Retrofitting of an old image documentation system with a new camera

Question

I am trying to retrofit an old laboratory gel documentation system (Kodak 2000r) with a new camera (the original is dead). I connected to system lens a Basler acA1300-200um but the image I got is from a much reduced field area that is way too much magnified. I tried adding a 0.5X focal reducer lens, but it made things worse. I got the impression that there is some issue with disparities between the original focal length and the Basler camera, as well as something associated with the size of the sensor 4.9 mm x 3.6 mm (Basler) vs 15 mm x 15 mm (original Kodak IS1000 CCD). I am wondering whether I can use some sort of focal len adapter to this task.

Answer 1

To get the same field of view with a differently sized sensor, you need a different focal length. In this case to get the same horizontal angle of view with the 4.9mm wide Basler sensor that you got with the 15mm wide Kodak IS1000 sensor you need a lens with roughly one-third the focal length of your current lens. To get the same vertical angle of view with the 3.6mm tall Basler sensor that you got with the 15mm tall Kodak IS 1000 sensor you need a lens with about one-fourth the focal length of your current lens.

If you wish to continue to use the same lens without adding an image degrading reducer, you need to use a sensor the same size as the one you are replacing. If you do use a reducer, you need one that actually reduces by a factor of three to four by casting an image circle 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the original lens. (It seems your 0.5X "reducer" actually magnifies by a factor of 2X?)

It's that simple.