LIGHT WORKS.      The evolution of machine vision optics.

Why telecentric?

Everyday experience teaches that conventional lenses see an object as being larger if it is close and smaller if it is far. This is part of how we judge distance by eye.

But for automatic gauging applications this property can introduce significant errors. For example, bottles on conveyors can "walk" side to side between the rails, thus changing their distance to the camera that is viewing them.

The difference might seem small, but when trying to measure objects to within a few thousandth of an inch, the difference can be critical.

Good telecentric lenses overcome this problem. How far an object can change its distance and still appear to be the same size is called magnification depth of field. This is different from image sharpness depth of field, which is the commonly understood meaning of "depth of field."

Dimensional gauging superstar

Large magnification depth of field means that telecentric lenses are ideal for a great variety of dimensional-gauging applications. Some typical gauging examples include threaded fasteners, machined parts, bottle geometry, and PCB component placement, or any time you want to measure something with little or no perspective error, or with varying distance.

Light Works telecentric lens family

See our products page for full product details on our Wide-Eye™ and Super-Eye™ lines of telecentric lenses, or contact us to discuss your custom application. You'll find we offer custom optics at near-stock prices.