Lenses Archives - 1stVision Inc. - Machine Vision Articles

November 2, 2022November 2, 2022

Components needed for machine vision and industrial imaging systems

Machine vision and industrial imaging systems are used in various applications ranging from automated quality control inspection, bottle filling, robot pick-and-place applications, autonomous drone or vehicle guidance, patient monitoring, agricultural irrigation controls, medical testing, metrology, and countless more applications.

Imaging systems typically include a least a camera and lens, and often also include one or more of specialized lighting, adapter cards, cables, software, optical filters, power supply, mount, or enclosure.

At 1stVision we’ve created a resource page is intended to make sure that nothing in a planned imaging application has been missed. There are many aspects on which 1stVision can provide guidance. The main components to consider are indicated below.

Cameras: There are area scan cameras for visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light, used for static or motion situations. There are line scan cameras, often used for high-speed continuous web inspection. Thermal imaging detects or measures heat. SWIR cameras can identify the presence or even the characteristics of liquids. The “best” camera depends on the part of the spectrum being sensed, together with considerations around motion, lighting, surface characteristics, etc.

**An assortment of lens types and manufacturers**

Lens: The lens focuses the light onto the sensor, mapping the targeted Field of View (FoV) from the real world onto the array of pixels. One must consider image format to pair a suitable lens to the camera. Lenses vary by the quality of their light-passing ability, how close to the target they can be – or how far from it, their weight (if on a robot arm it matters), vibration resistance, etc. See our resources on how to choose a machine vision lens. Speak with us if you’d like assistance, or use the lens selector to browse for yourself.

Lighting: While ambient light is sufficient for some applications, specialized lighting may also be needed, to achieve sufficient contrast. And it may not just be “white” light – Ultra-Violet (UV) or Infra-Red (IR) light, or other parts of the spectrum, sometimes work best to create contrast for a given application – or even to induce phosphorescence or scatter or some other helpful effect. Additional lighting components may include strobe controllers or constant current drivers to provide adequate and consistent illumination. See also Lighting Techniques for Machine Vision.

Optical filter: There are many types of filters that can enhance application performance, or that are critical for success. For example a “pass” filter only lets certain parts of the spectrum through, while a “block” filter excludes certain wavelengths. Polarizing filters reduce glare. And there are many more – for a conceptual overview see our blog on how machine filters create or enhance contrast.

Don’t forget about interface adapters like frame grabbers and host adapters; cables; power supplies; tripod mounts; software; and enclosures. See the resource page to review all components one might need for an industrial imaging system, to be sure you haven’t forgotten anything.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection. With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

April 29, 2022May 4, 2022

Fujinon HF-XA-1F lenses with unique anti-shock and vibration performance

While conventional machine vision camera lenses exhibit problematic degradation of resolution when the shooting distance or aperture is changed, the Fujinon HF-XA-1F lenses feature high performance “4D HR” to minimize such degradation. The new lenses maintain a highly consistent image sharpness from the center to the edges, while mitigating degradation of resolution caused by changes in the working distance or aperture. This enables consistent delivery of high-resolution images under a wide variety of installation and shooting conditions.

Designed for “4DHR” (4D High Resolution) and compatible with IMX250 high performance CMOS image sensor (2/3″, 5 megapixels, 3.45µm pixel pitch). With five family members, at focal lengths 8, 12, 16, 25, and 35, each model can be used for optical formats from 1/3” up through all 2/3”, and even to some 1/1.2″ sensors.

Adjusting the focus is demonstrated in the video below: one ring adjusts focus while the operator monitors the image, and another ring locks in the adjustment:

In addition, the lenses’ unique mechanical design realizes anti-shock and vibration-resistant performance, further contributing to image quality. The lenses are compliant with standard IEC60068-2-6, key test parameters being:

Vibration frequency of 10-60Hz (amplitude of 0.75mm), 60-500Hz (acceleration of 100m/S2)
Sweep frequency of 50 cycles

Unlike what most are familiar with in lens designs, for this family iris parts having different F numbers are included with package! These parts enable the user to adjust the F.no. depending on the situation of the installation and the user’s application. Please refer to the video below for for how to replace the iris parts & attach to the camera.

Contact us at 1stVision with a brief idea of your application, and we will contact you to discuss lensing and camera options. support and / or pricing.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have an average of 20 years experience to assist you. Representing the largest portfolio of industry leading brands in imaging components, we can help you design the optimal vision solution for your application.

About Us | 1stVision

1st Vision is the most experienced distributor in the U.S. of machine vision cameras, lenses, frame grabbers, cables, lighting, and software in the industry.

August 31, 2021September 29, 2021

Computar ViSWIR Visible + SWIR lenses

1stVision is pleased to make available two new lens series from Computar: both the ViSWIR HYPER / APO Lens Series, and the VISWIR Lite Series. Traditionally, applications landed in either the visible or the SWIR range, so components tended to be optimized for one or the other. The new lens series are designed to perform well with for both visible and SWIR, enabling cost-effective and performant imaging systems for a range of applications.

ViSWIR Hyper / Multi-Spectral Lens Series were created for the latest Vis-SWIR imaging sensors, the IMX990/IMX991 SenSWIR, currently found in the new Allied Vision Goldeye G-130. The series was recognized as a Gold Honoree by Vision Systems Design in 2021:

With fully corrected focus shift in visible and SWIR range (400nm-1,700nm), spectral imaging is achievable with a single sensor camera by simply syncing the lighting. Per Sony, “the IMX990/IMX991 top indium-phosphorus (InP*2) layer inevitably absorbs some visible light, but applying Sony SWIR sensor technology makes this layer thinner, so that more light reaches the underlying InGaAs layer. The sensors have high quantum efficiency even in visible wavelengths. This enables broad imaging of wavelengths from 0.4 μm to 1.7 μm. A single camera equipped with the sensor can now cover both visible light and the SWIR spectrum, which previously required separate cameras. This results in lower system costs. Image processing is also less intensive, which accelerates inspection.”

With ViSWIR HYPER-APO, it is unnecessary to adjust focus for different wavelengths or to keep the high resolution from short to long working distances. The focus shift is reduced at any wavelength and any working distance, making the series ideal for multiple applications, including machine vision, UAV, and remote sensing.

Computar ViSWIR HYPER-APO lens series

Since diverse substances respond to differing wavelengths, one can use such characteristics as the basis for machine vision applications for materials identification, sorting, packing, quality control, etc. To understand the value of these lenses, see below for an example of conventional lenses that cannot retain focus across different wavelengths:

*Conventional lenses only focus in specific wavelengths*

Now see images across a wide range of wavelengths, with the award winning Computar lens, that retain focus:

*Diverse materials under diverse lighting – in focus at each wavelength.*

*The same lens may be used effectively in diverse applications.*

Also new from Computar is the VisSWIR Lite series, providing:

— High transmission from Visible to SWIR (400-1700nm) range

— Reasonable cost performance for narrow band imaging

— Compact design

Key features of Computar VisSWIR Lite seriesComputer

Contact 1stVision for support and / or pricing.

Give us some brief idea of your application and we will contact you to discuss.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have an average of 20 years experience to assist in your camera selection. Representing the largest portfolio of industry leading brands in imaging components, we can help you design the optimal vision solution for your application.

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020

Which machine vision lens provide ultra-high resolution?

The image fidelity achievable from a machine vision camera is only as good as the optics you use! Many of the machine vision cameras used today utilize very small pixels, down to 1.25um. The crispness of the images are a result of the resolution of your machine vision lens, so matching the right lens to the camera sensor is extremely important. We classify the lens resolution in terms of line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm). So, what lenses can help resolve these small pixels?

pixel size — Click to download our quick reference chart

First, the relationship of pixel pitch can be put in terms of lp/mm as seen in the chart to the right. Machine vision lens manufacturers today typically provide the resolving power on their data sheets to help in the lens selection and ensure your matching the lens to the image sensor. If not matched properly, image contrast will suffer.

For machine vision cameras with small pixels, the Moritex ML-M-UR “Ultra high” resolution lenses are an excellent choice with the capability of resolving pixel pitches down to 2.2um with good contrast.

Click HERE for specifications on the Moritex ML-M-UR series and request a quote

The comparison images below show the Moritex ML-M-UR series compared to a conventional lens with less resolution. As you can see in the cutout of the corner, the contrast is much higher with lenses with high resolving power.

machine vision lenses - image comparison — Left (High resolution lens) Right (Legacy lower resolution lens)

Lens resolution typically has fall off to the edges of a lens. To maintain high contrast, Moritex has optimized the ML-M-UR series to have good resolving power to the edges of the lens.

The charts below represent the contrast (MTF) corresponding to image height (x-axis ) showing the contrast from lens center to lens edge. The X-axis represents the center starting at zero millimeters and mapping MTF to the edge (furthest right point) The ML-M-UR shown in the left chart demonstrates very good performance across the lens. (A relatively flat line is good!) As a comparison to another lens (right chart), contrast is degraded across the lens from center to edge.

Aside from high resolution, The Moritex ML-M-UR series are a compact, 29mm diameter design and well suited for typical 29mm cube cameras. Additionally the lenses have an anti-vibration design with maximum acceleration to 10G’s.

Click to contact — Give us some brief idea of your application and we will contact you to
discuss camera options.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera selection. With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

Ph: 978-474-0044 / info@1stvision.com / www.1stvision.com