US Patent 7852454 Dual range focus element

An autofocus system is provided for image capture that includes a liquid crystal focus lens which includes a dual range liquid crystal lens with a thinner liquid crystal lens (385) and a thicker liquid crystal lens (365) separated by a single shared electrode (370). Wherein the thinner liquid crystal lens (385) has a smaller optical power and a faster response time and the thicker liquid crystal lens (365) has a larger optical power and a slower response time. The autofocus system has a focusing effect that is produced by the combined optical power of the thinner liquid crystal lens and the thicker liquid crystal lens. A method for focusing an image capture device and an image capture device are also described.