Close-up imaging using microcamera arrays for focal plane synthesis

Conventional close-up imaging uses lens arrays to form a continuous image of an extended object on a single focal plane sensor or photographic film. By imaging using microcamera arrays onto many separate sensors rather than a single large sensor, the subfields captured by individual sensors may be combined using image processing into a large synthetic image plane. This greatly increases the flexibility of the close-up imaging design because it is no longer required that the close up image be continuous. Using microcamera arrays, hundreds or thousands of megapixel sensors may be combined to form a synthetic gigapixel-scale sensor. This paper is an investigation into the design issues of microcamera arrays, and presents a simple design of a lens suitable for a megapixel class microcamera. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3554389]