Olympus Imaging Corporation

Toshiya Sodeyama

Koichi Takahashi

Izuru Kiyokawa

Fumito Orii

Hideaki Ichikawa

Yasutaka Tanabe

A camera unit capable of taking good visibility images covering a wide field of view, and having a thinner profile includes an imaging optical unit having free-curved surface prisms for forming subject images, a single imaging device for photoelectrically-converting the subject images from a plurality of directions formed by the imaging optical unit, a signal processing unit, a communication unit, and a control unit for controlling operation of the imaging device and the signal processing unit.

Panoramic camera unit and camera system with arrayed optical elements

A lens assembly comprises a lens group M and a lens framefor retaining the lens group M. In this lens assembly, the lens framehas an entire circumference supportfor supporting the rim on the subject side, of each lens M, across the entire circumference thereof, and an end face supportfor supporting the lens M on the image side. Each lens M comprises a chamferformed at a rim of a lens surface on the subject side across the entire circumference thereof, and the entire circumference supportsupports the chamfersuch that the entire circumference supportis continuous with the lens surface at substantially the same radius of curvature with the lens surface. According to the present invention, there is provided a lens assembly which can reduce size and cost and has stable lens retaining ability.

Growing community of inventors

Ina, Japan

Toshiya Sodeyama