A relay system (107, 300, 700) for an endoscope comprising: an opposing pair of rod lens assemblies (301, 701) positioned symmetrically with respect to a central airspace, wherein each rod lens assembly (301, 701) includes optical elements consisting essentially of: a meniscus lens (302, 702) positioned immediately adjacent to the central airspace and with the convex surface facing the airspace and an inner concave face opposite thereto, wherein the meniscus lens (302, 702) comprises crown glass with a refractive index greater than 1.70 and an Abbe number between 32 and 45; a first lens (304, 704) having positive optical power with a convex face positioned adjacent to the inner face of the meniscus lens (302, 702), and a second face; a rod lens (306, 706), adjacent to the first lens (304, 704) having positive optical power, having a first face adjacent to the second face of the first lens (304, 704), and a second face, both first and second faces of the rod lens (306, 706) being beam passing surfaces; and a second lens (308, 708) having a positive optical power with an inner face adjacent to the second face of the rod lens (306, 706), and an outer convex face, wherein the first lens (304, 704) having positive power is composed of a material having anomalous partial dispersion and comprises crown glass and the meniscus lens (302, 702), the first lens (304, 704) having positive optical power, the rod lens (306, 706), and the second lens (308, 708) having positive optical power together provide chromatic aberration correction by manipulating light (310, 710) across a continuous spectrum from a violet region of the spectrum through at least a red region of the spectrum to come to a common focus in a common image plane, and wherein spherical aberration is well corrected across the spectrum. a meniscus lens (302, 702) positioned immediately adjacent to the central airspace and with the convex surface facing the airspace and an inner concave face opposite thereto, wherein the meniscus lens (302, 702) comprises crown glass with a refractive index greater than 1.70 and an Abbe number between 32 and 45; a first lens (304, 704) having positive optical power with a convex face positioned adjacent to the inner face of the meniscus lens (302, 702), and a second face; a rod lens (306, 706), adjacent to the first lens (304, 704) having positive optical power, having a first face adjacent to the second face of the first lens (304, 704), and a second face, both first and second faces of the rod lens (306, 706) being beam passing surfaces; and a second lens (308, 708) having a positive optical power with an inner face adjacent to the second face of the rod lens (306, 706), and an outer convex face, wherein the first lens (304, 704) having positive power is composed of a material having anomalous partial dispersion and comprises crown glass and the meniscus lens (302, 702), the first lens (304, 704) having positive optical power, the rod lens (306, 706), and the second lens (308, 708) having positive optical power together provide chromatic aberration correction by manipulating light (310, 710) across a continuous spectrum from a violet region of the spectrum through at least a red region of the spectrum to come to a common focus in a common image plane, and wherein spherical aberration is well corrected across the spectrum.