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Lenses information page

While XIMEA does not typically supply lenses for single unit orders, it could be helpful to share general information in this regard.

Lenses are a whole separate topic related to machine vision and thus gathered here are only very basic details. 

Important factors to consider before selecting a lens:

  • Lens mount  - C, S, EF, F or other mounts

  • Focal distance vs image area (FOV - field of view) vs working distance

  • Image circle vs sensor size

  • Resolution - nominal pixel size of the lens is not larger than the pixel size of the sensor

  • Aperture vs lighting conditions vs depth of field

Basically, what is important to check is Object height and width, working distance, lens mount of the camera and resolution.
 

If the available Focal length of the lenses does not match, the next best thing would be the nearest lower value.
For example in the case of f 18mm it would be f 16mm.

NOTE: Each lens has its minimum object distance (MOD), if the working distance is less than the MOD, it won't be possible to focus the lens any more. This issue can be resolved by the use of the extension rings putting them between the lens and the camera.

Lens mount options available from XIMEA cameras:


There are also ways to switch lens mount with the use of Adapters for example from C to CS or vise versa, from S to C and other way round.

Lens-grey-C-mount-S-mount-M12-camera-tripod

Lens vendor suggestions with calculators

High quality lenses typically provide

  • Little shading

  • High resolution options

  • Lower errors in image

  • Higher price

Focus and other characteristics 

XIMEA does not offer cameras with the Autofocus feature and classic Zoom feature is not supported besides the standard manual.
Conventional, Fixed focal length lenses are usually utilized with XIMEA cameras as they are mechanically more stable. 


Autofocus 
Most of industrial cameras use C-mount lenses, which do not have motorized functions that could be controlled by the camera software.  
There are motorized lenses available, but they require a separate connection to the host computer.

Focus functionality can be achieved for example by integration and use of either P-Iris lenses or Liquid lenses - VIDEO.
Both require considerable effort and possibly other hardware and/or software like additional cables and programming.

The specifics of autofocus are that you need physical and software part – physical to change the focus and software for the algorithm that controls it.
More about it can be checked here:



Zoom EF
It is possible to get for example “10x zoom” with EF lens, but there are no off-the-shelf options for a motorized zoom.
Some of the XIMEA cameras are equipped with so called active EF-mount which allows remote control of aperture, focus and image stabilization.

Aperture determines how much light will reach the sensor (defined by the F) - the larger the number the less light.
The smaller the aperture the greater the Depth of field and smaller the image area.


Specialized lenses

Some cameras offer special characteristics and thus require special lenses like: