New lens technology?

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=bc4b9a28-d91e-4fb5-9856-68b72c5717e5

 

"Galstian said the lens would work in cellphone cameras that take
notoriously poor quality images."

Well after that bit of wisdom, I ignored the rest of the story. The
best lens in the business is not going to help the pixel poor cell phone
image.

 

That sounds a bit like the way our eyeballs focus. (Without the
zooming capability of course).

...science mimicks nature...

 

I saw a link last year like this. I think it used water and an electric
current.

The eye focuses with a jelly lens. the muscles surrounding it pull it
taught for distance focus and for close focusing relax. Once relaxed the
lens forms a more spherical shape which of course increases its refraction.
I'm not sure how this lens works exactly. I suppose electricity might cause
an expansion or contraction but i'm not sure how a laser would do it.
Perhaps it is heated, no that would normally make a sustance expand so that
would reduce the density. I'm not sure how a material would respond by
contracting. All in all it sounds expensive. Besides you nead a set of
lenses before you can zoom.

 

My cell phone takes images which are *far* poorer than the pixel
limitations alone can excuse. Compare the first and second photos at
<http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/2005/05310-May Cats/>;
the first one was taken with a Fuji S2, and resized to 700xwhatever.
The second was taken with my Nokia phone, and is the full original
size (640x480). There are lots of problems with that photo beyond
being limited to that small size!

 

Oh yeah. But without a cell phone, how would I get treasured concert pix
like this? http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1037/516/0/Image025-751972.jpg

I think the problem was that I couldn't find a 3mm diameter UV filter.

 

Then you missed the rest that discsussed the potential for other camera
applications.

Cheers,
Alan

 

Actually, when you think about it, the human eye must be a zoom lens.
The effect of changing the curvature of the lens is to change its focal
length. Since the image distance is fixed, this also changes the
distance at which objects are in focus. So, what you need is not a set
of lenses, but an extendible eyeball!

David

 

Clearly the paper's date was wrong. It should have been 1st April, not
22nd May.

Colin

 

I had one of those when I was young and a pretty girl walked by.

 

I hear ya. Think that's bad? Try finding a 2-stop grad ND filter for
that puppy.

 

Boy, that *would* be hard to live without. I see your point.

Tape a bigger one on, covering the lens.

 

He said EYE-ball.

Colin

 

Not really....It's field of view and magnification are fixed. It's auto
focus though. It would be interesting if there was an animal with a "zoom
eye". But I think it would have to have a multi-element lens, and I know of
no animal that has this......Perhaps in another few million years of
evolution.

 

Oops - forgot the smiley {

Colin

 

No? What about Eagles and other birds of prey? Their vision manages to
get that effect, somehow.

 

There can't be any optical improvements possible over what you're using
now Alan...

 

Eagles and hawks get their superb vision from an inordinately large number
of very sensitive rods and cones in their retinas. Otherwise, their eyes
work exactly as do ours......

 

Be sure to use clear tape.

 

Nope. Rather than move forward and backward the eye lens changes shape and
hence its refractive properties. You would need a moving second lens in
order to become a zoom.

Cheaper lenses focus by moving the front element. Internal focusing ones
still move a lens in and out but the outer most element doesn't budge. To
qualify as a zoom or vari focal length requires more.