convex lenses, which produce real images, concave lenses produce only virtual
images. A virtual image is one from which light rays only appear to come. This one appears as a smaller image just in
front of the actual object (in this case a shamrock). Concave lenses are generally prescribed for myopic, or short-sighted,
people. Concave lenses help the eyes to produce a sharp image on the retina instead of in front of it.

3. COMPOUND LENSES
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 Simple lenses generally produce aberrated (imperfect) images. This imperfection in image formation can be
reduced using compound lenses.

III. TYPES OF LENSES BASED ON LENS SPEED

Lens speed refers to the largest opening of the diaphragm that the light can pass through it determines the
maximum intensity of the light entering the light tight box.

1. FAST LENS – Lens with high lens speed, a high lens speed is used during nighttime or in dark room.
2. SLOW LENS – lens with low lens speed, used during daytime or where the room is very bright.

IV. TYPES OF LENSES BASED ON THEIR FOCUS

Focus: the means by which the object distance is estimated or calculated to form sharp images.
It also refers to the point at which light rays converge. It is the point where a set of lights rays converges after
passing through a lens or other optical arrangement. It also refers to the point from which rays appear to diverge, the
place where the visual image is clearly formed, as in the eye or a camera. The point of principal focus is called focal point.

Focusing is the process of changing the distance between the centers of the lens to the focal plane. It is the
technique of adjusting the focal length to get the sharp image of the object or scene to be photographed.

Infinity refers to the distance so far removed from the observer that the rays of light reflected to a lens from a
point at the distance maybe regarded as parallel. It is a distance setting on a camera focusing scale, beyond which all
objects are in focus.
REAL FOCUS – the point of convergence of the light rays.
VIRTUAL FOCUS - the point where diverging rays would meet if their direction were reversed.

In terms of focus, there are two types of lenses sold today:

1. AUTO FOCUS – are the predominant types to the market. AFLSR’s focus using a phase detection system that slits the
incoming light into two or more parts and compares them to determine the amount of DEFOCUS. AF is not perfect, but
the technology has greatly improved since the first AF lenses made their appearance. As it is, sometimes this phase
detection system can have difficulty with dim lighting and fast – moving objects, but they are more accurate than the
infrared systems found on point and shot cameras.

2. MANUAL – FOCUS LENSES – YOU SIMPLY TURN THE FOCUSING RING BY HAND UNTIL THE SUBJECT IS SHARP IN
THE VIEW FINDER. Although AF lenses dominate the market today, nearly all interchangeable AF Lenses allow the user
to over ride the AF mode with the manual focus option. These lenses usually have a switch on the barrel, so that you can
choose one or the other to suit the shooting circumstances.

WHY DO LENSES VARY TO EACH OTHER?

The most important way lenses differ is in their FOCAL LENGTH.

FOCAL LENGTH – the distance between the lens and the film plane when the lens is focused on infinity. Focal length
controls magnification (the size of the image formed by the lens). A lens is also described in terms of its view angle, the
mount of the image shown on the film.

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V. GROUP OF LENSES ACCORDING TO THE ANGLE OF VIEW

1. Normal Lens – A lens with a focal length equal to the diagonal measure the image area. The image area of 35 mm
camera is 24x36 mm, thus a normal lens for any 35 mm SLR is 50 mm international standards, 50 mm lens may have an
actual focal length of 48 – 52 mm, and the normal lens has a picture angle of 5 degrees that correspond to the viewing
angle of the human eye.

CHARACTERISTICS:
 Optimum area coverage than any lens type.
 Minimum distortion and fewer common lens defects.
 Angle of view equal to 75 degrees but not less than 45 degrees.

2. Wide Angle Lens – The wide-angle lens has a shorter focal length than the normal lens. As a result, it covers a
picture angle of 60 – 90 degrees. It enables photographing a widely extended scene from a close proximity or within a
confined area.

The range for wide angles for 35 mm SLR cameras includes 8mm, 24mm, 28 mm, and 35 mm. The 28 mm and 35 mm
are the most important for general wide angle for police work.

CHARACTERISTICS:

 Reduced scale but increases area coverage compared with any lens at the same distance.
 Increased deep perception at a given scale.
 Increased distortion toward the edges of the negative material.
 Reducing illumination from the center toward the edges of the negative material.
 Angle of view exceeds 75 degrees.

3. Telephoto Lens – as telephoto lens or long focus lens has a longer focal length and provides a close up image of a
distant object. In contrast to the wide-angle lens, the telephoto lens covers a small field of view and a shallower depth of
field. Because of shallow depth of field, there will be lack of sharpness of the subject focus areas in the photograph to be
produced. Another characteristics of the telephoto lens is production of flat composition, far objects appear enlarged
while near objects do not appear proportionally large.

CHARACTERISTICS:
 Increase scale but reduced area coverage compared to any lens type.
 Decreased depth perception.
 Image quality usually deteriorates which is apparent when subject is in great motion.
 Angle of view less than 45 degrees.

Lenses beyond 58 mm are included in the group of telephoto lenses. For identification shots in police works, lenses of 85
to 135 mm focal length are frequently used. Long tele lenses are those beyond 200 mm.

4. Super wide Angle Lenses – In this category are fish eye lenses with a 180 degrees angle of view. Focal lengths run
from an amazing 6 mm to about 18mm. F stop ranges begin at F 1.8 but average f 3.5 and f 4.

5. Macro Lenses – The word macro is derived from the Greek word and means, “ to enlarge “. In photographic terms, a
macro lens is designed with extended focusing capabilities to shoot a few inches from a subject. A lens used for close up
photography particularly in taking pictures in minute objects. Using a macro lens, the subject being photographed will
appear bigger than its actual size. This group of lens is most helpful in fingerprint work, in recording evidences such as
pollen grains, hair, fiber and the like.

Two Main Types of MACRO LENS:

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  One is meant to be used on a held tripod mounted camera and ranges from 40 mm to about 90 mm with the
average about 25 mm.
 The other type is either a wide angle or a lens with a focal length with 100 mm or more and is designed with a
close up bellows attachment to the camera. The longer lenses give a larger image and are most suitable for static
subjects and painstaking photography.

6. Zoom Lenses – The macro zoom is relatively new in both long and short-range classes. By turning a ring on the lens
barrel, you are able to focus as close as three four inches and still use zoom capability. Such lens gives you close – ups as
well as variable focal lengths. and the macro zoom is taking this field. A final zoom category is the variable- focal length
lens that operates in the same manner as the zoom.

7. Special Purpose Lenses – Two special- purpose lenses in particular should be familiar to you. The first is adjustable
through movement of the front portion up and down for perspective control (PC). Architectural photographers benefit
using a PC lens that offers some control of perspective similar to the using the tilting front and back of a view camera.

The other lens, a guide-number (GN) lens, includes a diaphragm mechanism that changes aperture as the lens is
focused to synchronize exposure and distance with specific flash attachment on the camera. A GN lens can be handy, but
the use of automatic electronic flash unit would make the GN lens unnecessary.

Incidentally, a number of compact 35 mm range finder cameras with fixed (non interchangeable) lenses are
guide- number equipped. As a flash unit slips into the accessory shoe on top of the camera a small pin is activated that
synchronizes change of aperture with focusing. In this way distant subjects are photographed through wider f tops than
close ones, giving the effect of exposure automation.

8. Add – On Teleconverter Lenses – Add-on lenses. Principal among add- on lenses is the fishnet lens that is screwed
into the front of a normal 35 mm camera lens, offering a super wide effect for less cost than a separate fisheye lens.

FOCUSING THE LENS

It is important to have the lens at the right distance from the film otherwise the image of an object point will be
seen as a circle which is blurred in appearance. The permissible diameter of this circle or disc must be small enough
under certain viewing condition to make impossible to distinguish it from a point. The image will be seen sharp as long as
this circle appears to the eye as a point. The diameter of the circle that can be accepted varies with the application. The
acuity of the vision of the eye and the condition under which the print is viewed (contact or enlargement or projected).

For a pinhole camera no focusing is required because the aperture is too small that such produces a point image
of an object point. The image is almost equally good over a very wide range of positions of the film.

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 For a lens camera to produce a sharp image must be focused at the subject. When the camera lens is being
focused at the subject one can observed that the lens travels back and forth from the film. The lens must be focused at
the object point to produce an image point instead of a visible circle of light.
The question is how an object point pictured as an image point by focusing the lens? Why are not all objects at
different distances from the lens sharp in the picture? The light bending ability of any one lens is constant that is the light
is bend to the same degree.

GATHERING POWER OF LENS

The light gathering power of lens that is express F/ number system is equal to the ratio of the focal length of the
lens to the diameter of the aperture. It is otherwise called the relative aperture.

A lens does not perform the same at all apertures. If an f/2 lens is being used its widest aperture, it will have less
depth, poorer resolution and coverage at the corners that if this same lens were field stopped down to the point of best
resolution.

It is important to differentiate between sharpness at the corners of the field and illumination at these same
points. Some lenses will give a needle-sharp image across the entire slide, but lack of coverage will cause a darkening at
the corners. Conversely, there are those lenses that will give unsharp images at the corners although the illumination
supplied by the lens is absolutely uniform and no darkening will take place.

In most modern high-quality cameras performance at the center of the field is a seldom a problem at any
aperture; it’s the edges that make the difference. In the case of both illumination and sharpness, the point of best
performance usually occurs when a lens is stopped down from two to three stops. Actually, this optimum diaphragm
setting gives the greatest amount of sharpness, brilliance, and gradation over the entire field.

When a lens, even a fine lens is used at its widest aperture, the extreme edges of the lens are being used to form
part of the image. These edges are major source of aberrations. Stopping down prevents these aberrated rays from
reaching the film; it might seem logical, then, that the further the lens is stopped down, the better. This is not the case,
here’ what actually happens. As the lens is stopped down, further and further, the opening gets smaller and smaller.
When the opening gets so small two things happen. First of all the opening gets so small that the thickness of the
diaphragm leaves approach the diameter of the opening. When this happen, the edges of the diaphragm become a
refractive unit and a general loss of sharpness occurs. A second phenomenon of a completely stopped down lens is shift
of focus. Since the image that strikes the film is made up of light from all portions of the lens, and the lens is actually set
for the focus of the rays passing through an area about 1/3 from its center. In many lenses the point of focus between
these extreme central rays that provides most of the illumination (1/3 from the center) fall at different points, hence a
loss of sharpness due to apparent shift of focus.

VI. LENS DEFECTS

No lens is perfect in every respect. Usually a lens maker tries to find the best compromise among such qualities
as sharpness of definition, speed of light transmission, simplicity of construction and others. Special purpose lenses
however are computed for a single purpose only and in order to achieve the maximum of usefulness in one special field,
other qualities are sacrificed.
Except, the very finest lenses, traces of the following common lens defects will be found in all, such as chromatic
aberration, spherical aberration, curvilinear, distortion, curvature of field, astigmatism and others. No camera lens will
produce defects so exaggerated as the ones which will be demonstrated. However, even considerably less pronounced
fault manifestation maybe enough to produce fuzziness, which usually becomes more severe toward the edges of a
picture.
ABERRATION in optics, is the failure of light rays to focus properly after they pass through a lens or reflect from
a mirror. Proper focus occurs when the light rays cross one another at a single point. ABERRATION occurs because of
minute variations in lenses and mirrors, and because different parts of the light spectrum are reflected or refracted by
varying amounts.
ABERRATION also defined as an optical imperfection responsible for image distortion. It can be avoided by
combining several lenses and by elimination of marginal rays refracted through the outer edges of the lens.
Lenses or mirrors that are sections of spheres produce spherical aberrations. If a beam of parallel rays reflects
from a concave mirror, the rays that reflects from the center of the mirror cross one another at a single point. The ray
that reflect far from the center cross at points closer to the mirror surface. The imaginary line connecting these points of
focus is called a CAUSTIC.
A CAUSTIC appears as a bright line if it shines on a surface. For example, when sunlight shines through the
open top of a glass of milk and onto the curve interior acts as a mirror. Consequently, the light reflects onto the milk in a
caustic curve. Without aberration, a bright spot would appear on the milk.
Convex lenses also produce spherical aberration. The light rays that pass through the middle of the lens focus
farther from the lens than do the rays that pass through the lens of the edges. If the lens is in a camera, the image on
the is blurry. To sharpen the image, a camera has a small opening called a stop. The stop allows only the rays passing
through the center of the lens to reach the film. Thus, the rays focus at one spot on the film, and the picture is clear.

There are six ( 6 ) types of optical aberrations:

1. Spherical Aberration
2. Chromatic Aberrations
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 3. Astigmatism
4. Coma
5. Curvature of Field
6. Distortion

SPHERICAL ABERRATION:
Aberration Geometrical optics predicts that rays of light emanating from a point are imaged by spherical optical
elements as a small blur. The outer parts of a spherical surface have a focal length different from that of the central area,
and this defect causes a point to be imaged as a small circle. The difference in focal length for the various parts of the
spherical section is called spherical aberration
Spherical Aberration is found in all lenses bounded by spherical aberration / surfaces. The marginal portions of
the lens bring rays of light to shorter focus than the central region. The image of a point in space is therefore not a point,
but a blur circle.
Spherical aberration is the focusing at the different parts of spherical lens. This aberration occurs because light
hitting the outer parts of the lens is bent more sharply and comes to a focus sooner than that passing through the
middle. In spherical aberration, the image is blurred because different parts of a spherical lens or mirror have different
focal lengths.
When parallel marginal rays and axial rays passing through a simple lens focus at several planes along the optical
axis.

CHROMATIC ABERRATION:
All lenses (single) made of one material refract rays of short wavelength more strongly than those of longer
wavelength and so brings blue more to a shorter focus than red. The result is that the image of a point white light is not
a white point, but a blur circle bordered with colors.
Chromatic aberration is the failure of different colored light rays to focus after passing through a lens, focusing of
light of different colors at different points resulting in a blurred image. When white light, which consists of colors, passes
through a lens, the lens bends the rays. The rays then cross one another on the other side. The violet rays bend more
than the other colors and focus close to the lens. The red rays bend the least and focus farther from the lens. Rays on
the other colors focus at points between these two points. In chromatic aberration the image is surrounded by colored
fringes, because light at different colors is brought to different focal points by a lens.
The inability of a lens to bring the different wavelengths (colors) of white light to a focus on the same plane.
Because the index of refraction varies with wavelength, the focal length of a lens also varies and causes
longitudinal or axial chromatic aberration. Each wavelength forms an image of a slightly different size, giving rise to what
is known as lateral chromatic aberration. Combinations of converging and diverging lenses and of components made of
glasses with different dispersions, help to minimize chromatic aberration. Mirrors are free of this defect. In general,
achromatic lens combinations are corrected for chromatic aberration for two or three colours.

ASTIGMATISM:
Astigmatism is the defect in which the light coming from an off-axis object point is spread along the direction of
the optic axis. If the object is a vertical line, the cross section of the refracted beam at successively greater distances
from the lens is an ellipse that collapses first into a horizontal line, spreads out again, and later becomes a vertical line
Astigmatism is the failure of a lens to produce a point image of an object point. Such condition occurs when the
lens surfaces are not symmetrical with respect to the principal axis of the lens. An extreme example would be one surface
is spherical and the other is cylindrical, or when the lens surfaces are perfectly spherical but the beam of light from the
object point passes through the lens very obliquely.
In astigmatism, the image appears elliptical or cross shaped because of an irregularity in the curvature of the
lens. This is the inability of the lens to bring horizontal and vertical lines in the subject to the same plane of focus in the
image.
The inability of the lens to project a sharply focused image of both vertical and horizontal lines upon the same
plane, at one lens to image distance.
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COMA:

The result of differences in lateral magnification for rays coming from an object point not on the optic axis is an
effect called coma. If coma is present, light from a point is spread out into a family of circles that fit into a cone, and in a
plane perpendicular to the optic axis the image pattern is comet-shaped. Coma may be eliminated for a single object-
image point pair, but not for all such points, by a suitable choice of surfaces.
A pear – shaped image of small circle or point near the edges of the image plane.
Coma occurs when light falling obliquely on the lens and passing through different circular zones is brought to a
focus at different distances from the plane film. A spot of light appears to have a tail, rather like a comet. In come, the
images appear progressively elongated toward the edge of the field of view. The term Coma was coined 1733 by French
mathematician Alexis Clairaut (1713 – 1765).

CURVATURE OF FIELD:
A curved, concave, or saucer – shaped image of an object which has a flat surface produced by simple lens.
In curvature aberration the relation of the images of the different points are incorrect with respect to one
another. In curvature, the images of the different points of the plane image lie on a curved surface, with points at the
edge of the field lying nearer to the lens than those at the center. In curvature, the images distance is different for
different points of the same object due to their differing distance from the axis.
The fuzziness increases toward the edge of the film. Refocusing brings different circle into focus but others now
are blurred.

DISTORTION:

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 Distortion arises from a variation of magnification with axial distance and is not caused by a lack of sharpness in
the image.
When there exists a different magnification for rays at different angles distortion exists. Any straight light
extending across the field is considered curved and for different lenses the curvature maybe from or toward the center.
The distortion is called barrel distortion ( in the first case ). It is the common type of curvilinear defect.
The second distortion is the pincushion defect.
For correction two similar lenses, each of half necessary power are placed a short distance apart, with a
diaphragm between. Such a lens is called RECTILINEAR LENS.

VII. OTHER OPTICAL DEFECTS

These defects are usually corrected when the lens is designed; however, they can occur if the lens is misused or
through normal wear.

FLARE or OPTICAL FLARE

In a result of double reflection from inner lens surfaces. It exhibits itself as a misty haze, or a cloudy semicircular
patch of light, which may cover part or all of the image. This doubly reflection may form an image called a ghost image.

MECHANICAL FLARE

Are bright spots on the film caused by stray light from worn shiny parts of the lens such as the stop, shutter lens
mount, or from the camera itself

LIGHT LOSS

Most corrected lenses is coated with a substance which will reduce one type of flare ( optical ) and which will also
increase the optics ability to transmit light thus reducing light loss.

STRAY LIGHT

Can be reduced or eliminated by using the proper lens shade placed on the front of the lens as shield.

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