Photographic optical system

• US 6,339,508 B1
• Filed: 02/01/2000
• Issued: 01/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Yuko, Nozawa, Toshihide
• Primary Examiner(s): Ben, Loha
• Application Number:
  US09/496,289
• Time in Patent Office: 714 Days
• Field of Search: 359/686, 359/689, 359/691, 359/692, 359/694, 359/771, 359/753, 359/793, 359/795, 359/823, 396/429, 396/366, 396/419
• US Class Current: 359/686
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/0045 having five or more lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/006 at least one element being a compound optical element, e.g. cemented elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/0065 having a beam-folding prism or mirror
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/04 Reversed telephoto objectives
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/18 with lenses having one or more non-spherical faces, e.g. for reducing geometrical aberration G02B13/002 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 9/34 having four components only

Abstract

A photographic optical system comprising a front lens unit which comprises at least a negative lens element and has negative refractive power as a whole, a rear lens unit which comprises at least two positive lens elements and at least a negative lens element and has positive refractive power as a whole as well as a reflecting member to fold an optical path and an aperture stop which are disposed between the front lens unit and the rear lens unit, and has an adequately defined focal length of the front lens nit and an adequately defined distance along an optical axis between the front lens unit to the aperture stop. This photographic optical system is composed of a small number of lens elements, has a large field angle and exhibits favorable optical performance.

Claims

1. A photographic optical system comprising in order from the object side:

a front lens unit which comprises at least a negative lens element and has negative refractive power as a whole; and

a rear lens unit which comprises at least two positive lens elements and at least a negative lens element, and has positive refractive power as a whole, wherein a reflecting member to fold an optical path and an aperture stop are disposed in order from the object side between said front lens unit and said rear lens unit, and wherein said photographic optical system satisfies the following conditions (1) and (2);

2. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, wherein said rear lens unit comprises, in order from the object side, a first positive biconvex positive lens element, a cemented lens component consisting of a positive lens element and a negative lens element, and a second positive lens element, wherein said second positive lens element has an aspherical surface, and wherein said optical system satisfies the following condition (3):

3. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, wherein said rear lens unit comprises, in order from the object side, a first biconvex positive lens element, a cemented lens component consisting of a positive lens element and a negative lens element, and a second positive lens element, wherein said first positive lens element and said second positive lens element have aspherical surfaces respectively, and wherein said optical system satisfies the following condition (3):

4. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said front lens unit consists, in order from the object side, of a negative meniscus lens element which has a convex surface on the object side and a negative lens element which has curvature on an image side surface higher than that on an object side surface.

5. The photographic optical system according to claim 4 satisfying the following condition (4):

6. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said front lens unit consists of a negative lens element which has an aspherical surface.

7. The photographic optical system according to claim 6 satisfying the following condition (4):

8. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first positive lens element of said rear lens unit satisfies the following condition (5):

9. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first positive lens element of said rear lens unit satisfies the following condition (5-1):

11. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 10, wherein said optical system is focused by changing a distance along an optical axis between said front lens unit and said rear lens unit.

12. The photographic optical system according to claim 11, wherein said optical system is focused by moving said front lens unit and said reflecting member in a direction along said rear lens unit.

13. The photographic optical system according to claim 11, wherein said optical system is focused by moving said front lens unit in a direction along an optical axis of said front lens unit.

14. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 10, wherein said optical system is focused by moving said front lens unit toward the object side.

17. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said optical system has an image pickup surface formed by said photographic optical system, and wherein said optical system is focused by changing a distance along an optical axis between said front lens unit and said image pickup surface.

18. The photographic optical system according to claim 17, wherein said optical system is focused by changing a distance along the optical axis between said rear lens unit and said image pickup surface without changing a relative positional relation between said front lens unit and said rear lens unit.

19. The photographic optical system according to claim 18, wherein said optical system comprises an image pickup device and is focused by moving said image pickup device in a direction along the optical axis.

20. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 10, wherein said reflecting member is a mirror.

21. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 10, wherein said reflecting member is a prism.

22. The photographic optical system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 10, wherein a surface having refractive power of said front lens unit and a surface having refractive power of said rear lens unit are composed of spherical surfaces or aspherical surfaces which are rotationally symmetrical with regard to an optical axis.

23. The photographic optical system according to claim 22, wherein said reflecting member has only a reflecting surface and said reflecting surface is planar.

24. A photographic apparatus comprising:

the photographic optical system according to claim 23;

an image pickup device which is disposed on an image pickup surface formed by said photographic optical system; and

signal processing means which converts an image received by said image pickup device into electric signals inside out.

25. The photographic apparatus according to claim 24 comprising display means which displays an image incident on said image pickup device as an image inside out on the basis of the electric signals converted by said signal processing means.

10. A photographic optical system comprising in order from the object side;

a front lens unit which comprises at least a negative lens element and has negative refractive power as a whole; and

a rear lens unit which comprises at least a positive lens element and has positive refractive power as a whole, wherein said optical system has an image pickup surface formed by said photographic optical system, wherein said optical system has a reflecting member to fold an optical path which is disposed between said front lens unit and said rear lens unit, and wherein said photographic optical system is focused by changing a distance along the optical axis between said front lens unit and said image pickup surface.

15. The photographic optical system according to claim 10, wherein said optical system is focused by changing a distance along the optical axis between said rear lens unit and said image pickup surface without changing a relative positional relation between said front lens unit and said rear lens unit.

16. The photographic optical system according to claim 15, wherein said optical system comprises an image pickup device which is disposed on said image pickup surface and is focused by moving said image pickup device in a direction along the optical axis.