Dumb questions.. why lenes are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle?

[enyceckk]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle? Why can't the lens be rectangle as well? If the lens is rectangle we wont have vignetting??

 

[runnah]

Cause then you'd have round photos!

 

[robbins.photo]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle? Why can't the lens be rectangle as well? If the lens is rectangle we wont have vignetting??

Because a square focus ring or zoom ring would most likely be pretty difficult to turn.

 

[480sparky]

It's merely an economic decision. It's easier to manufacture lenses that are round. Rectangular glass would still need to be round when made, but then you add the step of cutting it into a rectangle. THEN, you have to maintain alignment to the sensor through the rest of the assembly process.

Cheaper to make 'em round and keep 'em round.

Cause then you'd have round photos!

And what's wrong with round photos?

 

[WayneF]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle? Why can't the lens be rectangle as well? If the lens is rectangle we wont have vignetting??

You would still have vignetting, simply because the corners are farther from the lens center line. Light falls off with distance from center, particularly at wide apertures.

I think pictures are rectangular because the old masters (Rembrandt, etc) did it that way, and the fad stuck.

 

[robbins.photo]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle? Why can't the lens be rectangle as well? If the lens is rectangle we wont have vignetting??

You would still have vignetting, simply because the corners are farther from the lens center line. Light falls off with distance from center, particularly at wide apertures.

I think pictures are rectangular because the old masters (Rembrandt, etc) did it that way, and the fad stuck.

That and it's about a level of magnitude easier to build a rectangular picture frame than it is to construct a round one.

 

[table1349]

Physics.

 

[table1349]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle? Why can't the lens be rectangle as well? If the lens is rectangle we wont have vignetting??

You would still have vignetting, simply because the corners are farther from the lens center line. Light falls off with distance from center, particularly at wide apertures.

I think pictures are rectangular because the old masters (Rembrandt, etc) did it that way, and the fad stuck.

That and it's about a level of magnitude easier to build a rectangular picture frame than it is to construct a round one.

Not to mention what a PITA it would be to deal with round negatives in the film days and round photo paper for printers these days.

 

[snowbear]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle?

Because Johnnie was heading up the lens design team and Cynthia was in charge of the media (film, then sensors) group. Sadly, they had divorced each other just before the big camera project, so they didn't talk to each other.

 

[MOREGONE]

I'm just waiting for someone to make a round sensor

 

[cowleystjames]

View attachment 76860

You could always have a square lens instead!

 

[webestang64]

Dumb questions.. why the lens are round but the sensor and pictures are rectangle? Why can't the lens be rectangle as well? If the lens is rectangle we wont have vignetting??

Camera lenses must be round to focus light properly. Now close one eye and you will notice you see a circular "picture" of the world. Your two eyes placed side-by-side gives the impression you are seeing a rectangular view but you are seeing two circles overlapping. Rectangular areas of the film were placed next to each other to maximize the amount of pictures a roll of film could hold. Now that roll film is no longer used rectangular pictures still replicate our perception of vision.

 

[Derrel]

I heard it was a way to save photo paper, by not wasting the corners of every print with empty space. As I recall, the first Kodak rollfilm cameras made ROUND images, which were of course, printed out on squares of paper. As you can see by these examples, these round images printed on white paper have a lot of impact lost by the presence of all that white border:

round Kodak photos - Google Search

 

[480sparky]

Camera lenses must be round to focus light properly...........

 

[Judobreaker]

Camera lenses must be round to focus light properly.

No they don't.
I could create a star-shaped lens with a perfect focal point.



Okay... I couldn't. I did grind some lenses at school for a while but it was never my mayor so forget about the perfect focal point. xD
Some classmates of mine could definitely do this though.
Theoretically they could make an elephant-shaped lens with a perfect focal point. The problem isn't so much the focal point here, it's cutting the shape... xD