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LAB · 08 / 09

Lens lab

Turn the focus ring and watch the depth of field move through the scene. Snell's law · ray tracing · f/1.8 to f/16

Lens cross-section (ray tracing, Snell’s law)
sensor50 mm · f/2
Through the viewfinder
Focal length
Sharp from
1.91 m
to
2.1 m
Hyperfocal
41.72 m
cup (0.8 m)
0.96 mm
plant (2 m)
sharp
window (8 m)
0.48 mm

Guide · 0/4

Make only the cup sharp.

Hint

Bring focus close and open the aperture (small f).

Thin-lens model, 0.03 mm circle of confusion (36 × 24 mm sensor). Rays cross a BK7 glass biconvex lens (n = 1.5168).

How it works

Visual mode: HDRI lighting, ambient occlusion, bloom, depth of field and quality that adapts to your device. Light mode: no post-processing, for phones, weak laptops and for studying the technique.

  1. 01

    Thin lens

    To focus closer, the lens moves away from the sensor. That is what the focus ring does.

    1/f = 1/s + 1/v
  2. 02

    Depth of field

    An out-of-focus point becomes a circle on the sensor. While it is under 0.03 mm (36 × 24 mm sensor), it looks sharp.

    H = f²/(N·c) + f
  3. 03

    Snell's law

    Each ray is computed entering and leaving BK7 glass with the vector form of Snell’s law; rays are not hand-drawn.

    n1·sin θ1 = n2·sin θ2
  4. 04

    3D viewfinder

    In Visual mode the viewfinder is a 3D scene. Each pixel reads its depth and is blurred by its own circle of confusion, with the same formula as the page numbers, over a 64-sample disc.

    c = f² / (N(s − f)) · |d − s| / d
  5. 05

    Checks

    Sharpness limits are verified in tests by a second method (image-side geometry), within 2%.