What does a negative exit pupil value mean on a lens datasheet?
Asked 7/17/2018
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On the Kowa LM25HC lens datasheet, the exit pupil is listed as -57.9 mm. I understand what an exit pupil is in general, but I want to know what this specific number means on the datasheet. Is it the position of the exit pupil, and if so, measured from what reference point? Why is the value negative?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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In this case, you might be confusing the exit pupil size that is typically stated for binoculars, for the exit pupil coordinates given for this single lens.
In this case the '-57.9 mm' is the distance from the image to the exit pupil, the negative symbol means image object is being displayed to the left of the exit pupil. (The exit pupil is negative when the exit pupil is to the right of the apparent image).
For more, check out this detailed explanation: http://www.telescope-optics.net/terms_and_conventions.htm
Originally by user4880. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4880
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
On a lens datasheet like this, the listed exit pupil value is typically the exit pupil position, not its diameter.
For compound lenses, positions are referenced to the lens’s optical principal/nodal points rather than a physical glass surface. In practice, image-side distances are measured relative to the rear principal point (or equivalent image-side reference used by the maker).
So -57.9 mm means the exit pupil is located 57.9 mm from the image-side reference point, with the negative sign indicating direction according to the sign convention used on the datasheet. In the explanation given by the community, the negative sign means the exit pupil lies on the opposite side of the reference/image direction (described there as to the right of the apparent image).
In short: it is a location coordinate, not pupil size at a certain f-number or focus setting.
That’s also why it doesn’t directly match your pupil magnification calculation: pupil magnification relates the sizes/positions of entrance and exit pupils, while the datasheet’s -57.9 mm is simply giving the exit pupil’s axial position under the manufacturer’s optical sign convention.
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