Customer Reviews

Lens Design, Third Edition, (Optical Science and Engineering)

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've only read the first ten pages, but that was enough to know that this book needs help. Lots of help. I'm shocked to know that it is the FOURTH EDITION and the first ten pages are riddled with errors, inconsistencies, and all-around poor presentation. Paragraphs that seem to end mid-sentence. Big, bold, section headings that misspell common words like "refractive". Technical drawings that appear to have been done in Microsoft Paint (Seriously, check out the semicircle showing the angle theta on the middle of page 8. I'd give you the figure number BUT THEY DON'T LABEL IT.) Figures that sort of appear mid-sentence, as if they were entered in-line with text in MS Word. Variables that are suddenly introduced with no definition.

Reading this is painful. I've read lots of scientific/mathematic/engineering texts (I have a PhD in Applied Physics). I will not continue with this book any further. I had to re-read the second page about ten times trying to figure out if they had randomly placed the wrong paragraph on it. I finally moved on and realized that no, this is just the way the book reads.

Thank goodness I didn't pay for it (was included in a purchase of ZEMAX EE software for work).

I do not doubt that the author is very experienced and has lots of knowledge to give, but he needs another pair of eyes (or two or three) to go through the book to edit and make sure it's readable and presented professionally. They also need to get someone to redo many of the figures/sketches. The text is worth one star, the inclusion of all the sample lens designs, both in the book and on the included CD-ROM, could be useful though.

Mind you, I'm quitting mid-first chapter. Perhaps the book is amazing in later chapters, but I am definitely not sticking around to find out.

I got this book to learn about zoom lenses. It has 6 chapters on the subject, so it must have something to say. I started in chapter 33 (First Order Theory, Mechanically Compensated Zoom) and found that the second equation was wrong. Looking at things further, I found that the units do not match the meanings of the variables in the remainder of the chapter. The author seems to be cutting and pasting from several sources without regard to what the variables mean, and screws up the whole description in the process. The reference to MIL-HDBK-141 is all I got out of it. If you need to learn something, don't buy this book!

I work in the electro-optics field, with a background in EE and laser resonators. Since I came from a electrical engineering background, I have sought to get more knowledge in the practical field of lens design beyond laser resonators and optical accesories. For that reason, bought this book, as well as the Virendra N. Mahajan series on Optics and Abberrations.
Unlike that series, as well as the Siegman classic on Lasers, this book introduces many equations, terms, and plots, as well as glass catalog items, with very little in the way of introduction, derivation or even an explanation of terms. It is solely meant for a an experienced practicing lens designers only. I was very disapppointed in this book and its review. I found it was reviewed wrongly, for the level at which it should be purchased and read, quite disceptive as a result, even though I wam sure it was not unintentional.

Any optical design needs a starting point. This book is a great source for a starting point and for learning the various designs.

Lens design by laikin could be describe as a good but incomplete beginner book. Lens design is a quite strong and wide subject but reading this book as first action if you need to design you own imaging lens could save lot of you time and made you SECRETE success.

The biggest quality of that script is the total absence of stupid remind as: what is a wave, do you remember matrix optic, what is a ray, etc. If the lens design is an inexplored world the first chapter will kept you awake. You will recive within 45 pages an emergency course around how we do that today!

Unfortunaly the reverse is a lack of basic principe. Discussion about the aberration shape correction, iterration technique, some of the most common apartus are even forgiven, like the spectrometer. But even if such apartus is not treated i feel safe you will find somewhere else easyly, maybe too much often, the same the same thing taken from Borne and Wolfe (Principe of Optic).

The SECRET of this book is than it not at all a physic book, nobody will give you some explanation about the calculus of MTF or some realted experiment (the basic laboratory tool to compute experimentaly such function are even not describe). You will get a well structured showing you the structure and the arrengement you should have to do that task i our computer world.

The 20 example (7/8 of the whole book) is what you need because lens design I done necessary by iterative process, with the help of anay numerical methode to find out some good compromise! The author will give you a good starting point if you wish to modify an current design.

I can promess you this book will be you favorite. However it noway some table and example salad. You get for each example two or tree lens prescription (radius, with, material, diameter), the lens drawing, some explanation and the corespondante MTF function. NOTHING ELSE. At least the first chapter finish you will be happy to have it under the hand when the time to explore a new design will come.