Focus (optics)

Information about Focus (optics)

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An image that is partially in focus, but mostly out of focus in varying degrees.
In geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge [1]. Although the focus is conceptually a point, physically the focus has a spatial extent, called the blur circle. This non-ideal focusing may be caused by aberrations of the imaging optics. In the absence of significant aberrations, the smallest possible blur circle is the Airy disc, which is caused by diffraction from the optical system's aperture. Aberrations tend to get worse as the aperture diameter increases, while the Airy circle is smallest for large apertures.

An image, or image point or region, is in focus if light from object points is converged almost as much as possible in the image, and out of focus if light is not well converged. The border between these is sometimes defined using a circle of confusion criterion.

A principal focus or focal point is a special focus:
  • For a lens, or a spherical or parabolic mirror, it is a point onto which collimated light parallel to the axis is focused. Since light can pass through a lens in either direction, a lens has two focal points—one on each side. The distance in air from the lens or mirror's principal plane to the focus is called the focal length.
  • Elliptical mirrors have two focal points: light that passes through one of these before striking the mirror is reflected such that it passes through the other.
  • The focus of a hyperbolic mirror is either of two points which have the property that light from one is reflected as if it came from the other.
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Focal blur is simulated in this computer generated image of glasses, which was rendered in POV-Ray.
A diverging (negative) lens, or a convex mirror does not focus a collimated beam to a point. Instead, the focus is the point from which the light appears to be emanating, after it travels through the lens or reflects from the mirror. A convex parabolic mirror will reflect a beam of collimated light to make it appear as if it were radiating from the focal point or conversely, reflect rays directed toward the focus as a collimated beam. A convex elliptical mirror will reflect light directed towards one focus as if it were radiating from the other focus, both of which are behind the mirror. A convex hyperbolic mirror will reflect rays emanating from the focal point in front of the mirror as if they were emanating from the focal point behind the mirror. Conversely, it can focus rays directed at the focal point that is behind the mirror towards the focal point that is front of the mirror as in a Cassegrain telescope.

See also

References

1. ^ Standard Microscopy Terminology. University of Minnesota Characterization Facility website. Retrieved on 2006-04-21.
Optics (ὀπτική appearance or look in Ancient Greek) is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter.
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In optics, a ray is an idealized narrow beam of light. Rays are used to model the propagation of light through an optical system, by dividing the real light field up into discrete rays that can be computationally propagated through the system by the techniques of ray tracing.
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Aberration in optical systems (lenses, prisms, mirrors or series of them intended to produce a sharp image) generally leads to blurring of the image. It occurs when light from one point of an object after transmission through the system does not converge into (or does not diverge
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The Airy disc (or Airy disk) is a phenomenon in optics. Owing to the wave nature of light, light passing through an aperture is diffracted and forms a pattern of light and dark regions on a screen some distance away from the aperture (see interference).
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Diffraction refers to various phenomena associated with wave propagation, such as the bending, spreading and interference of waves passing by an object or aperture that disrupts the wave.
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In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light is admitted. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
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circle of confusion, (also known as disk of confusion, circle of indistinctness, blur circle, etc.), is an optical spot caused by a cone of light rays from a lens not coming to a perfect focus when imaging a point source.
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lens (or lense) is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, concentrating or diverging the beam. A simple lens is a lens consisting of a single optical element.
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A sphere is a symmetrical geometrical object. In non-mathematical usage, the term is used to refer either to a round ball or to its two-dimensional surface. In mathematics, a sphere is the set of all points in three-dimensional space (R3
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parabola (from the Greek: παραβολή) (IPA pronunciation: /pəˈrab(ə)lə/
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mirror is an object with a surface that has good specular reflection; that is, it is smooth enough to form an image. The most familiar type of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface.
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Collimated light is light whose rays are parallel and thus has a planar wavefront. The word is derived from "co-linear" and implies light that does not disperse, even over an infinite distance.
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F and focal length f of a positive (convex) lens, a negative (concave) lens, a concave mirror, and a convex mirror.]] The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly it converges (focuses) or diverges (diffuses) light.
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ellipse (from the Greek ἔλλειψις, literally absence) is the locus of points on a plane where the sum of the distances from any point on the curve to two fixed points is constant.
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hyperbola (Greek ὑπερβολή literally 'overshooting' or 'excess') is a type of conic section defined as the intersection between a right circular conical surface and a plane which cuts through both halves
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In geometry, the foci (singular focus) are a pair of special points used in describing conic sections. The four types of conic sections are the circle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola.
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ellipse (from the Greek ἔλλειψις, literally absence) is the locus of points on a plane where the sum of the distances from any point on the curve to two fixed points is constant.
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hyperbola (Greek ὑπερβολή literally 'overshooting' or 'excess') is a type of conic section defined as the intersection between a right circular conical surface and a plane which cuts through both halves
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In geometry, the foci (singular focus) are a pair of special points used in describing conic sections. The four types of conic sections are the circle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola.
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Cassegrain reflector is a combination of two coaxial reflectors used in Cassegrain telescopes and radio antennas.

First developed in 1672 by Laurent Cassegrain, this reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, both aligned
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A telescope is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects and the collection of electromagnetic radiation. The earliest known telescopes are credited to three individuals, Hans Lippershey and Zacharias Janssen, spectacle-makers in Middelburg, and Jacob Metius of
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The cardinal points and the associated cardinal planes are a set of special points and planes in an optical system, which help in the analysis of its paraxial properties.
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In optics, defocus is the one aberration familiar to nearly everyone who has ever needed eyeglasses or used a camera, videocamera, microscope, telescope, or binoculars, as it simply means out of focus.
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In optics, particularly film and photography, the depth of field (DOF) is the distance in front of and beyond the subject that appears to be in focus.

Apparent sharp focus


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Depth of focus is a lens optics concept that measures the tolerance of placement of the image plane (the film plane in a camera) in relation to the lens. While the phrase depth of focus was historically used, and is sometimes still used, to mean depth of field
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In visual perception, the far point is the point at which an object must be placed along the optical axis for its image to be focused on the retina when the eye is not accommodating. It is sometimes described as the farthest point from the eye at which images are clear.
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In geometry, the foci (singular focus) are a pair of special points used in describing conic sections. The four types of conic sections are the circle, parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola.
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A fixed-focus lens is a lens of which the focus is not adjustable. The focus is set at the time of manufacture, and remains fixed. The focus is generally set so the depth of field ranges from one metre to infinity, which is acceptable for most cameras used for capturing images of
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