TransWikia.com

Equipment question - what in a lens name denotes when the filter mount moves during focusing?

Photography Asked on February 17, 2021

Details:

Canon RP

I built a somewhat heavy lens attachment that mounts to the filter ring. This is fine with my old 85mm f1.8 as the filter ring is directly on the lens body.

I recently got a 35mm f1.8 macro lens – here the filter ring is on the lens element that moves when focusing. As a result I cannot use my lens attachment (it struggles to move the element and causes a lens error.)

Questions:

  • Is there term which denotes whether the filter ring moves during focusing? (Is this implied by the "macro" notation?)
  • Can you recommend for 35mm or thereabouts lens whose filter ring is fixed to the lens body? (Or at least does not stress the internal motor when focusing.)

One Answer

"Internal focusing" is the term for that and it is rather common. Certainly a lot more so than "internal zooming" which makes a lens bulkier for transport and thus is comparatively rare for large zoom ranges. Off the cuff I remember the Panasonic DMC-FZ50 as a superzoom camera with both internal focusing and zooming.

To have either action "internal", the position of the front lens group cannot significantly involved in the zooming or focusing action. Since macro lenses are focusing at very short distances (while having a much larger focusing range than a "normal" lens with additional closeup lens at the front would have), sacrificing space in front of a principal focusing group by adding a non-focusing group may be particularly unwanted, so they are a slightly more likely candidate for non-internal focusing.

Correct answer by user95069 on February 17, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP