PHOTOGRAMMETRIC OPTICS

ROMER BONGBONGA

September 2022
OPTICS
▪ Both film and digital cameras depend upon optical elements such
as lenses to function
▪ The understanding of the fundamental principles of optics is
essential to photography and imaging
▪ Photography – “drawing of light”
▪ Pinhole box
▪ Louis Daguerre (1839) developed photographic film that could
permanently record images

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OPTICS (definition)
▪ The science which deals with light, its sources, its propagation,
and the effects which it undergoes and produces

Branches
1. Geometric optics
2. Physical optics
3. Physiological optics

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Geometric Optics
▪ Light is considered as bundle of rays traveling in straight lines
from a point source through a transmitting medium
▪ Treats light propagation in terms of rays or straight lines
▪ Basis for solving fundamental photogrammetric equations

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Physical Optics
▪ Considers light as a wave and studies its propagation by means of
wave fronts
▪ Light travels through a transmitting medium in a series of
emanating waves from a point source
▪ “Pebble dropped on still water”
▪ 𝑣 = 𝑓𝜆

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Physiological Optics
▪ Embraces both geometric and physical optics of the eye
▪ Incorporates the physiology and psychology of the visual process

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Reflection and Refraction
▪ When a light ray strikes the surface of an object, part of the light
may (a) be transmitted through the object, (b) be reflected, or (c)
absorbed by the object
▪ Light passing from one transparent medium to another with
different compositions will undergo change in its velocity
▪ The velocity in each medium depends on the refractive index of
the medium (𝑛 = 𝑐 Τ𝑣)

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Laws of Reflection
1. The incident ray, normal and reflected rays are in the same plane
(coplanar), and on the same side of a surface.
2. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

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Laws of Reflection

𝑖=𝑟
𝑖 𝑟

𝑖 = angle of incidence
𝑟 = angle of reflection

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Laws of Refraction
1. The incident and refracted rays are on opposite sides of and in
the same plane as the normal to a surface.
2. When a ray of light passes from one medium to another, the sine
of the angle of incidence bears a constant ratio to the sine of the
angle of refraction. This ratio is called the Refractive Index from
one medium to another, and is denoted by μ. Thus
sin 𝑖
𝜇=
sin 𝑟

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Laws of Refraction
𝑛1 = index of refraction of medium 1
𝑛2 = index of refraction of medium 2

𝑖
medium 1 𝑛1

medium 2 𝑛2 Snell’s Law

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Laws of Refraction

𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 1.0003 or 1.0

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Laws of Refraction
Rule of thumb:
If the light ray is from less dense to denser medium, the angle of
refraction is towards the normal. While if the ray is from a denser to
less dense medium, the angle of refraction is away from the normal.

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Laws of Refraction
Critical Angle
▪ Largest angle of incidence at which a light ray will no longer be
refracted
▪ The angle of refraction is 90 degrees.
▪ Will be internally reflected instead
▪ Fiber optics

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Laws of Refraction
Example:
A ray of light travels from glass with a refractive index of 1.4 into the air, with an
assumed refractive index of 1.0. If the angle of incidence is 30 degrees, what is
the angle of refraction? At what angle of incidence will total reflection occur?

𝑛1 sin 𝑖 = 𝑛2 sin 𝑟 At critical angle, 𝑟 = 90°

1.4 sin 𝑖 1.4 sin 30° 𝑛𝑟 1.0

𝑟 = sin−1 0.7 = 44.4° 𝑖𝑐 = sin−1 0.71429 = 45.6°

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Imaging with a Thin Lens

If the rays are travelling parallel to each other, the light is said to be collimated.

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Basic Definitions
Optical System
– any device that operate on light to produce a specific and desired effect
Optical Axis
– the rotational axis of the optical system that passes through the centers of
curvature of surfaces comprising the lens system
Principal Planes
– are perpendicular to the optical axis and located in such a way that the lateral
magnification at their location is unity and positive
Lateral Magnification
– the ratio between the image and object size

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Lens Maker’s Equation
Focal Length, f

1 1 1
= 𝑛−1 +
𝑓 𝑟1 𝑟2
𝑟1

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Lens Law
image
1 1 1
= +
object 𝑓 𝑝 𝑞
optical
axis focus

x’ f f x

p q
(object (image distance)
distance)

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Imaging with a Thick Lens

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Basic Definitions
Nodal Points (N, N’)
– are the intersection of the principal planes with the optical axis
– a ray passing through the first nodal point will emerge from the rear nodal
point parallel to the incident ray

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Basic Definitions
Focal Points (F, F’)
– are the axial points where
the images of axial objects
at infinity are located
Focal Length (f, f’)
– is the distance between the
focal point and the
corresponding nodal point

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Len’s Makers Equations (for Thick Lens)

1 1 1 𝑛−1 𝑡
= 𝑛−1 + −
𝑓 𝑟1 𝑟2 𝑛𝑟1 𝑟2

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Ray Tracing

Rules of ray tracing:

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Other Elements in Photogrammetric Optics
1. Aperture
2. Field of View
3. Lens Aberrations
4. Depth of Field
5. Depth of Focus

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Aperture
▪ defines the diameter of
the lens
▪ controls the amount of
light that the camera
collects
▪ f-number (f-stop) - ratio
of the focal length to the
aperture diameter

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Aperture
▪ increasing aperture by
one f-stop should mean
increasing the shutter
speed to maintain the
same exposure
▪ E.g., f-stop increase
from 5.6 to 4 changes
from 1/500 to 1/1000

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Field of View
▪ the angular size of the
cone in space that the
sensor can image
▪ human eye (normal) = 50o
▪ wide-angle = 90o
▪ super-wide-angle = 110o
to 130o

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Lens Aberrations
▪ Deviations from the theoretically perfect imaging geometry;
imperfections degrading the sharpness of image
▪ An object point will be imaged as a blur as an effect of lens
aberrations
▪ Five primary aberrations:
1. Spherical aberration
2. Coma
3. Astigmatism
4. Field curvature
5. Distortion

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Depth of Field
The range in object distance within which the object point can be
moved without introducing significant image deterioration

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Depth of Field
𝑝 𝑝
𝑝𝑁 = 𝑝𝐹 =
𝐷 𝐷
1+ 𝑝−𝑓 𝑐 2 1− 𝑝−𝑓 𝑐 2
𝑓 𝑓

depth of field = 𝑝𝐹 − 𝑝𝑁
𝑝𝑁 = near distance of acceptable focus
𝑝𝐹 = far distance of acceptable focus
𝑝 = object distance
𝑓 = focal length
𝑐 = diameter of circle of confusion
𝐷 = aperture (f-number)

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Depth of Focus
Distance behind or in front of plane of best focus where the image of
object distance is still in acceptable focus

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END OF PRESENTATION

Questions?

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