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Re: [OM] Vignetting, light pollution or both?

Subject: Re: [OM] Vignetting, light pollution or both?
From: frieder.faig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 20:34:57 +0100
On Fri, Dec 28, 2001 at 10:00:37PM -0500, Larry Woods wrote:
> I have a question about night-sky pictures that I took back when the
> Leonid asteroids were around.  All of my pictures have a "hot spot"
> more-or-less in the center of the frame.
>> 
> Does the Zuiko 24mm 2.8 have a problem with light fall-off at the edges?
> 

Hi,
I´d say it is the combination of light-fall-off at the edges of the lens 
(vingetting)
and the uneven light in the sky:

cos(w)^4 is nice, a spreadsheed, and here are the
values for the natural vingetting:

focal           angle of        light   
lenght          field           loss (f-stops)
-------         --------        --------------  
18mm            100°            2.5
21mm            91°             2.0
24mm            83°             1.6
28mm            75°             1.3
35mm            63°             0.9
50mm            46°             0.5
100mm           24°             0.1

It is obvious that natural vingetting is a concern of 
wide angel lenses. But this values are not all, 
which is demonstrated from the following values from a lens-test of 
two -here- well known lenses:

                wide open       F5.6    F8
Zuiko 3.5/18:     2.6           1.7     1.3 [F-Stops]
Zuiko 2/21  :     2.8           1.5     1.2 [F-Stops]

There are two other factors: Imperfect lens mount cut additional
light from the rays of the corners. Happens when the diameter of the lens 
elements are not wide enough (called: factitious-vingetting??).
This effect is reduced when you stop a lens down (see above).

The other factor is "RETROFOCUS DESIGN!". This enlarges the 
lens-to-film distance. This effects also that the light strikes the film in 
a less "troublesome" angele and vingetting is reduced!

Concluson: SLR-wide-angle lenses are more complicated to built, 
 Compared to classic, symetric w.a.-lenses for rangefinder and large format.
But this helps to prevent vingetting.

Frieder Faig.

P.S: The XA lens (2.8/35) uses a tele construction, to make the lens 
shorter ("Inverse of Retrofocus design"). This is why the lens is more prone to 
vingetting than the theoretical value for 35mm lenses- What Oly. admit in
the Vision-Age-Magazine.



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