We get these ones a lot.
Well, it depends. In his optical design courses, Warren Smith was known to show a fifteen page program he used to estimate cost. We won’t go into that much detail, but let us help by explaining factors that affect price. If you’re looking for a quick answer, assume that each prototype lens/prism will cost $1000 and that at the other extreme, plastic lenses would be closer to $2. For a detailed explanation of the factors involved in the lens design process, the factors that will determine how much you spend, click here.
If better optics or a custom designed lens would enhance your product, Eckhardt Optics will work with you to design and manufacture a custom tailored solution. Contact or call us for a consultation.
Here’s a list of the steps we take when we design a custom lens. If you’re seriously considering working with us (which we’d love) we’d advise you read our more detailed explanation of each step, found here.
- Specifications: finding out what our customer wants.
- Starting point: finding if there are any existing designs similar to the one you propose.
- Optimization: modifying the design to fit the customer’s specifications. This step involves the most effort.
- Tolerance analysis: to save the customer money, we run a tolerance analysis to determine how much latitude we can give the manufacturer. If minute variations from the exact design cause serious performance degradations, we return to step 3.
- Manufacturability: here we research the materials needed for your project.
- Quote and order optics.
- Design mechanical components: here we design the mechanics for your project, such as spacers and retaining rings.
- Quote and order mechanics.
- Assemble: whenever possible, we have the supplier who makes the lenses assemble them also. When this isn’t possible, we have the tools and know-how to assemble lenses in-house.
- Test: every lens must pass our rigid quality inspection. We stand behind our lenses.
Contact or call us to get started!
The amount of time it takes to design and manufacture a lens (the lens design timeline) will depend on a number of variables, including complexity and how much extra the customer is willing to pay to speed up the process, but here are some general guidelines:
- Specifications: 1 day to 1 week
- Design: 1 day to 1 month
- Fabrication: 2 weeks to 3 months
- Assembly and testing: 1 day to 1 week
For more details, click here, or contact us to get a quote.
You have a killer idea for your project, but you’re wondering how to make it a reality. Specifying a lens or optical system is your first step. These specifications are unique to lens design, so not all of them may be familiar to you. That’s OK! We’re happy to discuss your needs so that you get a lens that does what you need it to do. Learn more by clicking here to visit our specification page.