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When choosing the best F#, be aware of diffraction. What is Diffraction? Diffraction is a physical phenomenon that causes light to spread when passing through an aperture, which limits resolution as aperture size decreases (higher f-numbers). It results in a softening or blurring of detail...

The Scheimpflug principle is a fundamental concept used in various optical imaging systems, including lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) applications. Lidar is a remote sensing technology that measures distances and creates detailed three-dimensional maps by emitting laser pulses and measuring the...

The Point Spread Function (PSF) and Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) are two concepts used in imaging and optics to describe the performance of imaging systems. While they are related, they provide different perspectives on the characteristics of an imaging system. Point Spread Function (PSF...

Passive athermalization is the process of designing an optical system, such as a lens assembly, to minimize its sensitivity to temperature changes without the need for active temperature control. This is particularly important in applications (like Drones) where the optical performance needs to rema...

When selecting a lens for hyperspectral imaging, there are several factors to consider. Hyperspectral imaging involves capturing and analyzing data from a wide range of spectral bands, which requires a lens capable of providing high optical performance across the desired spectral range. Here are som...

Every photographer is likely, at some point, to encounter issues with depth of field control. The image they want may require sharp focus across its entire field, but stopping down the lens may be impractical for reasons of exposure, or undesirable for the change that diffraction exerts upon sharpne...

One of the most influential lens designers in history, Paul Rudolph was born in 1858, and raised in Thuringia, in central Germany. He attended universities at Munich, Leipzig, and Jena, graduating from that last in 1884 with a degree in mathematics.  Although his original intent had been to teach, R...

When he was just thirty years old, Carl Zeiss opened a small workshop in his native Jena, where he repaired a variety of scientific instruments and even made some to order. His talent for optics was undeniable, and before the year was out he produced the first loupe microscope, in 1847. The produ...

Before zoom lenses had been developed (the forerunners of which were being developed early in the 20th century) photographers had use of the triple convertible lens.  The first iterations of these were unsymmetrical rapid rectilinear designs:  when used singly, the front and rear groups would be of...

Macrophotography—the art of the extreme close-up—is a popular and important part of all phases and interest in the field. The marketplace is full of macro lenses, and while there are many excellent ones available, one good alternative to using a macro lens is mounting an enlarging lens on a focusing...

Optics comes with its own etymology, traceable name words that usually signify something of the development of a lens, a camera, even, sometimes, a company itself. In the 1890’s the eponymous C.P. Goerz Optical Company (founded in Berlin in the previous decade) developed a lens that was, in actualit...

No discussion of the history of optics in Rochester would be complete without noting the considerable contributions made by Rudolf Kingslake to the field.  Although he was born and educated in England, he came to America while still in his mid-20’s, invited here for the express purpose of helping to...

Here at Westech Optical, we’re passionate about engineering, innovation… and about history. We can’t get enough of that, and luckily for us, located as we are near Rochester, NY, we’re surrounded by artifacts of the history of the optics industry, both home-grown and foreign.The conference room at o...

Here in Rochester, the two German immigrants whose partnership started the Bausch and Lomb company were interested in the manufacture of monocles; over the years, of course, the range of products they developed changed as the world and its needs changed. Materials became scarce, alliances shifted, m...