On this episode of Photo Geek Weekly, fellow macro photographer Stewart Wood joins the conversation for a geeky discussion about lenses and theoretically perfect optics, a new way to view light and what happens when someone ELSE uploads your images to a stock photo website to profit off your work. All this and more – thanks for listening!
Story 1: Goodbye Aberration: Physicist Solves 2,000-Year-Old Optical Problem (via PetaPixel)
Story 2: Irix teases its first cine lens, a 150mm T3.0 1:1 Macro lens for EF, Sony E, MFT and PL mounts (via DPReview)
Story 3: Scientists create an “eye on reality” camera that sees invisible light (via Big Think)
Story 4: Thieves May Be Selling Your Photos on Shutterstock (via PetaPixel)
Picks of the Week:
Don: Platypod Ultra – tabletop tripod that also makes for a great macro light stand!
Stewart: Apexel 12x – 24x macro lens for smartphones
Bonus: Pre-order Don’s new book, Macro Photography: The Universe at Our Feet now that the Kickstarter has ended! Thanks to everyone who has so far supported the project.
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4 Comments
loves the Pod as always =) thou i do have problems with the facebook group – the macro world link i only gets back to the podcast =)
And on its own note Congrats Don to the extreamly good work with the kickstarter campain
Thanks Anders, and link fixed! 🙂
Don – After thinking about this for a while…
The formula in the PetaPixel article looks intimidating but there appears to be lot’s of repeating terms. In addition it has lots of repeating elements. Without seeing the the whole article I wouldn’t feel all that intimidated. It is mostly low level arithmetic. Admittedly lots of it. If I saw triple integrals or partial differential equations I’d get nervous – more likely my stage in life panicked if I had to actually solve it. Please note the solution is for a singlet. I also suspect that the figure is exaggerated for illustrative purposes.
With respect to manufacturing the youtube video link below if from 2005 but it does illustrate how lenses are made. I’m sure that the lens manufacturers could find a way to adapt to this type of shape if needed.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovxtgj4SsiI
Although I suspect Canon has automated more of the process for the fabrication of the big white lenses it’s not surprising that they cost as much as they do.
All the best – Rich Ball
Hah, thanks so much Rich! I suppose it would look simpler from a programmer’s perspective if written with variables – easier to spot the same variable used in multiple locations quickly.
Yes, I understood the design to be for a singlet at least. Imagine the complexities of what used to be a simple triplet design with this methodology applied, or… would that even be necessary?
There are a lot of novel ways to improve lens manufacturing techniques as we push towards higher resolution sensors and a shift towards mobile. Large manufacturers have a hard time adapting to radical changes though, due to their immense investment in more traditional manufacturing facilities. As soon as one major player decides to step outside the box however, we’ll see many companies follow. Wouldn’t that be fun. 🙂