Tamron enters far-IR market with image-stabilized zoom lenses
PRESS RELEASE
Tamron Co., Ltd. (Saitama, Japan) announces two prototype zoom lens models designed for true far-Infrared imaging with its proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) system built in, the very first in the industry.
The two zooms include a 14-40mm and 35-105mm, addressing the needs for both wideangle and telephoto coverage with versatility in use with a 3X zoom ratio. Integration of the VC feature certainly enhances practical values, delivering crisp IR images without the blurring caused by camera vibration.
“Expansion of Tamron’s product portfolio to the true far-infrared zone, stretching out to 14000nm wavelength range is a quantum leap in a sense,” stated Mr. Morio Ono, president & CEO of Tamron Co., Ltd., Japan, “but this is in line with our corporate management direction to bring new imaging solutions to a whole variety of industries, and a departure from optics for visible ray.”
The new zoom lenses are designed and produced based on years of expertise in optical design and process technologies available at Tamron, and yet, they did not shape a form without developing new approaches both in design and engineering, which are distinctively different from conventional methodologies. “Simply put, you cannot see anything through the lens because it does not transmit the bandwidth of light that human eyes can recognize. Therefore, no alignment fixtures, for instance, developed in the past works in the way they are supposed to function. Whole new devices are required for metrology alone,” so revealed a story behind the scene of development process.
The Far-IR vision systems, for many years to date, were nearly used exclusively for military and/or intelligence-related arenas by nature. However, when the Swine Flu broke out as a potentially serious threat to human beings, thermal-detection cameras emerged as a star apparatus to cope with the situation. Implementation of preventive measures are the key to avoid spread of such threats around the globe, and detecting body temperatures in a non-offensive fashion with reasonably high accuracy was proven to be a highly efficient tool.
Likewise, detecting heat of an electric wire before a fire breaks out, or monitoring the thermal profile of equipment of some sort in a totally dark environment with zero ambient light becomes feasible and manageable by using Far-IR camera imaging.
“A lot of new applications absolutely isolated from the arms-oriented field is where we would like to be involved,” concluded Mr. Ono, “where we can expect to bring in a higher level of security in people’s lives.”
About Tamron
At Tamron, we are committed to providing new imaging solutions for a variety of industries, ranging from optics for security/surveillance cameras, interchangeable lenses for D-SLRs, customized optics for digital still cameras and camcorders, mobile phone cameras, automotive on-board cameras and the like. The company can provide a total turn-key solution from opto-mechanical and electro-mechanical designs, prototype sample modeling to final production launch.
Contact
Tamron Co.,Ltd
New Business Development Group
1385, Hasunuma, Minuma-ku, Saitama-shi
Saitama 337-8556 JAPAN
Tel:+81-48-684-9424
Fax:+81-48-683-8594
e-mail:[email protected]
URL:www.tamron.co.jp
-- Posted by Vision Systems Design