Editing Scheimpflug principle (section)

{{Short description|Optical imaging rule}}
{{No footnotes|date=June 2013}}
[[File:Tilt-lens photo of model train.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Tilt-lens photo of a model train. The lens was swung towards right, in order to keep the plane of focus along the train. The sensor plane, the lens plane and the plane along the train all intersect to the right of the camera.]]

[[File:Scheimpflug Motions.gif|thumb|alt=A scientific camera with a Scheimpflug adaptor mounted between the lens and the camera, showing in stop-motion the potential movements the adaptor provides in the two axes (tilt and swing).|A scientific camera with a Scheimpflug adaptor mounted between the lens and the camera, showing in stop-motion the potential movements the adaptor provides in the two axes (tilt and swing).]]

The '''Scheimpflug principle''' is a description of the geometric relationship between the orientation of the plane of [[Focus (optics)|focus]], the lens plane, and the image plane of an optical system (such as a camera) when the lens plane is not parallel to the image plane. It is applicable to the use of some [[View camera#Movements|camera movements]] on a [[view camera]]. It is also the principle used in [[corneal pachymetry]], the mapping of corneal topography, done prior to refractive [[eye surgery]] such as [[LASIK]], and used for early detection of [[keratoconus]]. The principle is named after [[Austria]]n army Captain [[Theodor Scheimpflug]], who used it in devising a systematic method and apparatus for correcting [[Perspective (visual)|perspective]] distortion in [[aerial photograph]]s, although Captain Scheimpflug himself credits [[Jules Carpentier]] with the rule, thus making it an example of [[Stigler's law of eponymy]].