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Photographic Acronyms & Terms (Glossary):

°C = Degrees Centigrade

°F = Degrees Fahrenheit

∞ = Infinity

⌀ = Diameter (Also “∅”) – Sometimes used to indicate Film Plane. In DSLR this is effectively where the front of the sensor lies relative to the body.

© = Copyright

™ = Trademark

AF = Automatic Focus

AL = Ambient Light (natural light in a scene)

AOV = Angle of View measured in ° (Degrees) of the lens. (typically a 20 mm WA will have 95° AOV and a 500 mm Prime will have 5° AOV.)

APO = In order to attain the highest quality images, the APO lens has been made using special low-dispersion (SLD) glass and is designed to minimize colour aberration.

APS-C = sensor similar in size to APS-C frame (usually 1.5x (Nikon) or 1.6x (Canon) crop in each direction, relative to a 35mm frame) – Crop sensor = sensor smaller than full frame (APS-C, [micro-]four thirds system, Canon 1.3x crop)

ASA = American Standards Association (film speed rating)

ASPH = Aspherical surfaces are lens surfaces that, unlike spherical concave and convex surfaces common to most lens elements, have counter-curves toward their edges that help maintain higher levels of sharpness toward the edges of the frame.

BG = Background or “Bokeh”:

Bokeh = Japanese Term now commonly used for a clean uncluttered OOF background.

CA = Chromatic Aberration (purple fringing between high and low contrast areas of an image, such as the edge of a building with blue sky behind and the edge is tainted purple)

CCD = Charge-coupled device (camera sensor)

CF = Compact flash (memory card)

CMOS = Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (camera sensor)

CP or CPol = Circular polarizing filter

D&P = Developing and printing (or ‘D & P’ or ‘D and P’)

DC = These are dedicated Sigma digital SLR camera lenses with an image circle designed to suit image sensors that correspond to APS-C (small frame) size

DG = Sigma’s large-aperture lenses with wide angles and short minimum focusing distances. With an abundance of peripheral illumination, they are ideal lenses for Digital SLR Cameras whilst retaining suitability for traditional 35mm SLRs.

DPI = Dots per Inch

DOF = Depth of Field (broadly the amount of focus ahead and behind the subject focussed on)

DSLR = Digital Single Lens Reflex

DX = Nikon’s designation for small frame APS-C sensors (23.6 x 15.8 mm CMOS / CCD sensor)

DZ = Digital Zoom (as opposed to optical zoom, DZ is where the computer in camera zooms digitally, often with poor pixelated results)

ED = Extra-low dispersion glass

ELD = Extraordinary low dispersion glass

EV = Exposure Value (generally adjusted above or below 0 (Zero) to gain or decrease exposure)

EX = Sigma’s lens exterior is EX-finished to denote superior build, optical quality and to enhance appearance.

FC = Framed Correctly

FF = Full Frame (sensor is the size of a 35mm film (slide or negative) – 36 x 24mm – except in medium format, where “full frame” relates to the film frame that would have been used, typically 645)

FL = Focal Length (of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges (focuses) or diverges (defocuses) light)

FX = Nikon’s designation for full frame CMOS sensors (36mm x 24mm)

HSM = Sigma’s Hyper-Sonic Motor. This lens uses a motor driven by ultrasonic waves to provide a quiet, high speed AF.

ID = Inner Diameter

IMO = In my opinion

IMHO = In my honest opinion

IMNSHO = In my not so honest opinion

IQ = Image Quality (refers mostly to the lenses IQ)

IR = Infra Red or Image Resolution

IS = Canon’s term for Internal (image) stabilisation (in the lens)

ISO = International Organization for Standardization

KNP = Kruger National Park

KTFP = Kgalagadi (Kalahari) Transfrontier Park

LCA: Lateral Chromatic Aberration seen as purple fringing between high and low contrast areas (colours don’t focus (return) to the same place on the focal plane -  can be fixed in PP)

LoCA: Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration (colours don’t focus (return) to the same focal plane – difficult to fix in PP)

LCD = Liquid Crystal Display

LD = Low dispersion glass (reduces flare, CA and other abnormalities in glass design)

LED = Light Emitting Diode

Li-ion = Lithium Ion (rechargeable battery)

MD = Minolta’s Manual Focus bayonet mount

MF = Manual Focus

MP = Megapixel (Sometimes Mp) Equal to 1 million pixels

MTF = Modulation Transfer Function

MUA = Make Up Artist

NiMH = Nickel Metal-Hydride (rechargeable battery)

NG grad = Graduated Neutral Density filter (to darken skies above horison but not foreground)

ND = Neutral Density filter (used largely for landscape/seascape images)

NR = Noise Reduction (at high ISO, all but a handful of the very top professional cameras show noise in the image at 100%)

O/L = Overall Length

OD = Outer diameter

OE = Overexposed (bright picture)

OOF = Out of Focus

OZ = Optical Zoom (the greater the optical zoom range, the worse the quality of the lens overall, especially at either end due to much optical correction happening, often shows up as sever CA (Chromatic Abberation) an example would be an 18-270mm lens 270/18=15x optical zoom range.)

POV = Point of View

PP = Post Processing

PS = Photoshop

Px = Pixels

SD = Secure Digital (up to 2Gb)

SDHC = Secure Digital High Capacity (above 2Gb)

SFW = Saved for Web (reduced quality highly compressed GIF or JPG.)

SL = Shutter Lag (the time between pressing the shutter button and the time the shutter actually begins to react.)

SLD = Special low dispersion glass

SLR = Single Lens Reflex

s/s = Shutter Speed

S/S = Smart Sharpen – Don’t overdo it!

TFCD = Time For CD (What a model will do for a CD/DVD with her portfolio on it. You get model practice time, she (he?) gets a portfolio on disk. no money changes hands.)

TFT = Thin-film Transistor

Tithe, Thithing = Yes you betcha. This is what some “people” say you should do for them (10% off) when you go to your child’s school or a soccer match, a company function or party with your “nice camera” or they want your pictures hand delivered on a disk, fully post processed, for free…don’t fall for the trap. Ask them for 10% off your school, soccer, extra mural fees and see what happens

TTL = Through the lens (metering, both exposure and flash.)

UE = Underexposed (dark image)

UL = Ultra-low dispersion glass

USM = Unsharp Mask

UWA = Ultra Wide Angle

UV = Ultra Violet

VR = Nikon’s (in-lens) Vibration Reduction feature

WA = Wide Angle (lens)

WHU = What have you

This is by no means a comprehensive acronym list and is being expanded as time allows.

Text and images on this page © HarveyG Photography. Use of which is strictly forbidden without written consent of the author. Names, brands and technical data referred to are the © or ™ of their respective owners and/or companies.

Another nice Glossary over at DPReview.com