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In
optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...
, a relay lens is a
lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
or a group of lenses that receives the
image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...
from the
objective lens In optical engineering, the objective is the optical element that gathers light from the object being observed and focuses the light rays to produce a real image. Objectives can be a single lens or mirror, or combinations of several optical elem ...
and relays it to the
eyepiece An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks through the device. The ...
. Relay lenses are found in
refracting telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses an ...
s,
endoscope An endoscope is an inspection instrument composed of image sensor, optical lens, light source and mechanical device, which is used to look deep into the body by way of openings such as the mouth or anus. A typical endoscope applies several modern t ...
s, and
periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
s to optically manipulate the light path, extend the
length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Inte ...
of the whole
optical system Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...
, and usually serve the purpose of inverting the image. They may be made of one or more conventional lenses or
achromatic doublet An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane. The most comm ...
s, or a long cylindrical gradient-index of refraction lens (a GRIN lens). Relay lenses operate by producing intermediate planes of focus. For example, in a
SLR camera A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin l ...
the
zoom lens A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed-focal-length (FFL) lens (see prime lens). A true zoom lens, also called a parfocal lens, is one t ...
produces an image plane where the
image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of c ...
or
photographic film Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine ...
would usually go. If you place another lens with
focal length The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foc ...
''f'' at the distance 2''f'' from that image plane and then put an image sensor at 2''f'' beyond that lens, that lens will relay the first image to the second image with 1:1 magnification (see thin lens formula showing that with object distance s=2f from the lens, the image distance from the lens is calculated to s'=2f). Ideally, this second image is the mirror image of the first image, so you could put an image sensor there and record the mirrored first image. If a longer distance is needed, this can be repeated. In practice, the lens will be an
achromatic doublet An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane. The most comm ...
. In modern
optical telescope An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through elect ...
s and
telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a '' reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate ...
s with a dual-
focal plane In Gaussian optics, the cardinal points consist of three pairs of points located on the optical axis of a rotationally symmetric, focal, optical system. These are the '' focal points'', the principal points, and the nodal points. For ''ideal'' ...
design, the objective image is typically already inverted upon reaching the relay lenses, and thus needed to be inverted again back into an erect image (i.e. "erecting" the image) before passing to the eyepiece, so the viewer actually sees an upright target. The relay lens group is the optical component responsible for that re-inversion, and therefore sometimes collectively called the erector lenses. Also, for
endoscope An endoscope is an inspection instrument composed of image sensor, optical lens, light source and mechanical device, which is used to look deep into the body by way of openings such as the mouth or anus. A typical endoscope applies several modern t ...
applications, where small tube diameter is desirable, most of the tube is filled with glass, with thin air gaps to allow for powered surfaces; because marginal ray angle is smaller at a given
numerical aperture In optics, the numerical aperture (NA) of an optical system is a dimensionless number that characterizes the range of angles over which the system can accept or emit light. By incorporating index of refraction in its definition, NA has the proper ...
the higher the
index of refraction In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or ...
, this allows the relay to have higher NA for a given diameter. These are known as Hopkins rod lenses.
Karl Storz GmbH Karl Storz SE & Co. KG is a German medical device company that manufactures and sells endoscopes and surgical instruments. It was founded in Tuttlingen by Dr. Karl Storz in 1945. The company is privately owned; Storz' daughter, Sybill, took over ru ...
licensed the patent for the Hopkins relay lens and introduced endoscopes including such lenses in 1965.


See also

* Prism (e.g.
Porro The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian cumbia rhythm that developed into its own subgenre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballro ...
or
roof prism A roof prism, also called a Dachkanten prism or Dach prism (from German: ''Dachkante'', lit. "roof edge"), is a reflective prism containing a section where two faces meet at a 90° angle, resembling the roof of a building and thus the name. R ...
) *
Catadioptric system A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses ( dioptrics) and curved mirrors ( catoptrics). Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlight ...
*
Star diagonal A star diagonal, erecting lens or diagonal mirror is an angled mirror or prism used in telescopes that allows viewing from a direction that is perpendicular to the usual eyepiece axis. It allows more convenient and comfortable viewing when the tel ...


References


External links

* Lens erecting system

* Image erecting system

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad6/tamasflexoptics/optika/image1.pn

* Erecting Eyepiec

* Endoscop

* http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/496947/relay-lens Lenses {{Optics-stub