Question

A wildlife photographer uses a moderate telephoto lens of focal length 135 mm and maximum aperture f/4.00 to photograph a bear that is 14.0 m away. Assume the wavelength is 550 nm. Part A What is the width of the smallest feature on the bear that this lens can resolve if it is opened to its maximum aperture

Answer 1

The width of the smallest feature on the bear that can be resolved by the telephoto lens is calculated using optical resolution through the Rayleigh criterion and trigonometry, considering the focal length, aperture, and distance provided.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking to determine the width of the smallest feature on the bear that can be resolved by a wildlife photographer using a telephoto lens with a focal length of 135 mm and maximum aperture f/4.00 to photograph a bear 14.0 m away. This is a matter of optical resolution, which can be calculated using the Rayleigh criterion, θ = 1.22λ/D where θ is the angular resolution, λ is the wavelength of light (550 nm in this case), and D is the diameter of the aperture.

To find the diameter of the aperture, we use the formula D = focal length / f-number, which would give us D = 135 mm / 4.00. This would allow us to calculate the angular resolution, and then by using simple trigonometry, we can determine the minimum resolvable feature size at a distance of 14.0 m.

Answer 2

The resolution of a camera lens is calculated using the resolution limit formula, which requires the aperture diameter. Without this information, we cannot provide the width of the smallest feature that can be resolved by the specified telephoto lens.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to the resolution of a camera lens, specifically a moderate telephoto lens with a focal length of 135 mm and maximum aperture of f/4.00.

To determine the width of the smallest feature on the bear that the lens can resolve at a distance of 14.0 m, we would typically use the formula for the resolution limit based on Rayleigh's criterion, which is:

Resolution limit (δ) = 1.22 * (wavelength * focal length) / aperture diameter

However, in order to solve the question completely, we would also need to know the aperture diameter of the lens when the aperture is f/4.00.

Assuming we had that information, we could then plug in the given values to calculate the resolution limit. Without the aperture diameter, we are unable to provide a numerical answer.

It is important when handling such photography- and physics-related problems to have all necessary specifications of the equipment to perform accurate calculations.