Camera shake is a prevalent problem with any camera, particularly when shooting with long focal-length lenses, or hand holding long exposures.  Compensating for camera shake can increase the system speed by 2 to 3 ƒ-stops.

    This is a technique proposed and prototyped by Steve Hines in December 1979 to compensate for camera shake in the pitch and yaw directions.  The technique uses an active compensating prism in front of the camera lens with a transparent gelatinous material (ex.: optically clear RTV) between glass plates to act as an active wedge prism to deviate the incoming image, as shown above.

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    In the animation below, the camera lens (lower right) views the scene through two glass plates which trap the clear gelatin.

How it works:

    Motion sensors in the camera send signals to actuators to squeeze the glass plates to refract the light to maintain the image position for the camera lens.  The yellow force arrows in the animation above indicate the pressure applied to the edges of the back glass to create the changing angle which shifts the image.

    This invention preceded Canon's widely used liquid-filled image stabilizer by several years; however, no patent application was filed by Kodak.  This technology is not for sale by HinesLab. This invention is shown only as an example of the type of innovation that clients can expect on a consulting basis. Steve Hines currently offers consulting in the area of image stabilization and optical equipment design, as well as a variety of licensable technology.

HinesLab, Inc.

Glendale, California, USA

email: Steve@HinesLab.com

Counterbalanced Image Stabilizer | Autostereoscopy | Holo-Box™