Abstract

Until recently, I knew essentially nothing about wide-angle lenses. I now use them as a test case of my approach to optical design: control through understanding. There has been very little written about wide-angle lenses. Of that, the best is by Erhard Glatzel (as always) and Walter Wolche. This paper addresses my attempts to get up to speed with zero experience in the field, by a new and extremely powerful design theory and technique. It combines the best features of Glatzel’s relaxation approach, Hazaz’s modular design ideas, Hoogland's emphasis on fifth-order Petzval curvature, and my own new insight into a curious property of pupil aberrations. This new theory is sort of an international day approach to lens design. It is particularly suited to dealing with wide-angle lenses but also has applications much more diverse than that.

© 1987 Optical Society of America