Small Dia Lenses

[Ama_Dablam]

Are there any small diameter lenses -  1" dia of less that have resolution good enough for 4k imaging?

[leslie]

i.m generalizing a bit but you can image, anything you like with an assortment of lenses, cameras, adapter rings and tape. What you find good enough, will differ from other peoples perspectives.   I have at least one enlarger lens here that if you measure the lens itself would fit your criteria but is probably a little bigger and longer certainly other enlarger lenses would technically fit your criteria. whether you want to work within their capabilities is another issue. Maybe some old 8mm or 16mm film cameras would fit your requirements. i think their called c mount or d mount. Some pancakes lenses might also fit. Some people find high resolution lenses and 4k a bit too clinical and look for lenses that have "character "  or add some of their own via promist or similar. its all rather subjective really.

depending on whether you are on full frame or something with a crop factor and if your shooting bees in macro or supermodels your lens choice may differ, with a bit more background info, others can give a more informed choice im sure. 

welcome to the forums by the way

[homestar_kevin]

One inch is tiny, it's 2.5cm so 25mm diameter.

The only lens I have close to that small a diameter is the Pentax 110 24mm f/2.8.

This lens is TINY TINY TINY and still has a front diameter that takes 25.5mm Filters, so just slightly over 1inch.

But it does cover APS-C sized sensors and MFT.

If you can get an adapter with an aperture build in, the lens cleans up pretty nicely when stopped down.

Not nearly as sharp as the Pentax 110 50mm or 70mm, but sharper than the 18mm.

[noone]

What system?   What focal length would you like?

Is that the total diameter or just of the aperture? (a 50mm f2 lens has a diameter of 25mm or about 1 inch but that is not taking into account the rest of the lens).

If it IS just the aperture then easy to work out, just divide the focal length by the f stop regardless of system but be sure to use the ACTUAL focal length and not the equivalent one for smaller sensors (a 50mm f2 lens on a Pentax Q is going to be a super telephoto but on a large format camera it is going to be a wide angle).

If you mean the total width of the lens, then you would be restricted to progressively smaller systems and ones that are smaller than most system mount diameters.