Zone Plate is a way of doing lens less photography, sort of like pinhole, but a different effect and process. A zone plate is strip of film with symmetric rings which alternate between opaque and transparent areas, and when light passes through the rings light will diffract around the opaque area and the effects are a desired focus. The end result is a dream like image that creates a soft-focused image.
zone plates, are also known as a Fresnel zone plate after French physicist Augustin Fresnel who wrote about wave theory and diffraction during the early 19th century, He used a set of alternating opaque and transparent symmetric rings which diffract the light passing through them. This occurs when light passes the edges of the opaque rings.
The process for creating a zone plate is the size and number of rings they are formulated by a specific focal length which is determined from a mathematical formula. With a standard camera you would measure from the film plane to the edge of the body of camera this would be your focal length, same applies to DSLR cameras.
zone plates and pinhole photography work on diffraction to focus light but the pinhole will produce a much sharper image than the zone plate which has more of a soft-focus to the image.
zone plates do come at a price. The more zones you have, the smaller your f-stop becomes. The smaller the f-stop, the less depth of focus your image will have. You need to consider the trade off of speed vs. sharpness when you decide on how many clear zones to have.
For those who want to make there own, create a large drawing of the exact image of the zone plate, then photograph it on a high contrast black and white film, this will reduce the image to the correct size. If the film used is a standard negative film, the original drawing must be color reversed.
If you don't want to go through hassle of doing the work, let someone else create them and deal with the process. That is why many people just pay the $25-$50 for a pre-made zone plate from an "official" source.
A whole new way to enjoy photography - http://www.zoneplate.net
zone plates, are also known as a Fresnel zone plate after French physicist Augustin Fresnel who wrote about wave theory and diffraction during the early 19th century, He used a set of alternating opaque and transparent symmetric rings which diffract the light passing through them. This occurs when light passes the edges of the opaque rings.
The process for creating a zone plate is the size and number of rings they are formulated by a specific focal length which is determined from a mathematical formula. With a standard camera you would measure from the film plane to the edge of the body of camera this would be your focal length, same applies to DSLR cameras.
zone plates and pinhole photography work on diffraction to focus light but the pinhole will produce a much sharper image than the zone plate which has more of a soft-focus to the image.
zone plates do come at a price. The more zones you have, the smaller your f-stop becomes. The smaller the f-stop, the less depth of focus your image will have. You need to consider the trade off of speed vs. sharpness when you decide on how many clear zones to have.
For those who want to make there own, create a large drawing of the exact image of the zone plate, then photograph it on a high contrast black and white film, this will reduce the image to the correct size. If the film used is a standard negative film, the original drawing must be color reversed.
If you don't want to go through hassle of doing the work, let someone else create them and deal with the process. That is why many people just pay the $25-$50 for a pre-made zone plate from an "official" source.
A whole new way to enjoy photography - http://www.zoneplate.net
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