Development of compact optical zoom lenses with extended-depth-of-field

Development of compact optical zoom lenses for integration in mobile phones is the goal of many companies. Optical zoom lenses change their focal length by the movement of lens elements or change in surface curvature or refractive index and this complicates the zoom lens design. Extended depth-of- field (EDOF) techniques provides the mean to simplify and miniaturize zoom lens designs with moving lens elements and a new EDOF optimization technique is presented. Finally, the starting point and an example of a compact optical zoom lens design with EDOF is also described.