New tools for finding first-order zoom lens solutions and the analysis of zoom lenses during the design process

We developed software design tools in MATLAB that are compatible with Code V for supporting the process of designing zoom lenses. These tools simplify the process of finding paraxial solutions and evaluating intermediary design steps. Paraxial solutions are found through a partially random search for four group zoom systems with moving second and third groups. It requires several user-specified system parameters and then randomly assigns powers to each group. This process of randomly assigning powers is done a set number of times and only the valid solutions where no lenses crash are considered for further use. The valid designs are plotted over different design criteria and can then be selected to retrieve the first order design parameters. For the intermediate design process, the software displays lens specifications and diagnostic results across zoom for the entire lens as well as the individual groups. Systematic evaluation of the intermediate design steps is useful in determining how to proceed and improve the design. The design process is described for two different zoom lenses to show the efficiency and utility of these tools. The two zoom lenses are a 16x surveillance camera zoom lens working in the visible and a 3X zoom lens working in the visible and short wave infrared. The design procedure for these lenses covers finding the paraxial solutions to evaluating the lens for further improvement.