hi, material engineering experts out there ? i am curious to know, does glass or plastic make better lenses.. ? which one has better optics properties.. ? :think:
Glass should be clearer and has less distortion. Plastic can have higher index/ weight ratio though, that's why it's used in specs only. Plastic lenses for photography usage is often found in the lower range portion only.
so can plastics.- Glass can be grinded to near-perfection but plastic can only be molded with a tolerance
- Not true, they have slightly different coating processes and if you ask me, coating sticks better to plastics.I am guessing but not sure:
- Coating stick to the glass better than plastic?
- totally no idea about this..- Plastic breakdown faster than glass?
sure?If I am not wrong, glass is only used in higher end lenses.
I am sure that the plastic, if any is used in the lenses, would not be polycarbonate but some other specially formulated ones.Got this from an optometrist - GLASS is FAR SUPERIOR to polycarbonates (plastics used in lens making).
The reason why polycarbs are used are for reason of lower cost and faster production.
In some specialised aplications, polycarbs are 'superior' as they are easier to work with (read: more cost-effective), as in making shatter-proof lenses. The same can be made from glass, but it costs more.
Same thing in lenses. Plastics are used, especially in complicated lens designs that require aspherical elements. Far cheaper to mould than to grind for mass production, eventhough the purists manufacturers like Leitz may insist on using only glass.
Optical properties and the different orders of distortion get too complicated for a feeble mind like mine. :bsmilie:
Index too high. Very high dispersion.Actually diamond would be better, just that it's too damn expensive :bsmilie: