Camera Models

1 Introduction
The camera is one of the most essential tools in computer vision. It is the
mechanism by which we can record the world around us and use its output -
photographs - for various applications. Therefore, one question we must ask
in introductory computer vision is: how do we model a camera?

2 Pinhole cameras

object barrier film

aperture

Figure 1: A simple working camera model: the pinhole camera model.

Let’s design a simple camera system – a system that can record an image
of an object or scene in the 3D world. This camera system can be designed
by placing a barrier with a small aperture between the 3D object and a
photographic film or sensor. As Figure 1 shows, each point on the 3D object
emits multiple rays of light outwards. Without a barrier in place, every point
on the film will be influenced by light rays emitted from every point on the
3D object. Due to the barrier, only one (or a few) of these rays of light passes
through the aperture and hits the film. Therefore, we can establish a one-
to-one mapping between points on the 3D object and the film. The result is
that the film gets exposed by an “image” of the 3D object by means of this
mapping. This simple model is known as the pinhole camera model.

1
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𝑪′ 𝚷′
𝒌
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𝒊

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Figure 2: A formal construction of the pinhole camera model.

A more formal construction of the pinhole camera is shown in Figure 2. In

this construction, the film is commonly called the image or retinal plane.
The aperture is referred to as the pinhole O or center of the camera. The
distance between the image plane and the pinhole O is the focal length f .
Sometimes, the retinal plane is placed between O and the 3D object at a
distance f from O. In this case, it is called the virtual image or virtual
retinal plane. Note that the projection of the object in the image plane
and the image of the object in the virtual image plane are identical up to a
scale (similarity) transformation.
 T
Now, how do we use pinhole cameras? Let P = x y z be a point
on some 3D object visible to the pinhole camera. P will be mapped or pro-
T
jected onto the image plane Π0 , resulting in point1 P 0 = x0 y 0 . Similarly,


the pinhole itself can be projected onto the image plane, giving a new point
C 0.  
Here, we can define a coordinate system i j k centered at the pinhole
O such that the axis k is perpendicular to the image plane and points toward
it. This coordinate system is often known as the camera reference system
or camera coordinate system. The line defined by C 0 and O is called the
optical axis of the camera system.
Recall that point P 0 is derived from the projection of 3D point P on the
image plane Π0 . Therefore, if we derive the relationship between 3D point
P and image plane point P 0 , we can understand how the 3D world imprints
itself upon the image taken by a pinhole camera. Notice that triangle P 0 C 0 O
is similar to the triangle formed by P , O and (0, 0, z). Therefore, using the
law of similar triangles we find that:
1
Throughout the course notes, let the prime superscript (e.g. P 0 ) indicate that this
point is a projected or complementary point to the non-superscript version. For example,
P 0 is the projected version of P .

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 T  T
P 0 = x0 y 0 = f xz f yz

(1)
Notice that one large assumption we make in this pinhole model is that
the aperture is a single point. In most real world scenarios, however, we
cannot assume the aperture can be infinitely small. Thus, what is the effect
of varying aperture size?

Figure 3: The effects of aperture size on the image. As the aperture size
decreases, the image gets sharper, but darker.

As the aperture size increases, the number of light rays that passes
through the barrier consequently increases. With more light rays passing
through, then each point on the film may be affected by light rays from
multiple points in 3D space, blurring the image. Although we may be in-
clined to try to make the aperture as small as possible, recall that a smaller
aperture size causes less light rays to pass through, resulting in crisper but
darker images. Therefore, we arrive at the fundamental problem presented by
the pinhole formulation: can we develop cameras that take crisp and bright
images?

3 Cameras and lenses

In modern cameras, the above conflict between crispness and brightness is
mitigated by using lenses, devices that can focus or disperse light. If we
replace the pinhole with a lens that is both properly placed and sized, then
it satisfies the following property: all rays of light that are emitted by some
point P are refracted by the lens such that they converge to a single point P 0

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 object lens film

Figure 4: A setup of a simple lens model. Notice how the rays of the top
point on the tree converge nicely on the film. However, a point at a different
distance away from the lens results in rays not converging perfectly on the
film.

in the image plane. Therefore, the problem of the majority of the light rays
blocked due to a small aperture is removed (Figure 4). However, please note
that this property does not hold for all 3D points, but only for some specific
point P . Take another point Q which is closer or further from the image
plane than P . The corresponding projection into the image will be blurred
or out of focus. Thus, lenses have a specific distance for which objects are
“in focus”. This property is also related to a photography and computer
graphics concept known as depth of field, which is the effective range at
which cameras can take clear photos.

object lens film

z'

P’
focal point

-z f zo

Figure 5: Lenses focus light rays parallel to the optical axis into the fo-
cal point. Furthermore, this setup illustrates the paraxial refraction model,
which helps us find the relationship between points in the image plane and
the 3D world in cameras with lenses.

Camera lenses have another interesting property: they focus all light rays
traveling parallel to the optical axis to one point known as the focal point
(Figure 5). The distance between the focal point and the center of the lens
is commonly referred to as the focal length f . Furthermore, light rays

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passing through the center of the lens are not deviated. We thus can arrive
at a similar construction to the pinhole model that relates a point P in 3D
space with its corresponding point P 0 in the image plane.
 0  0 x 
0 x z
P = 0 = 0 yz (2)
y zz
The derivation for this model is outside the scope of the class. However,
please notice that in the pinhole model z 0 = f , while in this lens-based model,
z 0 = f +z0 . Additionally, since this derivation takes advantage of the paraxial
or “thin lens” assumption2 , it is called the paraxial refraction model.

normal pincushion barrel

Figure 6: Demonstrating how pincushion and barrel distortions affect images.

Because the paraxial refraction model approximates using the thin lens
assumption, a number of aberrations can occur. The most common one is
referred to as radial distortion, which causes the image magnification to
decrease or increase as a function of the distance to the optical axis. We
classify the radial distortion as pincushion distortion when the magnifi-
cation increases and barrel distortion3 when the magnification decreases.
Radial distortion is caused by the fact that different portions of the lens have
differing focal lengths.