Camera Lens Testing

Some lens tests are amazingly simple, yet give a good indication of lens quality. Others are very mathematical and more precise. The table below is a brief summary of the tests you might perform. Use your background research to learn about each one, then choose the test that's appropriate for your phone/camera and your science background. If you are used to using the automatic settings on your phone, you will need to explore the "manual" or "pro" camera settings and see what options are available for you to change. Many modern smartphones also have multiple lenses for various levels of wide and zoom viewing. The sources listed above are a good place to start, and they will give you detailed instructions about how to perform the tests.

Lens quality varies with the aperture, and for zoom lenses it also varies with the focal length. So, for different trials in your experiment you will want to change these settings. See the table below.

• One of the most important things when doing a lens test is to make sure that your camera is absolutely steady during the exposure. Use a tripod or rest the camera on a steady object.
• If your camera has the capability, use a cable release or the self-timer to trigger the shutter. Like a tripod, this will help to keep the camera steady.
• If the test you choose uses test targets, or if you do the brick wall test, make sure that the entire area in the picture has uniform lighting. You don't want part of the scene to be in the shade and part in the sun.
• Lens quality tends to be higher in the center of the image than at the corners, so be sure to examine both.
• Make sure that you carefully focus your lens if you have a manual focus camera.