An imaging system comprising: a linear translation mechanism including: one or more linear guides, a carriage configured to translate along a first axis along the linear guides, and a first mechanical interface feature located on the carriage; a camera unit, the camera unit including: a camera barrel, an interior volume within the camera barrel, a lens mounting feature having a lens mount plane, a second mechanical interface feature located on the exterior of the camera unit; a fixed-focal-length lens having an aperture with an f-number of at least 1.4 or lower, the fixed-focal-length lens mounted to the lens mounting feature; and an imaging sensor located within the interior volume of the camera barrel, wherein: the imaging sensor has a plurality of light-sensitive pixels arranged in a planar array that is parallel to the lens mount plane, the first mechanical interface feature and the second mechanical interface feature interact with each other without positional adjustment mechanisms between them, so as to fix the camera unit in place relative to the carriage such that the first axis is perpendicular to the planar array of light-sensitive pixels. a linear translation mechanism including: one or more linear guides, a carriage configured to translate along a first axis along the linear guides, and a first mechanical interface feature located on the carriage; one or more linear guides, a carriage configured to translate along a first axis along the linear guides, and a first mechanical interface feature located on the carriage; a camera unit, the camera unit including: a camera barrel, an interior volume within the camera barrel, a lens mounting feature having a lens mount plane, a second mechanical interface feature located on the exterior of the camera unit; a fixed-focal-length lens having an aperture with an f-number of at least 1.4 or lower, the fixed-focal-length lens mounted to the lens mounting feature; and an imaging sensor located within the interior volume of the camera barrel, wherein: the imaging sensor has a plurality of light-sensitive pixels arranged in a planar array that is parallel to the lens mount plane, the first mechanical interface feature and the second mechanical interface feature interact with each other without positional adjustment mechanisms between them, so as to fix the camera unit in place relative to the carriage such that the first axis is perpendicular to the planar array of light-sensitive pixels. a camera barrel, an interior volume within the camera barrel, a lens mounting feature having a lens mount plane, a second mechanical interface feature located on the exterior of the camera unit; a fixed-focal-length lens having an aperture with an f-number of at least 1.4 or lower, the fixed-focal-length lens mounted to the lens mounting feature; and an imaging sensor located within the interior volume of the camera barrel, wherein: the imaging sensor has a plurality of light-sensitive pixels arranged in a planar array that is parallel to the lens mount plane, the first mechanical interface feature and the second mechanical interface feature interact with each other without positional adjustment mechanisms between them, so as to fix the camera unit in place relative to the carriage such that the first axis is perpendicular to the planar array of light-sensitive pixels. the imaging sensor has a plurality of light-sensitive pixels arranged in a planar array that is parallel to the lens mount plane, the first mechanical interface feature and the second mechanical interface feature interact with each other without positional adjustment mechanisms between them, so as to fix the camera unit in place relative to the carriage such that the first axis is perpendicular to the planar array of light-sensitive pixels.