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Welcome to the Spring 2015 edition of 'Lens Innovation' - a periodic eNewsletter from Resolve Optics Ltd. to keep you informed about the latest technological developments, applications advances and breaking news in the optical design and manufacture industry. If a particular feature interests you do not hesitate to contact us or follow the link for further information. We welcome your feedback. Mark Pontin (Managing Director) Click here to subscribe to receive future issues of 'Lens Innovation' |
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ViewPoint In this feature Resolve Optics offers its view on areas of topicality within the optics industry, we welcome your feedback. OEM optical design & manufacturing... a waste of money or a time-saving route to an optimised solution? By Mark Pontin, Managing Director 
Over the years I have seen many instances where a customer has been looking for a solution to an optical problem for months if not years. They often have purchased numerous off the shelf lenses and allocated many, many hours of their valuable time in the hope that one of them will be suitable for the target application. Of course one of these lenses may well be useable but inevitably most aren’t. At the end of the day how much time and money is spent trying to find a “least cost” rather than an optimised solution ? At Resolve Optics – our ethos is to first gain a complete understanding of your application and optical requirements such that we can recommend the effective solution. If that solution is available off the shelf then we will point you in the direction of that lens at no cost. If however, the application does call for a custom design we will again make sure that we only quote you for the lens that your application requires so that you are not paying for performance or frills that are not required. Drawing upon our experienced team of optical designers we are able to quickly gain an understanding of the basic physics of the technology associated with each customer's product enabling us to propose novel solutions. Our aim is to provide a fast and flexible optical and mechanical design assessment on all projects. A project engineer is assigned to closely liaise with customers at all points of a development to ensure complete satisfaction with the final product. Your custom design lens will also always be available to you as we will supply the lens for as long as you need them. So for the cost of a phone call or email you can save time and money by discussing your optical requirements with Resolve Optics. |
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Lens or camera: where best to spend your money? By Jeff Guy, Technical Director  If you're on a budget, should you spend more money on the lens or on the camera? Should you get a better camera body today and wait to upgrade to a better lens later, or should you get the lens you want today and wait for a better body? The easy answer is always put your money into your lenses. This is because lenses have far more to do with picture quality and ease of use, and because lenses retain their monetary and photographic value indefinitely while camera bodies become worth little in a few years. The choice of cameras grows year on year with a mind boggling array of sensor sizes. These cameras can cost anything from a few hundred to tens of thousands of pounds. By comparison available off-the-shelf lenses do not change very often as the large lens manufacturers consider new lenses expensive to design and therefore they only design for the traditional large volume sensor formats such as 1/3" 2/3" and 1". Today even 1” diameter off-the-shelf lenses are becoming rare. If you chose a camera that has an unusual sensor format you will often that you will struggle to find a suitable lens. Even if you chose what is a traditional format of 1" you should consider that any lenses you find could be discontinued by the manufacturer at any time. Both these scenarios can be frustrating, time consuming and costly. A new leading-edge Megapixel camera may promise you fantastic resolution and image quality but without a lens it is just a metal box with some electronics. Unless you have a lens that will provide the resolution for the sensor format the results will be poor. Yes you can compromise and put lower specification off-the-shelf lens on the camera but then you will not be able to realise the full potential of the camera. If a lower image quality was acceptable then why would you purchased a 15 Megapixel camera when you probably could have made do with a 4 megapixel camera at a fraction of the cost ? The truth is that when you are investing in a vision system you should consider what lens you would require to match the camera you have selected before you purchase. Resolve Optics Ltd are always available to discuss your optical needs at no obligation. |
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Information Guidelines The importance of keeping lens clean to ensure best performance
In order for your lens to provide its best performance it must be kept clean. In most working environments the biggest enemy to maintaining clean lenses is the dreaded fingerprint. A fingerprint on the front or rear element of a lens can appear as unwanted marks in the image. If a fingerprint is allowed to stay on the lens for even a few hours it can damage the Anti-reflective coating on the lens leaving permanent marks which could seriously reduce performance. • NEVER breathe on the lens or lick it. Your breath and saliva are more acidic than a fingerprint. If you do accidentally touch the glass and leave a finger print you should immediately clean the glass using a lens cleaning solution and a piece of lint free cloth. For further information on good practices for maintaining clean lenses please contact jeffguy@resolveoptics.com. |
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Technology Forum Radiation resistant lenses for applications outside the nuclear industry Drawing upon over 20-years experience of developing and supplying non-browning (radiation resistant) lenses for use in environments subject to radiation - Resolve Optics is widely recognised as the global leader in this specialist market area. While we have extensive experience of supplying radiation resistant fixed focus or zoom lenses for applications in Nuclear reprocessing and power generation - today our expertise is helping organisations operating in a growing number of different and interesting applications. In medical research - Resolve Optics radiation resistant lenses form targeting elements in synchrotron radiation therapy machines and also in commercial x-ray instrumentation. In outer space all instrumentation, sensors and cameras are subject to constant bombardment by radiation that will quickly degrade and make inoperative standard optical components. Space borne applications present a challenging environment, subject to radiation, where camera lens servicing or replacement is highly undesirable. Recently NASA selected Resolve Optics to supply them with a selection of high performance, radiation tolerant zoom lenses because of our expertise in this area and willingness to work with them on adapting our standard 3x and 6x non- browning zoom lens designs to be 'space ready'. Whether it is for 'off-the-shelf' or specialist radiation resistant optics - all Resolve Optics lenses are manufactured to the highest standards of quality and performance and are designed to withstand a total radiation dose of 100,000,000 rads. Reflecting the difficulty in finding off-the-shelf radiation resistant lenses that meet the need for specific focal lengths, larger image formats, high resolution, ruggedness, wide zoom range or greater compactness more instrument, camera and sensor manufacturers are considering a lens custom designed to fit their required application. Resolve Optics offers an OEM design and manufacture service for organisations requiring radiation resistant fixed focus or zoom lenses optimised to their application. for further information please visit www.resolveoptics.com/oem-design-and-manufacture.html. |
Product Focus Custom SWIR lenses for inspection, sorting & quality control With the ability to provide non-destructive, rapid analysis with little to no sample preparation, Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) spectroscopy is used for material inspection, sorting and quality control in a diverse range of industrial applications. When combined with multivariate calibration techniques, a single SWIR spectrum can provide quantitative compositional information on multiple sample components. Traditionally most lenses available for the Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) bandwidth are actually lenses designed for the visible but have AR coating for 0.9 to 1.7 um. This was acceptable in the past as the resolution of SWIR sensors was so poor that the short comings of these lens (poor resolution and poor colour correction) were not noticeable. Custom SWIR lenses from Resolve Optics provide unmatched high performance in the 0.9-to-1.7-µm waveband. Designed with customer specified focal lengths, these compact and lightweight, fixed focus SWIR lenses have proven utility for OEM inspection, sorting and quality control applications. For further information please contact Resolve Optics on +44-1494-777100 or sales@resolveoptics.com |
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Case Studies In this feature we share with you how Resolve Optics specialist lenses and lens systems have helped organisations solve problems and gain competitive edge. • Wide angle zoom lens adapter delivers true benefits of teleconferencing
The 287 Series Wide Angle Zoom lens Adapter provides a true 0.5x field of view while maintaining minimal distortion and high resolution throughout the zoom range of your camera. The compromise free performance of the product was achieved by designing the adapter to work with the moving pupils of zoom lenses. Its unique design combined with the use of specialised high index glasses carefully balances the provision of a low distortion wide angle view with the higher level of correction needed at the narrow angles of view. The result is a high quality lens that has an unprecedented full 'zoom through' capability resulting in high contrast images regardless of zoom position whilst still maintaining both resolution and focus to the very edges of the image. For further information on zoom lens adapters please visit www.resolveoptics.com/lens-adapters.html or contact Resolve Optics on telephone +44-1494-777100 or sales@resolveoptics.com. |
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• What happens when a manufacturer decides to discontinue a lens?
As a consequence - Resolve Optics Ltd was approached by a major vision systems integrator for the nuclear industry faced with the problem of securing a new source for these key components. After discussions they requested that Resolve Optics design and manufacture a direct replacement for the Fujinon 12-72mm NB Zoom lens. After the replacement lens had repeated shown excellent performance and Resolve Optics demonstrated consistent reliable supply - the nuclear systems integrator requested that Resolve Optics also design and supply a replacement for the Fujinon 24-144mm NB Zoom. If you are facing the challenge of securing reliable supply of a critical lens or lens system then please contact Resolve Optics on telephone +44-1494-777100 or sales@resolveoptics.com. |
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Global Optics News We have trawled the internet to bring to you some topical breaking news items relating to the photonics / imaging industry that we hope you will find of interest. Happy reading ! |
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European photonics market shows growth in 2014 Total photonics industry production across Europe in 2014 reached a value of €60 billion. According to an analysis of preliminary 2014 data by Optech Consulting, that figure is up 3% from the €58 billion achieved in 2013. For further information please visit http://optics.org/news/6/1/40. |
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Researchers snap-shot fastest observations of superconductivity yet An international team of researchers has used infinitely short light pulses to observe ultrafast changes in the electron-level properties of superconductors, setting a new standard for temporal resolution in the field. For further information please visit www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150310160213.htm. |
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HOT OFF THE PRESS |
Video introduction to OEM design & manufacturing services An online streaming video from Resolve Optics explains the benefits of custom versus off-the-shelf optics and brings the company's internationally renowned specialist OEM lens design and manufacture service 'to life' in a powerful live visual format. Accessible from www.resolveoptics.com/oem-design-and-manufacture.html the video provides an informative introduction to designing and producing a specialist lens or optical system and the expertise and experience that Resolve Optics Ltd. brings to the process. |
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Photonex is the UK's largest showcase event dedicated to photonics and light technologies. Based at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry - the 2015 event, taking place on October 14th and 15th, provides you the opportunity to meet with Resolve Optics staff in person. If you’d like us to send you a VIP entry ticket please contact us now at sales@resolveoptics.com. |
Resolve Optics Ltd, Asheridge Road, Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 2PT, UK. T: +44 (0) 1494 777100 - F: +44 (0) 1494 775201 - E: sales@resolveoptics.com |
