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This new technology makes f/1.4 lenses at almost zero cost

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Researchers at Technion Israel Institute of Technology have developed a new way of making lenses with a curable liquid polymer that allows for faster prototyping of new and custom optics. It’s designed primarily for applications such as corrective lenses, augmented and virtual reality, medical imaging and astronomy, but could potentially become a new manufacturing method (or at least allow faster development) of photographic lenses.

According to a press release, the researchers began to develop the new method after realising that there were around 2.5 billion people around the planet who don’t have access to corrective eyewear. Their goal was to create “a simple method for fabricating high-quality optical components that does not rely on mechanical processing or complex and expensive infrastructure”.

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Cloning lens elements using silicone and epoxy resin

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I’ve been following the YouTube channel Breaking Taps for quite a long time. It’s a fun mix of science, engineering and technology covering physics and the occasional bit of chemistry with some just flat out cool experiments, crazy tech and fascinating slow motion in between – like that time when he made his own scanning laser microscope (it’s pretty cool, you should watch it).

Well, now he’s having a go at making some optical lens elements. And it turns out, making lenses from epoxy resin is a bit more difficult than one might initially think.

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Wrong assumptions beginners make about lenses – are you guilty of spreading these myths?

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When you’re new to photography, there’s a lot of new jargon to learn and some of it can be confusing. There are also technical aspects that feel like if you don’t have a degree in advanced physics, you’ll never understand them. And there are people who think they understand them, explain them badly and either create or perpetuate myths that make terminology and techniques even more confusing.

In this video, photographer Robin Wong goes through five of the most common myths and incorrect assumptions new photographers make (and that even some more experienced users don’t really understand, yet try to explain to others) about lenses.

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This is why you need to stop shooting at apertures smaller than f/11

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Lenses these days have all kinds of aperture ranges, with some opening as wide as f/0.95 and others stopping down as much as f/32. But shooting at either extreme can cause potential issues. At the wider apertures, those issues are obvious. The shallower depth of field can mean you don’t get enough focus to get everything you need looking sharp. And most lenses are a little soft wide open anyway. Then as we stop them down, things get sharper. But is there a limit?

Well, yes. With many lenses, as you start to go past f/11, you’ll see things will become soft again. This is due to something called diffraction. We’ve covered diffraction here on DIYP before, a couple of times, actually, but it’s always good to have a reminder, and this video from Matt Granger does exactly that, explaining what diffraction is, what causes it and how you can prevent it (by basically not stopping down smaller than f/11).

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Aspherical elements are the reason why modern lenses are so good

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Whenever a new lens is announced, we always get a breakdown of the optical elements that make up the whole. So many elements in however many groups. It’s often followed by statistics about how many there are of different types of elements. Low dispersion, extra-low dispersion, aspherical, etc. But that last one, what does it mean?

Well, in simple terms, it’s why modern lenses exhibit much less chromatic aberration and increased edge-to-edge sharpness than lenses of the past. They’re designed to solve issues inherent in most spherical lenses used in the past, and this three-minute video from Canon explains exactly how and why they work.

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Latest Olympus lens roadmap shows new 20mm f/1.4 Pro prime and 40-150mm f/4 Pro zoom lenses

OM Digital Services has announced a new lens roadmap for Olympus M.Zuiko lenses apparently scheduled to be released. There aren’t a lot of changes, but there are a couple of interesting new lenses being added, including an ED 20mm f/1.4 Pro and a 40-150mm f/4 Pro.

Olympus already has a 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro and a super low budget 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R. The new f/4 Pro would present an option that sits in between the $199 and $1,499 options, offering a lower budget option but with decent quality. The 20mm f/1.4 Pro fills a nice little hole in their primes lineup in between the 17mm f/1.2 and 25mm f/1.2 Pro lenses.

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These gorgeous stickers are the most stylish way to label your lenses

If you own a lot of lenses and cameras, labeling them will make your life easier. Canadian company Field Made Co. is on a mission to make it happen, but also make labeling as stylish as possible. They produce stickers for camera bodies and Canon, Sony, Fuji, Nikon, and Sigma rear lens caps, and they’re as sleek as they can be.

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MTF charts – What are they? How do you read them? And why should we care?

Whenever a new lens is released, we almost always see those infamous MTF charts posted along with the product images. But what exactly are MTF charts? What are they? Why are they a thing? How do you read them? And why should you care?

In this video, photographer Dustin Abbot goes into a deep dive on MTF charges to explain exactly what they are and how they’re of benefit to photographers. While he does go quite detailed into the charts, it’s an easy to understand analysis of what they are.

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How focal length and subject distance affects car photography

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We’ve all seen these kinds of animations before when it comes to portrait photography. We’ve featured a few of them here on DIYP before where we see how the changing focal length affects the way a subject’s face is rendered. And as with the portrait ones, this one serves as a good example of that point but using cars. Although it’s slightly misrepresenting itself.

As with similar such animations for portraits, this Reel post from liberdamedia leaves out the fact that the distance to the subject has changed, too. And that’s what really affects your perspective – more so than the focal length. But it’s a great example to illustrate how the shot changes as you alter those two variables.

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