I recently received an email from Navitar letting me know that they have just released version 2 of their “Optical Wizard.” This is a very user-friendly tool that enables you to determine what lens you need for your particular application. Just give it the basics of sensor size, object size, working distance and lens mount and the Wizard will point you to the most appropriate Navitar lens. It even gives you the price! If you decide you want to buy the lens the Wizard recommends you can even order it on-line. It’s beautifully easy.
Another attractive feature of the Wizard is that Navitar offer a money-back guarantee. That takes the financial risk out of choosing a lens, even if it could still leave you with schedule problems.
Longstanding readers may recall that I christened the MachVis package from Linos “the best lens calculator ever,” so has the arrival of V2 of the Wizard caused me to change my mind?
No.
While both are excellent tools for determining what lens you need, MachVis (which is a download and install as opposed to a web page,) takes you deeper under the hood in modeling and understanding your optical system. If I just wanted to check what focal length lens I needed I’d probably use the Wizard. But if I needed to get a better understanding of the options available for solving a particular imaging problem I think I’d fire up MachVis.
In short, for my money (well no money actually because it’s free,) MachVis is the best lens calculator, but for lens selection the Optical Wizard is a pretty useful tool.
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