The Schoenberg Lens Background Lens design has much in common with composing music. A successful optical system is more than a collection of individual lens elements – it is a carefully orchestrated arrangement in which each component plays a distinct role while contributing to the performance of the whole. A small change to one element Read More …
The Schoenberg Lens Frequently Asked (and Unasked) Questions Q. What is the chromatic scale that Schoenberg refers to? A. The chromatic scale comprises twelve notes across a full octave, where an octave is a doubling of the frequency. The frequency ratio between notes is constant. Going from C to the C of the next higher Read More …
The Yin Yang Lens Background Yin and yang is an ancient Chinese philosophical concept that describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary, Read More …
The Yin Yang Lens Frequently Asked (and Unasked) Questions Q. Why did you select the name Yin-Yang Lens? A. The concept of yin and yang as positive and negative aspects of the same object is similar to the goodness and badness of color correction at different wavelengths. Plus, we needed a catchy name, and the Read More …
The Down Under Lens Background All lens designers “up here” (north of the equator) know that light travels from left to right. However, what is not well known is that “down under” (south of the equator), light travels from right to left. This causes problems if a design prescription done “up here” is sent “down Read More …
The Down Under Lens Frequently Asked (and Unasked) Questions Q. Does light really go from right to left south of the equator? A. No, but the concept makes for an interesting Lens Design Problem. Q. Do lens designers south of the equator really use a coordinate system going from right to left? A. No, but Read More …
The 2017 IODC Shafer Cup Competition The Centennial Lens 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the Optical Society of America – its Centennial year. To celebrate this, the 2017 IODC Lens Design Problem (announced in 2016) has a centennial theme. The problem is to design a lens which includes a “100 lens” somewhere within the Read More …
The Solid Glass Lens NOTE: This information was maintained by Optical Data Solutions Summary (excepted from Optical Data Solutions) The 1998 International Optical Design Conference (IODC) was held July 8-12, 1998 in Kona, Hawaii. It was co-sponsored by OSA and SPIE. The IODC traditionally includes one or more lens design problems for members of the optical design community to consider. Read More …
Frequently Asked (and Unasked) Questions Q. Why are there no specifications for focal length, entrance pupil diameter, field of view, or other traditional optical parameters typically needed to define a lens? A. Because those parameters are not relevant to the problem goal of maximizing the used diameters of the ball lenses. Not specifying them allows Read More …