An optical system (100, 1100, 2000, 3000) comprising at least one image capture device (162, 1162) adapted to capture images at a frame rate; and a variable focal length optical assembly(102, 1102), optically coupled to the at least one image capture device, comprising: - a housing (1104, 404, 504, 604, 704, 804, 904) having a first end (1106, 406, 506, 606, 706, 806, 906) and a second open end (11008, 408, 508, 608, 708, 808, 908); - a first deformable reflective element (1120, 420, 520, 620, 720) mounted to the housing; - at least a second deformable reflective element (1130, 430, 530, 630, 730) mounted to the housing, an optical path (170, 470, 570, 670, 770) extending between the first and the second ends of the housing via the first and the second deformable reflective elements; - a set of actuators operable to selectively electromagnetically deform the first deformable reflective element and the second deformable reflective element to selectively vary the focal length of the variable focal optical assembly; the optical system (100, 1100, 2000, 3000) further comprising - at least one controller communicatively coupled to the first and the second actuators; and - a controller-readable nontransitory storage media communicatively coupled to the at least one controller including at least one instruction set that when executed by the at least one controller, is adapted to cause the at least one controller to electromagnetically deform at least one of the first or the second deformable reflective elements; characterized in that at least one of the first or the second deformable reflective elements are deformable at a focal length shift rate that is at least twice the frame rate, such that for each of a plurality of sequential frames, the at least one image capture device (162, 1162) captures a plurality of sub-frames, each of the sub-frames including an image of a scene external to the system acquired at one of a plurality of defined focal lengths. - a housing (1104, 404, 504, 604, 704, 804, 904) having a first end (1106, 406, 506, 606, 706, 806, 906) and a second open end (11008, 408, 508, 608, 708, 808, 908); - a first deformable reflective element (1120, 420, 520, 620, 720) mounted to the housing; - at least a second deformable reflective element (1130, 430, 530, 630, 730) mounted to the housing, an optical path (170, 470, 570, 670, 770) extending between the first and the second ends of the housing via the first and the second deformable reflective elements; - a set of actuators operable to selectively electromagnetically deform the first deformable reflective element and the second deformable reflective element to selectively vary the focal length of the variable focal optical assembly; the optical system (100, 1100, 2000, 3000) further comprising - at least one controller communicatively coupled to the first and the second actuators; and - a controller-readable nontransitory storage media communicatively coupled to the at least one controller including at least one instruction set that when executed by the at least one controller, is adapted to cause the at least one controller to electromagnetically deform at least one of the first or the second deformable reflective elements;