Cameras
15462: Computer Graphics
A Brief History of Images 1558
Camera Obscura, Gemma Frisius, 1558
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
Lens Based Camera Obscura, 1568
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833) The first negative (not original)
[Not fixed…quickly vanished]
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
The first permanent photograph (8 hour exposure), Niepce
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
Still Life, Louis Jaques Mande Daguerre, 1837
A Brief History of Images
Daguerreotype Panorama (wiki)
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
William Henry Fox Talbot , negative to positive photographic process
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
tartan ribbon, James Clerk Maxwell, additive color photograph
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
1868
Louis Ducos du Hauron, subtractive color photograph
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
1868
1878
The Horse in Motion, Muybridge, fast motion using 24 cameras.
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
1868
1878
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
1868
1878
1925
The Leica, the 35mm format in still photography.
The photographic film is cut into strips 35 millimeters wide.
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
1868
1878
Edwin H. Land Poloroid instant image camera 1925
1948
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
Silicon Image Detector, 1973 1861
1868
1878
1925
1948
1973
A Brief History of Images 1558
1568
1816
1826
1837
1841
1861
1868
1878
Digital Cameras 1925
1948
1973
1995
Canon.com
Pinhole and the Perspective Projection
Is an image being formed
(x,y) on the screen?
screen
YES! But, not a “clear” one.
scene
image plane
r ( x, y , z )
y
optical effective focal length, f’ z
axis
pinhole
x
r ' ( x' , y ' , f ' )
r' r x' x y' y
f' z f' z f' z
Pinhole Photography
©Charlotte Murray Untitled, 4" x 5" pinhole photograph, 1992
Image Size inversely proportional to Distance
Reading: http://www.pinholeresource.com/
Magnification
A( x, y , z )
y B
d B ( x x, y y, z )
optical f’ A
z
axis Pinhole
A’
d’ x
planar scene
image plane B’ A' ( x' , y ' , f ' )
B ' ( x'x' , y 'y ' , f ' )
From perspective projection: Magnification:
x' x
y' y
d' (x' ) 2 (y ' ) 2 f'
m
f' z f' z d (x) 2 (y ) 2 z
x'x' x x y 'y ' y y
Areaimage
f' z f' z m2
Areascene
Pinhole Photography
Wide Field of View and Sharp Image
©Clarissa Carnell, Stonehenge, 5" x 7" Gold Toned Printing-Out Paper Pinhole Photograph, 1986
Camera Obscura with a Pinhole
Contemporary artist Madison Cawein rented studio space in an old factory building
where many of the windows were boarded up or painted over. A random small hole in
one of those windows turned one room into a camera obscura.
Problems with Pinholes
• Pinhole size (aperture) must be
“very small” to obtain a clear image.
• However, as pinhole size is made smaller,
less light is received by image plane.
• If pinhole is comparable to wavelength
of incoming light, DIFFRACTION blurs
the image!
• Sharpest image is obtained when:
pinhole diameter d 2 f '
Example: If f’ = 50mm,
= 600nm (red),
d = 0.36mm
Camera Obscuras with Lenses
Charles Schwartz Private Camera Obscura, New York City The optics are housed in a copper turret on the
roof and project through a hole in the ceiling onto a 42 inch round white table. At the side of the table are
controls for the shutters, the tilt of the mirror and rotation of the turret. It is equipped with an 8-inch lens
with a 12 1/2 foot focal length and a 12-inch mirror and brings in a 15-degree slice of the world outside. Sharp
focus is possible from infinity to 400 feet. The optics were designed and built by George Keene of California.
Eastbourne, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Kirriemuir, Scotland
1836, Dumfries, Scotland
Aberwystweth, Wales
Knighton, Wales
Giant Camera, San Francisco, California
Discovery Park, Safford, Arizona
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
Image Formation using Lenses
• Lenses are used to avoid problems with pinholes.
• Ideal Lens: Same projection as pinhole but gathers more light!
i o
P
P’
1 1 1
• Gaussian Thin Lens Formula:
i o f
• f is the focal length of the lens – determines the lens’s ability to refract light
• f different from the effective focal length f’ discussed before!
Aperture, F-Number
• Aperture : Diameter D of the lens that is exposed to light.
• F-Number (f/#):
Copyright: © Jared C. Benedict.
• For example, if f is 16 times the pupil diameter, then f/#=f/16.
• The greater the f/#, the less light per unit area reaches the image plane.
• f-stops represent a convenient sequence of f/# in a geometric progression.
Focus and Defocus
aperture
aperture
Blur Circle, b diameter
i o
i' o'
• Gaussian Law:
1 1 1
f f
i o f (i 'i ) (o o ' )
(o' f ) (o f )
1 1 1
i ' o' f
• In theory, only one scene plane is in focus.
Depth of Field
• Range of object distances
over which image is
sufficiently well focused.
• Range for which blur circle
is less than the resolution
of the sensor.
http://images.dpchallenge.com/images_portfolio/27920/print_preview/116336.jpg
Depth of Field
Both near and farther scene areas are blurred
Controlling Depth of Field
Increase Aperture, decrease Depth of Field
www.cambridgeincolour.com/.../depth-of-field.htm
Large Format (View) Camera
[Harold M. Merklinger]
Regular Camera: Image, Lens & Object Planes are Parallel
View camera: The image and lens planes can be shifted/tilted
[Harold M. Merklinger]
Sensing Color
light
beam splitter
3 CCD
Bayer pattern
Foveon X3TM
Optical Elements in an Imaging System
Lens Distortions
Wide angle Lenses
Circular Fisheye
Full Frame Rectangular Fisheye
Common lens related Issues
Vignetting
B
L3 L2 L1
More light passes through lens L3 for scene point A than scene point B
Results in spatially non-uniform brightness (in the periphery of the image)
Lens Vignetting
• Usually brighter at the center and darker at the periphery.
Reading: http://www.dpreview.com
Vignetting
photo by Robert Johnes
Chromatic Aberration
longitudinal chromatic aberration transverse chromatic aberration
(axial) (lateral)
Chromatic Aberrations
longitudinal chromatic aberration transverse chromatic aberration
(axial) (lateral)
Chromatic Abberations
Reading: http://www.dpreview.com
Lens Glare
• Stray interreflections of light within the optical lens system.
• Happens when very bright sources are present in the scene.
Reading: http://www.dpreview.com
Geometric Lens Distortions
Radial distortion Tangential distortion
Photo by Helmut Dersch
Both due to lens imperfection
Rectify with geometric camera calibration
Radial Lens Distortions
No Distortion Barrel Distortion Pincushion Distortion
• Radial distance from Image Center:
ru = rd + k1 rd3
Correcting Radial Lens Distortions
Before After
http://www.grasshopperonline.com/barrel_distortion_correction_software.html
Our Eyes
Iris Pupil Sclera
Cornea
Index of refraction: cornea 1.376, aqueous 1.336, lens 1.406-1.386
Iris is the diaphragm that changes the aperture (pupil)
Retina is the sensor where the fovea has the highest resolution
Accommodation
shorter focal length
Changes the focal length of the lens
Myopia and Hyperopia
(myopia)
Astigmatism
The cornea is distorted causing images to be un-focused on the retina.
Blind Spot in Eye
Close your right eye and look directly at the “+”
Eyes in Nature
Mosquito
http://ebiomedia.com/gall/eyes/octopus-insect.html
Mosquitos have microscopic vision, but to focus at large distances the eye would need to be 1 m!
Curved Mirrors in Scallop Eyes
Telescopic Eye (by Mike Land, Sussex)
… More in the second part of the course
Light Field Cameras - Lens Arrays
Contax medium format camera Kodak 16-megapixel sensor
Adaptive Optics microlens array 125μ square-sided microlenses
4000 × 4000 pixels ÷ 292 × 292 lenses = 14 × 14 pixels per lens
Refocusing using Lens Arrays
Refocusing using Lens Arrays
Refocusing using Lens Arrays
Cameras with Lenses and Mirrors
Cameras with Lenses and Mirrors - Applications
Astronomical Camera Obscura?
New World Mission - NASA
200,000 Km
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Worlds_Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/lb/vision/universe/newworlds/new_worlds_imager.html
