Experimental measurements of acoustic pressure fields near the focal points of ultrasonic transducer‐lens systems are compared to calculations of a recently developed analytic technique. This method incorporates the Fresnel approximation to expand the field in terms of Gaussian–Laguerre functions to calculate the acoustic field for arbitrary placement of a lens in the nearfield of a circular transducer. The predicted field pattern symmetries near the focal region with a lens located either at one focal distance or at the transducer face are confirmed by experimental measurements made with a microsphere probe.