Method for switching optical fields of view

A digital camera comprising:

• a. a dual field of view optical system comprising a first lens arrangement forming an image of a first field of view focused at a first focal plane and a second lens arrangement forming an image of a second field of view focused at a second focal plane axially spaced from said first focal plane, said second field of view being wider than said first field of view, said first lens arrangement and said second lens arrangement being combined on a common optical axis,
• b. a single imaging sensor deployed to receive images simultaneously from said first lens arrangement and said second lens arrangement,
• c. an actuator deployed to move said optical system along the optical axis between a first position in which an image from said first lens arrangement is focused on said imaging sensor and an image from said second lens arrangement is defocused and a second position in which an image from said second lens arrangement is focused on said imaging sensor and an image from said first lens arrangement is defocused, and
• d. a digital processing element associated with said imaging sensor and configured to receive images sampled when said optical system is in said first position and said second position, and to co-process said sampled images to derive at least one output image selected from the group consisting of:
• a first output image with said first field of view and a second output image with said second field of view.