| This thesis examines the issues related to calibrating digital cameras and lenses, which is an essential prerequisite for the extraction of precise and reliable 3D metric information from 2D images. The techniques used to calibrate a Canon PowerShot A70 camera with 5.4 mm zoom lens and a professional single lens reflex camera Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with 35 mm, 85 mm, 135 mm and 200 mm prime lenses are described. The test results have demonstrated that a high correlation exists among some interior and exterior orientation parameters. The correlations are dependent on the parameters being adjusted and the network configuration. Not all of the 11 interior orientation parameters are significant for modelling the camera and lens behaviour. The first two coefficients K1, K2 would be sufficient to describe the radial distortion effect for most digital cameras. Furthermore, the interior orientation parameters of a digital camera and lens from different calibration tests can change. This work has demonstrated that given a functional model that represents physical effects, a reasonably large number of 3D targets that are well distributed in three-dimensional space, and a highly convergent imaging network, all of the usual parameters can be estimated to reasonable values. |
