• Manufacturing

processes project
• Name-Arjun Laddhad
• Roll number - 3011 ( 30)
• Ramdeobaba college of engineering
and management

• Product - camera
lenses


• Camera Lenses -
How Camera
Lenses are Made

Designing camera lens starts off by

pinpointing the potential market that will
use the final product. The designer then
has to decide on the optical design,
material and the suitable fabrication
method once the market has been
identified.
Many challenging options arise for lens
designers due to the development of new
materials. The designer must take into
account the numerous types of plastics
and glasses that can be used for the
production of camera lenses.
When the design is complete, the
performance of the lens is examined with
the use of computer simulations. Once the
lens passes the simulation test, a
prototype lens is produced to determine
the actual performance.

Design of a camera lens begins by

identifying the photographer who will use
it. When the market is identified, the lens
designer selects the optical and
mechanical materials, the optical design,
the appropriate method for making the
mechanical parts, and, for auto focus
lenses, the type of inter-face between the
lens and camera. There are conventions or
patterns for the different categories of
lenses, including macro, wide-angle, and
telephoto lenses, so some design aspects
are standardized. Advancements in
materials give designers many challenging
options, however. In selecting materials,
the engineer must consider a range of
metals for the components and various
types of glasses and plastics for the
lenses, all the while mindful of the final
cost to the photographer. When the
designer has completed the design, its
performance is tested by computer
simulation. Computer programs that are
specific to lens manufacturers tell the
designer what kind of image or picture the
lens will produce at the center of the image
and at its edges for the range of lens
operation. Assuming the lens passes the

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computer simulation test, the criteria for
performance that were chosen initially are
reviewed again to confirm that the lens
meets the needs identified. A prototype is
manufactured to test actual performance.
The lens is tested under varying
temperature and environmental conditions,
at every aperture position, and at every
focal length for zoom lenses. Target charts
in a laboratory are photographed, as are
field conditions of varying light and
shadow. Some lenses are aged rapidly in
laboratory tests to check their durability.
Additional design work is needed if the
lens focuses automatically, because the
auto focus (AF) module must work with a
range of camera bodies. The AF module
requires both software and mechanical
design. Extensive prototype testing is
performed on these lenses because of their
complex functions and because the
software is fine-tuned to each lens.

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• Manufacturing
processes -
• Grinding and polishing lens elements-

Optical glass is supplied to lens

manufacturers by specialized vendors.
Usually, it is provided as a "pressed plate"
or sliced glass plate from which the
elements are cut. The glass elements are
shaped to concave or convex forms by a
curve generator machine that is a rst-
step grinder. To reach the speci cations
for its shape, a lens goes through a
sequence of processes in which it is
ground by polishing particles in water. The
polishing particles become smaller in each
step as the lens is re ned. Curve
generation and subsequent grinding vary
in speed depending on the frailty, softness,
and oxidation properties of the optical
materials.

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 After grinding and polishing, the elements

are centered so that the outer edge of the
lens is perfect in circumference relative to
the centerline or optical axis of the lens.
Lenses made of plastic or bonded glass
and resin are produced by the same
processes. Bonded materials are used to
make lenses with non-spherical surfaces,
and these lenses are called "hybrid
aspherics." The aspherical surfaces of
these lenses are completed during
centering.

• Coating lenses-

Formed lenses are coated to protect the

material from oxidation, to prevent
re ections, and to meet requirements for
"designed spectrum transmission" or
color balance and rendition. The lens
surfaces are carefully cleaned before
coating. Techniques for applying coatings
and the coatings themselves are major
selling points for a manufacturer's lenses

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and are carefully guarded secrets. Some

types of coatings include metal oxides,
light-alloy uorides, and layers of quartz
that are applied to lenses and mirrors by a
vacuum process. Several layers of coating
may be applied for the best color and light
transmission, but excessive coating can
reduce the light that passes through the
lens and limit its usefulness.

• Producing the barrel-

he barrel includes the chassis that

supports the various lens elements and
the cosmetic exterior. Metal mounts,
grooves, and moving portions of the lens
are critical to the performance of the lens,
and are machined to very speci c
tolerances. Lens mounts may be made of
brass, aluminum, or plastic. Most metal
barrel components are die-cast and
machined. Metal mounts last longer,
maintain their dimensions, can be
machined more precisely, and can be

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 dismantled to replace elements, if
necessary. Plastic mounts are less
expensive and of lighter weight. If the
barrel is made of engineering plastic, it is
produced by a highly e cient and precise
method of injection molding. The interior
surfaces of the barrel are also coated to
protect them and to prevent internal
re ection and are.

• Assembling the lens -

Other parts of the lens, such as the

diaphragm and auto focus module, are
produced as subassemblies. The iris
diaphragm is constructed of curved leaves
cut out of thin sheets of metal. The metal
leaves are held in place by two plates. One
plate is xed, the other moves, and has
slots for sliding pins. These slide the
leaves back toward the barrel to open the
diaphragm or into the center to close the
opening as the f-stop ring is turned. The
diaphragm assembly is fastened into place

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 when the lens mount is attached to the

end of the barrel. The auto focus is also
added, the optical elements are
positioned, and the lens is sealed. After
nal assembly, the lens is adjusted and
inspected rigorously. It must meet the
design standards for optical resolution,
mechanical function, and auto focus
response. Lenses may also be tested by
subjecting them to shocks, dropping, and
vibration.

• Quality Control-

Approaches to lens manufacture vary

greatly among companies. Some use full
automation including industrial robot s to
make their products, others use large
assembly lines, and still others pride
themselves on hand-crafting. Quality and
precision are essential to lens production,
however, regardless of manufacturing
approach. Incoming materials and
components are rigorously inspected for

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 quality and compliance with engineering

speci cations. Automated processes are
also inspected constantly and subjected to
tolerance checks. Hand-craftsmanship is
performed only by skilled artisans with
long years of training. Quality control and
stress tests are incorporated in each
manufacturing step, and elements and
components are measured with precise
instruments. Some measuring devices are
laser-controlled and can detect deviations
of less than 0.0001-millimeter in a lens
surface or in lens centering.

• The Future-

Camera lenses are enjoying new

developments in many areas. The
consumer's interest in the best photos for
the lowest cost has led to disposable
cameras with simple but e ective lenses.
Lenses for professional photographers
and for specialized uses such as high-
performance binoculars or telescopes are

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made with exotic and "non-preferred"
glasses that are more sensitive, expensive,
and harder to obtain than traditional
materials. These are called "abnormal
dispersion" materials because they merge
all the colors in the light passing through
the lens to produce the best images,
rather than allowing colors to disperse like
a simple lens. Water and other liquids also
bend light, and scientists have identi ed
liquids that are abnormally dispersive and
can be trapped between layers of ordinary
glass to produce the same image quality
as exotic optical glass. The ordinary or
"preferred" glass (preferred because of
low cost and workability) is bonded around
the liquid with exible silicone adhesive.
The resulting "liquid lens" may replace
several elements in a professional-quality
lens. It also reduces the coating required
and the amount of lens polishing needed
because the liquid lls imperfections in the
glass. The cost of the lens is reduced, and
the light transmission properties are
improved. Lens makers in the U.S., Japan,

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and Europe are preparing to produce liquid
lenses in the near future.


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• Industrial use-
low-profile compact lenses are
designed to provide high image quality
with low distortion when the object
distance is greater than about 10 times
the focal length, or for on-axis imaging.
They are applicable for finite object
imaging applications such as face/
object recognition, barcode readers,
document imaging, machine vision, and
biometric security. 
standard wide-angle and fisheye lenses
are suitable for robotics vision
applications.  For 3D applications we
offer Boresight Stabilization – a
proprietary technology eliminating
lateral shift (Boresight) of the lens
elements due to shock or vibration.
This is especially critical in 3D imaging,
where a shift of just a few pixels is
often unacceptable.

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wide-angle and fisheye lenses are

becoming increasingly popular in a
variety of inspection application, such
as boroscopes or pipe inspection. 
Several factors make Sunex lenses
ideal for this type of application. The
low profile and small physical sizes of
our lenses, combined with small sensor
formats for which the lenses were
designed, allow for very compact
camera packaging. Moreover, our
ability to customize provides you with a
variety options to meet your unique
requirements.
Camera lenses have a significant
impact not only on the look of your film
or video but also on the mood you’re
trying to establish. If you choose to use
your camera’s 1 default lens you’ll
undoubtedly be forced to compromise
your visual story.
This is because lenses help establish
depth, positioning and object priority to
name only a few of the more obvious
changes.

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If you currently have a video camera

you may be thinking to yourself that
this blog post is pointless because only
more professional cameras have
access to lens attachments. However,
this simply isn’t the case anymore.
There are many types of lenses that
you could use in your films,
documentaries, shorts and music
videos. However, for the sake of
simplicity we’re going to outline 3 of the
most common. If you add these three
lenses to your filmmaker’s toolkit you’ll
have newfound visual flexibility when
you’re composing your scenes.
The three lenses we recommend are:
1: A “regular lens”: This is a 50mm still
camera lens
2: A moderate wide angle lens:
24-35mm still camera lens
3: A moderate zoom lens: 80-200mm
still camera lens

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