Electronic smart glass in place of a traditional aperture device
A question in a forum that I read asked why the aperture mech. needed to stay in the lens, and could it be moved to the film plane? This got me thinking about the nature of current digital design and that we still use the standard bladed aperture to limit the amount of light entering the the camera body, which is often a powerful little computer device. I do understand the aperture’s role with the optics, but could the opening be more technological not unlike the current smart glass that turns opaque with the flip of the switch?
Enter the electrochromic smart window. Electrochromic windows consist of two glass panes with several layers sandwiched in between. It works by passing low-voltage electrical charges across a microscopically-thin coating on the glass surface, activating an electrochromic layer which changes color from clear to dark. The electric current can be activated manually or by sensors which react to light intensity. One advantage of the electrochromic smart window is that it only requires electricity to change its opacity, but not to maintain a particular shade. Could developers not design this to leave a circular opening of clear glass that would vary in diameter depending on what f-stop was chosen by the photographer? Would there be an advantage to this? I would guess the the size between the full stops would not be dependent on 1/2′s or 1/3′s. Could an f64 or smaller be achieved in a DSLR lens?
Just thinking………… Where is my caffeine beverage?
penn
