Compound eye optical system having a variable magnification function

Claim 1

A compound eye optical system having a variable magnification function, comprising: a first imaging element array component comprising a plurality of imaging elements of the same focal length arranged at an equal pitch; a second imaging element array component comprising a plurality of imaging elements of the same focal length arranged at a pitch different from that of said first imaging element array component, said second imaging element array component being disposed more adjacent to the image side than said first imaging element array component, a composite optical system consisting of said first imaging element array component and said second imaging element array component forming an image of an object on an image plane; and means for varying the imaging magnification of the image of the object on the image plane formed by said composite optical system with respect to the same object, said varying means comprising at least three of the following six means all of which three means are varied for each magnification change; first means for varying the focal lengths of the imaging elements forming said first imaging element array component; second means for varying the focal lengths of the imaging elements forming said second imaging element array component; third means for varying the spacing between said first imaging element array component and said second imaging element array component; fourth means for varying the spacing between said first imaging element array component and the object point; fifth means for varying the spacing between said second imaging element array component and the image point; and sixth means for varying the value of the ratio of the pitch of the imaging elements of said first imaging element array component to the pitch of the imaging elements of said second imaging element array component.