Fundamental Optics

Imaging Properties of a Lens System

The starting point of virtually any optical engineering problem is to determine the performance of the system for paraxial rays (i.e., rays which cross the optical axis at such a small angle that the approximation sin q = q is valid). Paraxial calculations can determine the magnification, effective focal length, clear aperture, and object and image positions for a lens system.

Sign Conventions  Basic Paraxial Formulae  Numerical Aperture and Magnification  Lens Combination Formulae  Paraxial Formulae for Lenses in Air  Paraxial Formulae for Lenses in Arbitrary Media  Principal-Point Locations

In this section, using a consistent sign convention, we present the basic information needed to determine the paraxial performance of single and multielement thin and thick lens systems.

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Optics Guide © 2004 Melles Griot Inc.