Patent ID: 7876429

Claim:
A method for evaluating a restoration-premised lens which is employed in an image forming system that (i) converts an optical image into an electronic image and (ii) enforces a restoration processing on the electronic image so as to obtain a sharp image, wherein the restoration-premised lens is manufactured according to a design such that the restoration processing is to be enforced on the electronic image, the method comprising: preparing an evaluating corrective optical system designed according to the known design of the restoration-premised lens that, when combined with the restoration-premised lens according to the design, forms a sharp optical image; measuring optical characteristics of a composite optical system that includes the evaluating corrective optical system and the restoration-premised lens; and evaluating the restoration-premised lens based on the measured optical characteristics, wherein the evaluating corrective optical system is prepared to have an aberration that, when optically combined with the restoration-premised lens in the composite optical system, cancels a designed aberration owned by the restoration-premised lens according to the design of the restoration-premised lens such that the measured optical characteristics represent residual aberration owned by the restoration-premised lens not according to the design.