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Concept
Diaphragm (optics)
Summary
In optics, a diaphragm is a thin opaque structure with an opening (aperture) at its center. The role of the diaphragm is to stop the passage of light, except for the light passing through the aperture. Thus it is also called a stop (an aperture stop, if it limits the brightness of light reaching the focal plane, or a field stop or flare stop for other uses of diaphragms in lenses). The diaphragm is placed in the light path of a lens or objective, and the size of the aperture regulates the amount of light that passes through the lens. The centre of the diaphragm's aperture coincides with the optical axis of the lens system.
Most modern cameras use a type of adjustable diaphragm known as an iris diaphragm, and often referred to simply as an iris.
See the articles on aperture and f-number for the photographic effect and system of quantification of varying the opening in the diaphragm.
A natural optical system that has a diaphragm and an aperture is the human eye. The iris is the diaphragm, the pupil is the aperture. In the human eye, the iris can both constrict and dilate, which varies the size of the pupil. Unsurprisingly, a photographic lens with the ability to continuously vary the size of its aperture (the hole in the middle of the annular structure) is known as an iris diaphragm.
An iris diaphragm can reduce the amount of light that hits a detector by decreasing the aperture, usually with "leaves" or "blades" that form a circle.
In the early years of photography, a lens could be fitted with one of a set of interchangeable diaphragms, often as brass strips known as Waterhouse stops or Waterhouse diaphragms. The iris diaphragm in most modern still and video cameras is adjusted by movable blades, simulating the iris of the eye.
The diaphragm has two to twenty blades (with most lenses today featuring between five and ten blades), depending on price and quality of the device in which it is used. Straight blades result in polygon shape of the diaphragm opening, while curved blades improve the roundness of the iris opening.
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