A system and method for calibrating a camera includes an energy source and a camera to be calibrated, with at least one of the energy source and the camera being mounted on a mechanical actuator so that it is movable relative to the other. A processor is connected to the energy source, the mechanical actuator and the camera and is programmed to control the mechanical actuator to move at least one of the energy source and the camera relative to the other through a plurality of discrete points on a calibration target pattern. The processor further, at each of the discrete points, controls the camera to take a digital image and perform a lens distortion characterization on each image. A focal length of the camera is determined including any lens connected to the camera and an extrinsic camera position for each image is then determined.