WordNet
n. a lens that focuses the image in a camera [syn: optical lens]
Wikipedia
thumb|upright=1.3|Different kinds of camera lenses, including wide angle, telephoto and speciality
A camera lens (also known as photographic lens or photographic objective) is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.
There is no major difference in principle between a lens used for a still camera, a video camera, a telescope, a microscope, or other apparatus, but the detailed design and construction are different. A lens may be permanently fixed to a camera, or it may be interchangeable with lenses of different focal lengths, apertures, and other properties.
While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in practice a compound lens made up of a number of optical lens elements is required to correct (as much as possible) the many optical aberrations that arise. Some aberrations will be present in any lens system. It is the job of the lens designer to balance these and produce a design that is suitable for photographic use and possibly mass production.
Usage examples of "camera lens".
The heat of the lights, the steady, terrifying eye of the camera lens aiming at her as Tommy walked forward, the sound of the bullet hitting his head.
His gaze shifted from the dark eye of the camera lens to the door of his apartment.
Oeljanov clumsily turned around in the heavy armor and peered straight up at the camera lens.
Through his camera lens, Tommy saw Doc Bonilla's head jerk back as if from an electric shock.
Another toggle, color-coded blue, opened the protective iris shutter of the TV camera lens, which had been kept closed to protect the supersensitive vidicon transmitting tube from overexposure to sunlight.
Emma watched the Cruithne landscape slide past the firefly's panning camera lens.
One large bag lay upright against a table leg, its print square to the camera lens.
His camera lens is always used at a fixed height from the ground and forms its image on the plate at an exact focus.
A blurred figure that could only be a man in uniform suddenly blocked the camera lens.
And she worried about some faceless college kid already caught in the crosshairs of a camera lens.