I've seen several people use the word "bokeh." Is this some special term
relating to the subjective image quality of a lens? Or is it just a
gross misspelling of the word "bouquet"?
>>>>>
"Most lenses of today are enginered by the same software, be it Canon,
Nikon, Sigma or whatever, which makes all lenses (within same
price-range) having the same characteristics, more or less. But the
older Zuikos were made under different conditions with what we'd today
call antique and non-standardized computer systems. My very unscientific
guess (I have no proof at all for this) is that the Zuikos are the last
of a dying breed with very special characteristics and should be enjoyed
as long as possible."
This is like saying that lens designers simply tell the program what
aperture and focal range they want, then sit back while the computer
cranks out the design.
This is _highly_ unlikely. There is no single fixed way to design a
complex lens, and no lens designer would be foolish enough to let the
computer do it for him. For one thing, he would never learn anything
new, or come up with significantly improved designs.
Furthermore, software that can be written for one computer can be
written for another. Once you've decided on the algorithms, you can code
for a PC, a Mac, a Sun, or whatever. Hardware obsolescence does not
automatically produce software obsolescence.
A lot of progress has been made in the use of "evolutionary" software to
design such things as airplanes. It's possible that such approaches
might be used in the future to design better lenses.
>>>>>
There was a time when many Olympus pocket cameras had 5 elements, rather
than the "usual" 4 for a Tessar design. Does anyone know why? Was it
that:
1. They wanted to better-correct the slightly wide-angle designs?
2. They wanted to reduce the sensitivity of the design to variations in
the curvature of lens elements?
3. They used an optical design that required 5 elements?
>>>>>
Oh, yes. One other thing. (I'm going to keep repeating this until I see
a significant change.) The word "lens" has only one 'e'.
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