Questions tagged “optics”

Ask the Unique Photo creator community — gear, technique, post-processing and more.

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137

How were early CinemaScope anamorphic lenses designed, and how did later anamorphic systems differ?

anamorphic lenses cinematography cinemascope optics

uhoh

10mo ago

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758

What is the thin-lens equation, and how is it useful in photography?

lenses optics photography-basics focus focal-length

Tom Axford

1y ago

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105

Could a wide-angle lens plus magnifier create a telephoto image with wide-angle depth of field?

depth-of-field lens-design optics telephoto teleconverter

Flux

1y ago

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239

What is the centre of perspective in a photograph, and why does it matter?

theory perspective composition lenses optics

Tom Axford

1y ago

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240

What does “18x” mean on a clip-on smartphone telephoto lens?

magnification lenses optics telephoto smartphone-photography

Orion's Belt

1y ago

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106

Why does a fisheye lens keep a rainbow circular instead of distorting it?

lens-distortion rainbow fisheye wide-angle optics

summerrain

1y ago

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681

How are object distance, image distance, and focal length related in a lens?

lenses image-formation optics focus focal-length

Bram

1y ago

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114

What’s the difference between working distance, minimum focus distance, and infinity focus on a machine-vision lens?

lenses machine-vision optics focus-distance infinity-focus

Aravind D. Chakravarti

2y ago

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1221

Does focal length change perspective, or only camera position?

macro perspective optics thin-lens focal-length

cosaty

2y ago

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102

Does sensor or format size affect depth of field, or only the image formed by the lens?

depth-of-field circle-of-confusion optics depth-of-focus sensor-size

Oldhouse

2y ago

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204

Why is viewing the Sun through a telescope dangerous if a telescope can't increase surface brightness?

solar-photography eye-safety telescopes optics physics

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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How do you choose circle of confusion for depth of field on a 16K line-scan camera?

depth-of-field industrial-imaging line-scan-camera circle-of-confusion optics

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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340

What is optical vignetting, and why does stopping down reduce it?

lens-design aperture bokeh vignetting optics

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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160

Why are telephoto lens designs usually used for long focal lengths, not short ones?

lens-design wide-angle optics telephoto focal-length

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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Can a 50mm lens image a 3mm object full-frame on a 5.2×3.9mm sensor, and are my distance calculations correct?

magnification macro lenses machine-vision optics

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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Is depth of focus symmetrical, and is my depth-of-field diagram correct?

depth-of-field optics depth-of-focus focus thin-lens

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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Why don’t 25mm at f/4 and 100mm at f/16 give the same depth of field at the same subject distance?

depth-of-field aperture circle-of-confusion optics focal-length

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

2y ago

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124

Does the inverse square law apply to light passing through a lens?

lenses optics inverse-square-law light-loss exposure

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

3y ago

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How does changing image distance affect resolution when adapting a scanner lens to a Raspberry Pi camera?

raspberry-pi-camera image-distance resolution lens-adaptation optics

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

3y ago

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247

How do I calculate the camera-to-subject distance so a flat object fills the frame?

distance field-of-view framing optics focal-length

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

3y ago

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