The Effect Of Lens Elements On The Image.

[Dave442]

I am not sure how we went from the relation between number of lens elements vs the size of the flash on the camera to how camera companies should become leaner and at the same time increase their participation in the manufacture and distribution of their products.

Actually I think you should be paying twice what you do for that camera so that cheap labor can get a raise.

 

[Advanced Photo]

Now I want to play "camera company tycoon" the game. It will be like automation the car company tycoon game but with cameras as your product.

 

[Bluester]

Actually I think you should be paying twice what you do for that camera so that cheap labor can get a raise.

There is no need for a price hike; they can give raises to their employees with the current price of their products. They don't have to slap the entire bill on the consumers. They are just too greedy.

 

[astroNikon]

Actually I think you should be paying twice what you do for that camera so that cheap labor can get a raise.

There is no need for a price hike; they can give raises to their employees with the current price of their products. They don't have to slap the entire bill on the consumers. They are just too greedy.

What do you state that you did as a job again ?

 

[minicoop1985]

Well, to reply to the OP... If more than two elements made for a degradation in image quality, companies like Hasselblad would have caught on to that. The 150mm f3.2 I just bought has 9 elements in 8 groups.


The consumer camera market hasn't been all that great lately. I don't think greedy is the right word to describe them. Besides, these companies are Japanese. There's a completely different mindset across the Pacific than there is here with CEOs making 367 times what the average employee makes.

 

[Dave442]

During a little six hour drive today a thought came to me that the OP was not talking about the degrading of the image with extra lens elements, but rather the loss of light transmission (as he was considering the need for more light with the use of more lens elements).

This made me think of T-stops and light transmission. Anyway, had to go check DXO Mark for a quick comparison of three similar f/1.4 lenses - 7 element lens, 8 element lens, 12 element lens. Their results show that the lenses were transmitting 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 Ev less light respectivly than the wide-open aperture based on f-stop. So yes, there is a chance that less light may reach the sensor when there are more lenses in the light path.

Of course I expect that the number of lenses is not the only factor; the quality of glass, design and manufacturing methods and lens coatings play a role in determining how much light reaches the sensor. Oh, and the 12 element lens was better in sharpness, distortion and vignetting.