Patent ID: 7616389

Claim:
An optical system adapted to form images from a 360° panoramic scene on a rotationally symmetric, three-dimensional image surface with an axis of rotational symmetry as a center and having at least one rotationally symmetric reflective surface, characterized in that said optical system comprises an optical member that has on an outer peripheral side thereof an annular form of internal reflective surface with said axis of rotational symmetry as a center, and that has on a center side of said axis of rotational symmetry a first aperture onto which light rays from said 360° panoramic scene are incident and a second aperture through which said light rays leave and travel toward an imaging plane and is located at a position different from the first aperture, wherein the light rays from said 360° panoramic scene are incident onto said first aperture after passing through said axis of rotational symmetry, and are only once reflected at the reflective surface that said optical member has in an optical path leading up to the imaging plane where said light rays are imaged.