The necessary settings and parameters were determined for ordinary camera a
nd lens systems to faithfully reproduce out-of-focus and distorted imagery
as it falls upon the retina of the human eye. Theoretic considerations of b
oth geometric and physical optics were used to calculate the 'relative blur
' and distortion produced by refractive error added to ordinary camera lens
es as opposed to refractive error in an arbitrary thick-lens optical system
bounded by air and fluid (i.e. the eye). In both the camera and the eye, '
relative blur' was determined to be directly proportional to dioptric defoc
us and to aperture size, and effectively independent of the Focal length. D
istortion of imagery was also Found to be independent of the focal length.
Photographs corroborate the theoretic findings. A given amount of relative
blur, however, appeared somewhat greater when recorded on photographic film
than when appreciated by the human eye. The Stiles-Crawford effect, the ch
romatic aberration of the eye, and neural processing probably each contribu
te to this difference. Previous investigators have grossly exaggerated blur
and distortion in photographs intended to simulate ocular imagery and have
drawn misleading conclusions from their results. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.