how camera lenses are made

[bettner12]

pretty sweet video, good to know information. i know why lenses are hella expensive now

http://gizmodo.com/348768/how-camera-lenses-are-made-in-honor-of-pma-2008

[NIN]

yea i think optical glass is around $1000 a pound

[Nukeade]

Interesting.  I always figured that most household glass was just straight up silicon dioxide of varying purity.  It turns out that optical glass, as well as many other glasses, have interesting formulas.  From Wikipedia:

41.2% SiO2
34.1% PbO
12.4% BaO
6.3% ZnO
3.0% K2O
2.5% CaO
0.35% Sb2O3
0.2% As2O3

Though, my personal favorite clear material is Indium Tin Oxide:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium_tin_oxide.

~Ben

[Matt Mahoney]

I just finally watched that video. It was defintely neat. Thanks for the link.

[bettner12]

anyone else notice that the lens they assemble in the end has an f/ of 1/4!?