Zoom Lens System Research Articles

Ab initio synthesis of linearly compensated zoom lenses by evolutionary programming

An approach for ab initio synthesis of the thin lens structure of linearly compensated zoom lenses is reported. This method uses evolutionary programming that explores the available configuration space formed by powers of the individual components, the intercomponent separations, and the relative movement parameters of the moving components. Useful thin lens structures of optically and linearly compensated zoom lens systems are obtained by suitable formulation of the merit function of optimization. This paper reports our investigations on three-component zoom lens structures. Illustrative numerical results are presented.

A cylindrical zoom lens unit for adjustable optical sectioning in light sheet microscopy

Light sheet microscopy became a powerful tool in life sciences. Often, however, the sheet geometry is fixed, whereas it would be advantageous to adjust the sheet geometry to specimens of different dimensions. Therefore we developed an afocal cylindrical zoom lens system comprising only 5 lenses and a total system length of less than 160 mm. Two movable optical elements were directly coupled, so that the zoom factor could be adjusted from 1x to 6.3x by a single motor. Using two different illumination objectives we achieved a light sheet thickness ranging from 2.4 µm to 36 µm corresponding to lateral fields of 54 µm to 12.3 mm, respectively. Polytene chromosomes of salivary gland cell nuclei of C.tentans larvae were imaged in vivo to demonstrate the advantages in image contrast by imaging with different light sheet dimensions.

비대칭 오차요인이 있는 편심 광학계에서의 종수차 계산

줌렌즈에서 특정 렌즈군을 이동하여 손떨림 보정을 하는 광학적 방법에서는 광학계 설계단계에서 디센터(decenter)를 고려하여 설계한다. 이 때 여러 가지 광학설계 소프트웨어들은 디센터를 포함한 비대칭 오차요인이 있는 경우에 여러 가지 광학 성능들을 쉽게 계산할 수 있지만, 편심 광학계에 대한 정확한 분석이 부족하여 종수차 계산시에는 일부 계산오차가 생긴다. 특히 왜곡의 경우에는 비정상적으로 계산되는데, 이는 비대칭 오차요인이 있는 편심 광학계에서는 근축광선 추적이 제대로 되지 않기 때문이다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 손떨림으로 인한 디센터나 틸트(tilt)와 같은 비대칭 요인이 발생하는 줌렌즈에서 편심 광학계에 대한 근축광선 추적식을 새로이 유도하고, 이를 이용하여 비대칭 요인을 갖는 결상계의 종수차를 정확히 계산하는 방법을 제안한다. 이러한 편심 광학계에 대한 종수차 계산 방법은 줌렌즈의 손떨림 보정에 실제로 사용할 수 있다. When the optical image stabilization is implemented by moving one of the lens groups in a zoom system, decentration should be considered in the optical design process. Although it is partially possible to calibrate optical performances in an optical system with non-symmetrical elements by using a lot of commercial software, the results of calibrating longitudinal aberrations have some calibration errors because of the lack of precise consideration of decentered optical systems. In particular, the amount of distortion in paraxial ray tracing is different from the experimental value because paraxial ray tracing in the optical system is not useful. In this paper, in order to solve this problem being from various commercial lens design software, the set of equations of paraxial ray tracing in a zoom lens system with the non-symmetrical elements like decentration or tilt are theoretically induced. Then, the methods to calibrate the equations of longitudinal aberrations by using these equations in a non-symmetrical optical system are presented. The method of calibrating longitudinal aberrations can in practice be used to correct hand shaking effects in a zoom lens system.

Analysis of two-element zoom systems based on variable power lenses

Traditional optical systems with variable optical characteristics are composed of several optical elements that can be shifted with respect to each other mechanically. A motorized change of position of individual elements (or group of elements) then makes possible to achieve desired optical properties of such zoom lens systems. A disadvantage of such systems is the fact that individual elements of these optical systems have to move very precisely, which results in high requirements on mechanical construction of such optical systems. Our work is focused on a paraxial and third order aberration analysis of possible optical designs of two-element zoom lens systems based on variable power lenses with a variable focal length. First order chromatic aberrations of the variable power lenses are also described. Computer simulation examples are presented to show that such zoom lens systems without motorized movements of lenses appear to be promising for the next-generation of zoom lens design.

전역구조함수를 사용한 광각 2군 줌 렌즈의 설계

본 논문에서는 다음과 같은 관점의 광각 2군 줌 렌즈 설계를 소개한다. 먼저전역최적화의 개념을 기초설계단계에서 도입하고, 이를 통해 현대의 수많은 데이터들을 체계적으로 계통화하고 단순화할 수 있는 설계방안을 제안한다. 구체적인 방안으로 전역설 계를 위해 전역구조함수라는 새로운 개념의 함수를 도입하였고 단순화시켰으며, 나아가 약간의 대수적인 혹은 수치적인 계산을 통해 전역 해 영역을 구하였다. 전역 해 영역은 전역최적화에 대응되는 개념이고 상용화된 설계프로그램들 보다 더 체계적이고 통찰적인 설계방향을 제시한다. We introduce a new design technique by treating a two-group zoom lens system with a wide angle of view. First, the concept of the global optimization is introduced in the initial design stage, and from this, the global design technique is completed by analyzing and summarizing large quantities of modern design data. That is, we define the global structure function to achieve a new conceptual design technique for global optimization. And the function is put in a simple form by referring lots of patent data, manipulated with other algebraic equations, and solved finally such that we obtain the global solution region. The global solution region corresponds to the global optimization and suggests insightful systematized directions for the design of two-group zoom lens systems. These directions are attractive compared to global optimization.

Study of extended optimization for U-type 2× zoom optics with free-form surface

Abstract In this paper a U-type 2× zoom miniature lens design with two prisms will have less overall length than a general optical design; however, with the zigzag path of light, aberrations like: spherical aberration, coma aberration, distortion, and Image Plan Offset will result. In such a design, a free-form surface prism with aspherical coefficients may significantly improve the system's performance if the coefficients of the free-form surface prisms are well optimized. A combination of the Taguchi Method and the robust multiple criterion optimization (RMCO) approach is employed in this study to achieve success in minimizing axial aberrations such as spherical and coma aberrations. In the RMCO approach, a Pareto-optimal robust design solution is set with the aid of experimental set-ups that use ANOVA results to quantify the relative dominance and significance of the design factors. It is concluded that the Taguchi Method and RMCO approach can successfully reduce the spherical aberration (43.93%) and coma (29.89%) of the U-type 2× zoom lens system.

가우스 괄호법을 이용한 유한 물점을 갖는 줌 렌즈에 대한 일반적인 수치해석적 근축광선 줌 궤적 추적

가우스 괄호법을 이용하여 무한 물점을 포함한 모든 유한 물점을 대상으로 하는 모든 복잡한 줌 렌즈에서 사용가능한 일반적인 근축광선 줌 궤적 추적식을 유도하였다. 이를 Visual Basic으로 프로그램화하여 수치해석적으로 줌 궤적을 구하였다. 이 결과 이 식의 해는 물체의 거리에 관계없이 모든 종류의 줌 렌즈에서 줌 궤적에 대한 초기설계에 유연하면서 통합적으로 적용할 수 있다. 이 식의 유용성을 증명하기 위하여 <TEX>$M_{4a}$</TEX>와 <TEX>$M_{4h}$</TEX> 형태의 4군 줌 렌즈들과 <TEX>$M_{5n}$</TEX> 형태의 5군 줌 렌즈의 줌 궤적을 유한 물점에 대해서 빠르게 산출할 수 있음을 보였다. We theoretically derive the set of general paraxial zoom locus equations for all zoom lens systems with finite object distance, including the infinite object distance case, by using the Gaussian bracket method and matrix representation of paraxial ray tracing. We make the zoom locus program by means of a numerical calculation method according to these equations in Visual Basic Language. Consequently, the solutions of this method can be consistently and flexibly used in all types of zoom lens in the step of initial design about zoom loci. Finally, in order to verify the justification and usefulness of this method, we show that two examples, such as <TEX>$M_{4a}$</TEX> and <TEX>$M_{4h}$</TEX> types of 4 groups, and one example, <TEX>$M_{5n}$</TEX> type of 5 groups, which are very complicated zoom lens systems, can be rapidly and diversely traced through various interpolations by using this program.

Zoom Lens Design for a Slim Mobile Camera Using Liquid Lens

In this study, we have designed a two-group inner-focus zoom lens system using a prism and a liquid lens and we evaluated that zoom system. By xing the rst group, the inner-focus zoom system has the same total track at all zoom positions and the advantage of mechanical size, which is useful for a slim mobile camera. To acquire a slim and compact zoom system, we directly inserted a right-angle prism of 5.5 mm in thickness in front of the rst lens group. Specially, the second group of the zoom system is placed into a liquid lens whose power is varied to maintain the image plane at di erent magni cations. This variable power can be acquired by changing the curvature between the oil and the water in a passive device. In conclusion, the focal length range of this zoom lens is 4.3 mm to 12.90 mm and the aperture is F/3 at a wide position and F/5 at a tele position. This design procedure resulted in a slim zoom lens system useful for a mobile camera.

Optical design and multiobjective optimization of miniature zoom optics with liquid lens element

We propose an optical design for miniature 2.5x zoom fold optics with liquid elements. First, we reduce the volumetric size of the system. Second, this newly developed design significantly reduces the number of moving groups for this 2.5x miniature zoom optics (with only two moving groups compared with the four or five groups of the traditional zoom lens system), thanks to the assistance of liquid lens elements in particular. With regard to the extended optimization of this zoom optics, relative illuminance (RI) and the modulation transfer function (MTF) are considered because the more rays passing through the edge of the image, the lower will be the MTF, at high spatial frequencies in particular. Extended optimization employs the integration of the Taguchi method and the robust multiple criterion optimization (RMCO) approach. In this approach, a Pareto optimal robust design solution is set with the aid of a certain design of the experimental set, which uses analysis of variance results to quantify the relative dominance and significance of the design factors. It is concluded that the Taguchi method and RMCO approach is successful in optimizing the RI and MTF values of the fold 2.5x zoom lens system and yields better and more balanced performance, which is very difficult for the traditional least damping square method to achieve.

ディスプレイ―ＩＤＷ’０８を中心に―液晶レンズを用いたズームシステムの構成

A zoom lens system with no moving elements is reported. The system is composed of three lenses: one glass lens and two liquid crystal (LC) ones almost identical in structure. The focal length of the LC lenses is tunable from negative to positive with two independent applied voltages. The two LC lenses are placed on two sides of the glass lens, and the positions of all lenses are fixed. The image size is changed and the image position on the CCD image sensor plane is maintained by tuning the focal length of each LC lens. The lens power of the LC lenses ranges from −14.7 to 14.0 m−1. Clear images are obtained at various values of the applied voltages and the zoom ratio is approximately 1:2.

Zoom lens system without moving elements realised using liquid crystal lenses

A zoom lens system realised using two liquid crystal (LC) lenses is reported. No moving parts are contained in the system; the zoom function is achieved by adjusting the applied voltages on the LC lenses. A zoom ratio of approximately 1:1.5 is obtained.

복합렌즈계를 이용한 폰 카메라용 초소형 줌렌즈 설계

For an inner-focusing 3-groups zoom lens system, this study suggests a new initial design method which applies the process that changes thin lenses into thick ones effectively and quickly, using the hybrid lens system(thin lens+thick lens). In other words, the hybrid lens system is the semi-automatic design process that makes the thin lens of one group change into a thick one while the other groups are composed of thin lenses. Keeping the total power of the system fixed, the power of each group and the distance between principal planes can be fixed. Of course, the other groups composed of thin lenses could be changed into thick lenses sequentially by this process. This design conception results in the 1/4 5 M inner-focusing 3-groups 2x zoom lens system satisfying the specifications and performances of zoom lens for phone cameras. Also aspherization on lens elements of glass and plastic material enhanced the resolution and reduced the lens size. As a result, we have an ultra-compact inner-focusing 3-groups 2x zoom lens system for a phone camera, with a slim size with TTL of 9.8 mm.

Electrowetting-actuated zoom lens with spherical-interface liquid lenses

The interface shape of two immiscible liquids in a conical chamber is discussed. The analytical solution of the differential equation describing the interface shape shows that the interface shape is completely spherical when the density difference of two liquids is zero. On the basis of the spherical-interface shape and an energy-minimization method, explicit calculations and detailed analyses of an extended Young-type equation for the conical double-liquid lens are given. Finally, a novel design of a zoom lens system without motorized movements is proposed. The lens system consists of a fixed lens and two conical double-liquid variable-focus lenses. The structure and principle of the lens system are introduced in this paper. Taking finite objects as example, detailed calculations and simulation examples are presented to predict how two liquid lenses are related to meet the basic requirements of zoom lenses.

가우스 괄호법을 이용한 무한 물점을 갖는 복잡한 줌 렌즈의 수치해석적인 근축광선 줌 궤적 추적법

가우스 괄호법을 이용하여 카메라 렌즈와 같이 무한 물점을 대상으로 하는 모든 복잡한 줌 렌즈에서 사용가능한 근축광선 줌 궤적 추적식을 이론적으로 유도하였다. 그리고 이를 Visual Basic으로 프로그램화하여 수치해석적으로 줌 궤적을 구하였다. 이 방법은 근축광선 추적식을 가우스 괄호법에 적용시켰기 때문에 다양한 줌 형태에 따른 구속조건의 공식을 매우 간편하고 알기 쉽게 단순화시켜준다. 이 결과 이 식의 해는 모든 종류의 줌 렌즈에서 줌 궤적에 대한 초기설계에 유연하면서 통합적으로 적용할 수 있다. 이 식의 유용성을 증명하기 위하여 4군과 5군의 매우 복잡한 줌 렌즈계의 줌 궤적을 다양한 보간법으로 빠르게 산출해 낼 수 있음을 보였다. We theoretically derive the set of utilizable paraxial zoom locus equations for all complicated zoom lens systems with infinite object distance, such as a camera zoom lens, by using the Gaussian bracket method and the matrix representation of paraxial ray tracing. And we make the zoom locus program according to these equations in Visual Basic. Since we have applied the paraxial ray tracing equations into Gaussian bracket representation, the resultant program systematically simplifies various constraints of the zoom loci of various N group types. Consequently, the solutions of this method can be consistently used in all types of zoom lens in the step of initial design about zoom loci. Finally, in order to verify the usefulness of this method, we show that one example among 4 groups and that among 5 groups, which are very complex zoom lens systems, can be rapidly and with versatility traced through various interpolations by using this program.

Viscous coalescence of expanding low-viscosity drops; the dueling drops experiment

A new experimental device was designed and developed for the systematic study of the interaction of two, very small low viscosity expanding drops that were pushed out of the ends of two aligned opposing capillaries into a polymeric liquid. The idea of this experiment is to mimic the interactions of two expanding bubbles during the formation of polymeric foams; for convenience, we call this device the dueling drops experiment. In the current setup, we are able to grow drops (50–200 μm maximum diameter) at a controlled flow rate (down to 0.1 μl/day). Optical observation of the pair of growing drops was achieved by the use of an optical zoom lens system for a side view, and a “long-range” microscope for a top view, thus ensuring complete alignment of the capillaries and partial observation of the thin-film. Measurements are reported for the drainage time between the apparent initial contact of the drops and film rupture. A simple scaling theory was developed based on the drainage of two approaching flat disk-like interfaces, the radius of which expands throughout the interaction as the volume of the drop increases.

Calibration of defocus blur for zoom lenses

Depth from defocus(DFD) measures defocus blur, which determines the point spread function (PSF) of an image formation system. Most DFD research has been investigated with a fixed focal length, where two or more defocus images are obtained with different image distances or lens apertures. To apply DFD techniques using a zoom lens, extensive calibration of the image formation system is needed. This work presents a simple calibration technique of defocus blur for a zoom lens system. We derive the relationship of defocus blur with respect to different focal lengths of the lens. The proposed technique is applied to a spatial domain DFD technique for error analysis.

머신 비젼을 이용한 2축 스테이지의 마이크로 원형 궤적 실시간 측정 및 분석

To verify the 2D or 3D positioning accuracy of a multi-axes stage is not easy, particularly, in the case the moving path of the stage is not linear. This paper is a study on a measuring method for the curved path accurately. A machine vision technique is used to trace the moving path of two-axes stage. To improve the accuracy of machine vision, a zoom lens is used for the 2D micro moving path. The accuracy of this method depends of the CCD resolution and array align accuracy with the zoom lens system. Also, a further study for software algorithm is required to increase the tracing speed. This technique will be useful to trace a small object in the 2D micro path in real-time accurately.

Design of a zoom lens without motorized optical elements

A novel design of a zoom lens system without motorized movements is proposed. The lens system consists of a fixed lens and two double-liquid variable-focus lenses. The liquid lenses, made out of two immiscible liquids, are based on the principle of electrowetting: an effect controlling the wetting properties of a liquid on a solid by modifying the applied voltage at the solid-liquid interface. The structure and principle of the lens system are introduced in this paper. Detailed calculations and simulation examples are presented to show that this zoom lens system appears viable as the next-generation zoom lens.

양안 줌렌즈를 이용한 물체의 거리추정

단일 줌 카메라를 사용한 거리추정 방법은 시야 범위가 광 축으로 제한되기 때문에 거리 추정에는 한계가 있다. 본 논문에서는 넓은 범위에서 거리추정을 위한 수평이동 방식의 줌 렌즈를 이용한 입체영상에서의 물체의 거리 추정 방법을 제안한다. 거리 추정을 위하여 줌렌즈를 이용한 수평이동방식 카메라를 구현하였다. 제안한 방법으로 또한 편광 입체영상 모니터를 사용하여 카메라의 좌, 우 영상 정보를 획득하였다. 인간이 볼 수 있는 시야 범위를 추정하기 위해 좌, 우로 <TEX>$0mm{\sim}500mm$</TEX> 범위에서 실 거리와 추정 거리를 구하였고 이의 오차는 10mm 미만이었다. 입체 카메라의 주시각 제어에 줌 기능을 사용하여 제어의 오차를 줄였기 때문에 주시각에 의한 거리 추정에서 보다 더욱 정확한 거리를 추정 할 수 있었다. 또한 교차방식과 수평이동방식의 거리 추정의 오차를 비교하여 수평이동 방식이 교차방식보다 더욱 정확한 거리 정보를 추정을 확인하였다. A method of estimating the distance using single zoom camera limits a distance range(only optical axis) in field of view. So, in this paper, we propose a method of estimating the distance information in Stereoscopic display using the stereo zoom lens module for estimating the distance in the wide range. The binocular stereo zoom lens system is composed using a horizontal moving camera module. The left and right images are acquired in polarized stereo monitor for getting the conversion and estimating a distance. The error distance is under 10mm which has difference between optically a traced distance and an estimated distance in left and right range <TEX>$(0mm{\sim}500mm)$</TEX> at center. This presents the system using a function of the zoom and conversion has more precise distance information than that of conversion control. Also, a method of estimating a distance from horizontal moving camera is more precise value than that from toe-in camera by comparing the error distance of the two camera methods.

Depth from defocus by zooming using thin lens‐based zoom model

AbstractIn past depth from zoom methods, the pinhole camera model has been used, and the depth has been measured by moving the pinhole position by zooming. This paper describes a method of estimating the depth from the change of blur depending on the zoom shift, in the same way as in the depth from focus/iris methods, where the depth is estimated from the change of blur. As the first step, a thin lens‐based zoom model is discussed, which describes in a unified way the relations among the zoom, focus, and iris of the zoom lens systems. In the proposed camera model, the effective focal length and the effective lens diameter are functions of the zoom, focus, and iris. The blur model is derived from these relations. Then, a method is described in which the depth is measured from the width of the edge blur. The experiment using a real image shows that it is possible to measure the depth stably from multizoom blur images. Lastly, we present an example in which the depth information obtained by the proposed method is applied to image synthesis. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 89(9): 53–62, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20300