Fujifilm Develops World’s Smallest Machine Vision Lens

FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) has announced the development of the FUJINON HF6XA-5M wide-angle Lens (hereinafter “HF6XA”). This new product, which has an external diameter of 39 mm and a focal length of 6 mm, is the world's smallest Machine Vision lens which is used for industrial processes such as product inspection and measurement on production lines. HF6XA is a new lens which is designed for compatibility with 2/3” sensors with a pixel pitch of 3.45µm (five megapixels).

HF6XA is a FUJINON Machine Vision lens designed for compatibility with 2/3” sensors, which has coverage of approximately twice the current product, the FUJINON HF8XA, which offers the widest coverage range. In the frequently used environments of customers, the lens is compatible with the ultra-high resolution of 3.45µm pixel pitch (equivalent to five megapixels when using a 2/3” sensor) under a large portion of the screen. Furthermore, for a wide range of installations and shooting conditions, the lens boasts “4D High Resolution” performance, mitigating resolution degradation that typically occurs when changing a shooting distance or aperture value and maintaining a high level of even image sharpness across the entire image area at the ultra-high resolution of 4.4µm pixel pitch (equivalent to three megapixels when using a 2/3” sensor). Despite being a wide-angle 6mm lens, the lens achieves the world's smallest external diameter of just 39 mm. The lens is ideal for attachment inside compact inspection devices with restricted internal space when wide coverage and consistency is required for reading product codes and serial numbers or for inspecting product shape and appearance.

Fujifilm will be exhibiting the HF6XA at VISION 2016, one of the world's largest Machine Vision-related tradeshows, which will be held in Stuttgart, Germany from November 8 through November 10.

In December 2015, Fujifilm released the HF-XA series of five lenses for use with Machine Vision cameras. HF-XA series achieves both high resolution through 4D High Resolution technology and a compact design with an external diameter of 29.5 mm. Users have also praised the camera for features which include a lens barrel with three holes for fixing the iris and three holes for fixing the focus, providing for convenient shooting as the optimum holes can be selected to match the installation conditions. Fujifilm developed the HF6XA in order to respond to the need for a wide-angle lens with even wider coverage that further improves upon the characteristics of the HF-XA series. With the addition of the HF6XA, Fujifilm's portfolio of lenses for Machine Vision cameras now totals six series with a total of 36 models, which can match a wide range of diverse customer needs.

1. Main features:

(1) Approximately twice the coverage of the current model

Designed for compatibility with 2/3” sensors with a focal length of 6mm, the lens boasts approximately twice the coverage of the current model, FUJINON HF8XA, which has a focal length of 8mm.
[Image]HF6XA has roughly twice the coverage of HF8XA (assuming the same shooting distance 50cm)

(2) “4D High Resolution” technology unique to FUJINON lenses realizes high-resolution images across the entire image area under a variety of installation conditions

In the frequently used environments of customers, the lens is compatible with the ultra-high resolution of 3.45µm pixel pitch (equivalent to five megapixels when using a 2/3” sensor) under a large portion of the screen. Furthermore, for a wide range of installations and shooting conditions, the lens maintains even high-resolution performance across the entire image area at the ultra-high resolution of 4.4µm pixel pitch (equivalent to three megapixels when using a 2/3” sensor). The lens boasts “4D High Resolution” performance, mitigating resolution degradation that typically occurs when changing a shooting distance or aperture value.

(3) Achieves the world's smallest external diameter of just 39 mm, despite being a wide-angle 6mm lens

Thanks to the world's smallest body measuring just φ39mm in external diameter, the HF6XA-5M can easily accommodate an installation environment with space constraints.

(4) Design that facilitates easy attachment

The lens barrel features three holes for fixing the iris and the same for fixing the focus, allowing for the optimum holes to be selected to match installation conditions.

2. Specifications:

* Product specifications and external appearance are as per the information at the time of announcement (November 4, 2016) and are subject to change without prior notification.

3. Reference Exhibit:

[VISION 2016 venue and booth]
Venue: Messe Stuttgart, Fujifilm booth： 1H15