What you need to know to start a custom camera lens design

What you need to know to start a custom camera lens design

Often, when developing a new vision system, it can be advantageous to create prototypes using off-the-shelf (OTS) parts. In fact, developing a final product using OTS parts is even possible. However, if the end requirements of the product cannot be met with OTS parts or if other commercial needs require custom parts to maintain control of the supply chain, then a custom imaging lens development is needed. Here is a brief overview of the information and requirements that are needed to start the custom imaging lens development.

Optics:

  • Working distance? - The nominal distance from the lens to the object
  • Desired depth of field - The range of working distances in which the object should appear sharp
  • F-number if known
  • Object size or angular Field-of-view (FoV)
  • Focus adjustment requirements
  • Zoom requirements
  • Feature size or object space resolution requirements (how small of an object needs to be resolved)
  • Wavelength range, color, NIR, UV etc.?
  • Illumination source type (eg. LEDs, fiber optics, ring light, etc)??


Camera & Video System:?

  • Format or aspect ratio of the image sensor ( 16:9 or 4:3 for example)
  • Desired displayed image resolution (# of horizontal and vertical pixels)
  • Pixel size in microns?
  • Sensor coverglass material and thickness?
  • Sensor Chief ray angle requirement
  • Frame rate
  • Cable length requirement

Image Display & Viewing Requirements:

  • Will the image be resized or zoomed??
  • What is the display size and viewing distance?
  • What is the display pixel size??

Mechanical or packaging:?

  • Length, width, and depth requirements of the camera package. If the product is an endoscope, the outside diameter.
  • Back focal distance?Distance (usually in air) from the back of the lens to the image sensor
  • Focus adjustment range
  • Cleaning and sterilization requirements
  • Weight constraints?
  • Temperature considerations??


In conclusion, custom imaging lens development is a necessary step when the end requirements of the product cannot be met with off-the-shelf parts or if other commercial needs require custom parts to maintain control of the supply chain. Custom imaging lens development requirements include optics, camera and video system, viewing, and packaging requirements. By specifying these requirements, a custom imaging lens can be designed to meet the product's specific needs.


To learn more about lens and sensor matching, have a look at this article as well.

How to achieve optimal lens and image sensor matching


Tomasz Taubert

Talking Engineering at Trust Me, I'm An Engineer

1 年

The F-number thing is called aperture.

回复
Bradley Mitchell

Application Engineer (Optical & Mechanical Systems)

1 年

Haha love this design/picture. I just used it for inspiration to finish a microscope objective. The first element is the stop, it helps control vignetting within the system. Also it’s a nice place to put it since the front of the objective is where you would view through. The second element is the meniscus lens, helps control spherical W040 aberrations and petzval curvature. The next is the cemented doublet, typically achromatic with two different glasses. The index break along with the abbe number difference helps correct for the chromatic focal shift and makes the system achromatic. You actually might be able to get it to an Apochromat if you use some aspheric surfaces too. The plano-convex is there to adjust for spherical, and help with focal length. The last achromatic is for symmetry to further cancel out the aberrations. This looks like it is also telecentric in image space as well!

Marco Tinner

Gesch?ftsführer bei PanDao GmbH

1 年

Don't forget to check if your system can be fabricated. For that, you can use PanDao: https://pandao.ch/

It's very useful. Tks for sharing.

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