an imaging system comprises a matched pathlength combining waveguide array including input optical couplers for receiving light , combining waveguides for combining the light received from different input optical couplers and relaying the light to output optical couplers . a lens system is also provided for imaging the light from the output optical couplers . compared to imaging systems , this imaging system can be much more compact . a standard imaging system requires a focal length at least equal to the aperture of the lens . because the aperture size of a lens determines the performance of a system there is a limit to how compact a traditional high performance imaging system can be . in contrast , the present system removes that limitation because the minimum practical focal length is now determined by the size of the aperture of the outputs , which can be significantly smaller .