Knowledge Hub

02.12.2025 | Events

When is a custom lens the best solution?

By Nicolas Douradou

At the inVISION days on Tuesday, December 2nd, our Sales Engineer Nicolas Douradou shared insights on "When is a custom lens the best solution?". The talk explored the key factors that influence the decision to move from standard lenses to custom optical solutions. It covered different levels of customization, what “custom” really means in practice, and the considerations involved in matching optical design to specific application requirements. Real-world examples illustrated the process and challenges behind custom lens development.

09.10.2025 | General

Scheimpflug principle

The Scheimpflug principle describes the optical alignment of the object, lens, and image planes so they intersect along a single line. Tilting the lens relative to the image plane allows inclined surfaces to appear sharply focused. This concept is fundamental in fields like photography, microscopy, machine vision, aerial mapping, and medical imaging. It enhances depth of field, reduces diffraction, and ensures precise focus across tilted objects—making it essential for accurate, high-resolution imaging in both scientific and industrial applications.

20.09.2025 | Technical paper

Lens Specs Matter, so do Your Homework

By Stuart W. Singer

Precise lens specifications are key to successful optical systems. This article explains how engineers can use a clear Top-10 checklist and a technical matrix to avoid misunderstandings, save time and costs, and collaborate effectively with providers to find the optimal lens solution.

03.09.2025 | Technical paper

Lenses, lights, camera and action: Applying cinematography lessons to machine vision systems

By Stuart W. Singer & Jim Sullivan

Discover how cinematography's t/stops enhance multi-camera machine vision. Unlike f/stops, t/stops account for actual light transmission, ensuring uniform illumination regardless of lens type or focal length. This article explains Numerical Aperture (NA), f/stops, and the critical advantages of t/stops, which consider lens elements, glass, and coatings. Adopting t/stops in machine vision could revolutionize image consistency for complex systems.

03.09.2025 | Technical paper

Keystone Distortion

By Stuart W. Singer & Ronald A. Petrozzo 

This paper addresses projected image Distortion in a cinema setting. Several types of distortions are defined and examples are presented to show that the degree of distortion in the image can be calculated based on the theater geometry as well as the film format and projector lens specifications. This paper concentrates on inherent distortion values that typically effect the overall shape of the picture area and the relative shapes of all subjects being viewed as well as the audience's perception of imaged picture quality.

03.09.2025 | Technical paper

Telecentric lenses simplify non contact metrology

By Stuart W. Singer

Simplify non-contact metrology with telecentric lenses. Discover how these specialized lenses maintain constant magnification for accurate 3D measurements by eliminating perspective distortion.

21.05.2025 | Lenses

How Large Format Lenses Revolutionize ExA-SPIM Lightsheet Microscopy

Explore how Schneider-Kreuznach's industrial large-format lenses and advanced camera technology are pivotal to the ExA-SPIM system, enabling nano-scale fluorescence light-sheet microscopy of entire brain tissues, surpassing conventional methods.

21.05.2025 | Filters

Enhancing Monochrome Imaging with Optical Filters: A Practical Demonstration

In machine vision, especially with monochrome cameras, subtle differences in material or color can easily be lost without proper contrast enhancement. This article demonstrates how simple optical color filters can dramatically improve the separation of objects in grayscale images – using a straightforward real-world example. Learn how to make red and blue elements stand out and discover why filter selection is critical in demanding industrial imaging environments.

17.02.2025 | General

Accurate Unit Conversion in Machine Vision

Learn why precise unit conversion is crucial for machine vision applications. Discover key metric and imperial unit conversions to optimize lens selection, sensor calibration, and image processing for industrial automation.

12.02.2025 | Technical paper

Precision Imaging with Polarization Filters

How do Schneider-Kreuznach polarization filters enhance industrial imaging and ensure reliable quality control? Opto's latest case study reveals how these high-performance filters maintain resolution, reduce reflections, and optimize optical particle analysis for precise cleaning validation.

01.12.2024 | Technical paper

Taking the Mystery out of Lens MTF

By Stuart W. Singer and Jim Sullivan

The best indicator of lens performance — what every buyer must consider when deciding if a specific lens will meet their vision-system needs — is found in a single number: the lens’ modulation transfer function, better known as MTF. But there’s a problem.

15.10.2024 | Events

Sensor-based lens selection process supported by a dedicated lens selection tool

By Steffen Mahler

Learn how to select the perfect lens for your application. Explore key parameters, tools, and expert insights for optimal performance.

12.11.2024 | Lenses

Ruggedized lenses

These lenses are engineered to resist shock and vibration, perfect for demanding industrial environments.

12.11.2024 | Lenses

Stabilized lenses

Designed for precise measurement applications, minimizing image shift in challenging setups.

12.11.2024 | Lenses

Temperature-stabilized lenses

Temperature-stabilized lenses deliver precise imaging even under extreme temperature fluctuations.

15.10.2024 | Events

The Lens as a Key Factor in Challenging Imaging Applications

By Steffen Mahler

Understand the important role of a lens in a vision system and the parameters influencing the lens selection for best performance in demanding applications as 3D measurement and surface inspection.