Spherical aberrations occur when incoming light rays pass through a spherical lens and focus at different points, causing blurry images and reducing overall image quality.

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Designers – especially with wide-angle lenses – often have to stop-down their optical systems to exclude the corners so as to avoid an excess of field curvature.

One way to compensate for this is by using a combination of concave and convex lens elements. Another way is by using an aspheric lens.

It’s really amazing how far modern optics have come. Not too long ago, only pros could afford full-frame cameras and aspherical lenses. Now those of us in the prosumer world can get them too.

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Ideally, light rays, when passing through a camera lens element, would all converge at a single point thereby creating a sharp focus. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with many spherical lenses.

3. An aspherical lens element has much more precise control of how light travels inside your lens. So much so, that one asphere can oftentimes negate the need for many of the standard lens elements that would otherwise be needed to achieve the same effect.

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The lens surface of an aspherical lens corrects for this, making it possible to shoot at wider apertures and allowing us to use the entire surface of the lens.

Standard lenses use spherical elements, many of which aren’t natively able to direct the light reaching its edges to the same focal point as the light reaching its center.

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Asphericlenses vs spherical

An aspherical lens is simply a lens that doesn’t have a spherical surface shape. Instead, it has an aspheric surface (i.e. non-spherical), usually with counter-curves near its edges.

Aspherical lenses are used primarily in high-end optics to create sharper images and reduce or eliminate certain optical imperfections (i.e. chromatic aberrations, field curvature, etc.).

Aspherical lenses are curved outwards on their rear element so that they can better direct light rays into a single focal point. These counter-curves help correct spherical aberration, creating sharper images.

The aspherical glass lenses used in top-of-the-line telephoto and wide-angle lenses are particularly expensive. They’re usually ground and polished by hand.

These counter-curves direct light rays hitting the edges of a lens to converge at the same point of focus as the light rays hitting the center.

Asphericlenses advantages disadvantages

Learn about the benefits of aspherical lenses (Asph Lens) in photography and why you should (or shouldn't) attach one to your camera in 2023.

Asphericallensphotography

Of course, asph lenses are considerably more expensive than spherical lenses, but high-quality glass will last a lifetime, so if you can spring for the high-performing lens, go for it!

Learn about the benefits of aspherical lenses (Asph Lens) in photography and why you should (or shouldn't) attach one to your camera in 2023.

AsphericLenses price

1. Physically, spherical lenses have a front surface that is spherical, meaning the curve is the same from top to bottom and left to right – like a portion of a sphere.

Either way, knowing what an aspherical lens is and what it does will help you in better understanding your gear and when it comes time to purchase new types of camera lenses, you’ll have a better idea of what to buy.

Absolutely! They’ll make your lens lighter, your images sharper, and bring aberrations and distortion down to near zero. The only downside is how much they cost.

As you can imagine, aspherical lenses aren’t just used in cameras. They’re a vital part of any system that needs a high standard of optical quality, from telescopes and contact lenses, to rifle sights and missile-guidance systems.

Maybe you’re looking at buying a new lens and aren’t sure if you should fork out the extra cash for the one marked “Asph Lens,” or you’re just wondering what makes aspheric lenses expensive.

In the past, only pros could afford such top-of-the-line optics. These days they’re still spendy, but at least they’re not completely the ballpark for ordinary photographers.

They also allow manufacturers to create smaller and lighter lenses since they reduce the need for numerous lens elements and lens groups.

Teryani Riggs (they/them) is an adventure, who loves all things wild and free. Teryani can often be found in the midst of a social/eco-justice campaign, hiking through wild backcountry, or hitchhiking around the world listening to other people’s stories. While their focus has historically centered on landscape, travel, and wilderness photography, they’ve also been hired to shoot genres as varied as historical fiction reenactments in the studio to product and food photography.