A suspended lens system, for imaging a scene, includes (a) a single-piece lens for receiving light from the scene, wherein the single-piece lens includes a concave surface, and (b) a substrate including a side that faces the concave surface, for holding the single-piece lens, wherein the substrate has non-zero optical transmission and contacts only portions of the single-piece lens that are away from the concave surface. A wafer-level method for manufacturing a suspended lens system includes molding a lens array, wherein each lens of the lens array includes a concave surface, and bonding the lens array to a surface of a substrate that has non-zero optical transmission, such that the concave surfaces face the substrate, to form a suspended lens wafer.