Photography Asked by Mikael Sundberg on December 18, 2020
When looking at a lens name, there are a lot acronyms describing its features (often specific to the manufacturer).
Examples, Nikon:
Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm VR f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Nikon AF-I 600mm f/4D IF-ED
Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
Examples, Canon:
Canon EF 85mm f1.2L USM Mark II
Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-f/5.6 DO IS
Examples, Sigma:
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX APO DG HSM Macro
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
Sigma 50-150mm F2.8 EX DC APO HSM II
How do I decipher these lens codes from different manufacturers?
Note: Because of the community-wiki nature of this question, this accepted answer became really long, and difficult to edit and keep current as lens designations evolved. The historical answer has been broken up into individual answers per lens brand, with links to each of the lens brand answers below.
All major camera manufacturers offer their own line of lenses. Such lenses tend to follow the most stringent quality guidelines, and often come with a price premium.
Most off-brand lens manufacturers make lenses that fit many types of bodies, including Canon, Nikon, etc.
If you know what feature you're looking for in a lens (cropped-frame designation ultrasonic motor, low-dispersion elements, image stabilization, etc.), and want to know what each of the brands call that feature, the following answers are organized by lens feature.
Correct answer by jrista on December 18, 2020
Nikon: Thom Hogan's acronyms page - look at "The Dictionary" box on the right.
Pentax: Bojidar Dimitrov's terminology page
Sigma explain a few terms on their FAQ
Answered by danio on December 18, 2020
The top answer covers the decoding of the letters very well. Here are a few comments as to what some of the features actually mean in terms of consequences of the features.
Most low- to mid-range DSLRs have a sensor that is smaller than a 35mm film frame — sometimes called "reduced frame" or "cropped sensor". So using a "full frame" lens will mean lots of extra light around the sensor that isn't used. You can makes lenses smaller and lighter by reducing the projected image size to fit the sensor size. However using these lenses on a full frame camera would result in the corners of the image being dark — and mostly these lenses won't fit on a full frame camera.
The "less than full frame" codes are:
Image Stabilisation is also called Optical Stabilisation, Optical Image Stabilisation, Optical Steady Shot, Vibration Compensation and Vibration Reduction. Does what it says on the tin basically. (Some camera bodies — notably, Olympus and Pentax — have a form of vibration reduction in the body and so don't have it in the lens).
The focussing motors in some lower end lenses can be quite noisy. The higher end lenses are able to focus more quickly (the movements can be more accurately controlled) and are quieter and use less battery. The acronym for it usually includes "Sonic":
There are a variety of lens features to reduce chromatic abberations (where different colours don't exactly converge) and other imperfections in lens performance. In particular
aspherical lens elements have a more complex surface profile that allows for better image quality in exchange for increased cost.
low dispersion glass is more free of chromatic aberration.
apochromatic denotes a lens which is highly corrected for color, bringing three colors (usually red, green, and blue) into equal focus.
Canon: DO Diffractive Optics (Canon does not include information in a lens' name regarding any fluorite, aspherical, low dispersion, or apochromatic lens elements that may be included in the lens' optical formula.)
Nikon: ED Extra-low Dispersion Glass, ASP Aspherical Lens Element
Olympus/Zuiko: ED Extra-low dispersion glass
Pentax: ED Extra-low dispersion glass, AL Aspherical Lens Element
Sigma: ASP Aspherical lens element, APO Aphochromatic (low-dispersion) lens element
Sony/Minolta: AD Anomalous Dispersion, APO Apochromatic correction using AD elements, HS-APO High-Speed APO
Tamron: Aspherical or ASL aspherical lens element, AD Anomalous Dispersion, ADH AD + ASL hybrid lens element, HID High Index, High Dispersion Glass, LD Low Dispersion, LAH LD + ASL hybrid lens element, XLD Extra Low Dispersion, XR Extra Refractive Index Glass
Tokina: AS Aspherical lens element, F&R Advanced Aspherical lens element, HLD High-Refraction, Low Dispersion, SD Super Low Dispersion
There are a variety of lens coatings used to reduce internal reflections and other possible problems. Internal reflections can end up producing ghost images or adding to lens flare. Not all lens manufacturers specify the lens coatings they use.
Macro lenses can focus very close to the end of the lens, providing (at least) a 1:1 ratio between the size of the object and the size of the image on the sensor. In plain english, you can take very close up shots of flowers, insects and so on. They are just called Macro (or occasionally Micro), making life easy for once.
This includes Internal/Inner Focusing (IF) and (Internal) Rear Focusing (RF or IRF). Both of these reduce the number of individual lenses moving inside the lens. They also mean that the front of the lens will not move in or out, or rotate, during focusing. The lack of rotation can be important if, say, you have a circular polarizing filter, or a graduated ND filter fitted to the lens. And the front not moving in or out can be important if the lens is very close to the subject.
Now that most camera bodies can control the lens's aperture, some manufacturers have special designation for whether a particular lens has an aperture control ring:
Some manufacturers have a code to indicate their high end lenses:
Some manufacturers include an apodization filter in the lens to improve bokeh:
Other codes might indicate the mount type (which will indicate whether it will fit your body), whether it will work with a Teleconverter or whether the lens needs the camera body to provide the motor for auto-focussing.
Answered by Hamish Downer on December 18, 2020
Canon lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens:
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Leica RF and SLR lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens:
Note: There are sometimes small numbers engraved next to the infinity symbol (∞) on the focusing scale. These numbers indicate a difference of the actual focal length of the lens compared to the nominal value in tenths of millimeter. For example, if the number is 14 and the lens is 50mm, the actual focal length is 51.4.
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Nikon has two current lines of lens mount systems, F-mount and Z-mount. The 1 NIKKOR (Nikon 1-series) system was discontinued in 2018.
Nikon SLR/DSLR lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens:
Nikon lists the extent of AI, AF, AF-S, AF-P, and E-Type lens compatibility by camera in this chart which is even ocassionally updated to include new models.
These lenses are used on Nikon Z-mount mirrorless cameras. The lenses are marked "NIKKOR Z".
While there are both full-frame (FX) and crop-sensor (DX) Z-mount bodies, all of the Z lenses are full-frame compatible; no Z lenses are specific to crop sensor bodies.
These lenses are used on Nikon 1-series compact systems cameras. The lenses are marked "Nikon 1 NIKKOR". Terms used in names are mostly the same as for F-mount.
The last three terms (IF, RF, ED) are marked on lenses but may not appear in Nikon's description of the lens. Many of these lenses incorporate aspherical elements and will be marked "Aspherical".
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Olympus lenses are branded "Olympus Zuiko" (for the 4/3" image sensor cameras) or "Olympus M.Zuiko" (for the Micro-4/3 mirrorless 4/3" image sensor cameras).
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Minolta introduced an autofocus SLR system in 1985 using the so-called "A-mount". The system used different brands depending on region – Maxxum in North America, Dynax in Europe and α (Alpha) in Asia.
In 2003, Minolta and Konica jointly announced the "Integration of Management between Konica Corporation and Minolta Co., Ltd.", following which Minolta became Konica Minolta. In 2005, it was announced that "Konica Minolta and Sony Agree to Jointly Develop Digital SLR Cameras", and in 2006, Sony announced the "Partial Transfer of Certain Assets Related to Digital SLR cameras", buying the assets of Konica Minolta Photo Imaging.
Sony continued to develop interchangeable-lens cameras and lenses under the α (Alpha) brand, using the same "A-mount" that Minolta had introduced in 1985. Sony later introduced the "E-mount" alongside the "A-mount", and there are both A-mount and E-mount cameras and lenses in Sony's α (Alpha) system, with both full-frame and APS-C bodies and lenses available for each mount.
A-mount lenses can be used on E-mount bodies via an adapter, but the coverage (APS-C vs full-frame) of the lens+adapter combination needs to be taken into account. E-mount lenses can not be used on A-mount bodies.
Sony's point-and-shoot cameras fall under the separate Cyber-shot brand.
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Sigma lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens. They differ slightly in how they denote aperture:
Most Older Sigma lenses aren't designated by a model line. Lenses with 'EX' in the model name are generally considered "pro grade." From Sigma's website: "The exterior of this lens is EX-finished to denote the superior build and optical quality, and to enhance its appearance."
The Global Vision Series are newer Sigma lenses that are compatible with the Sigma USB Dock that allows the end user to update firmware and adjust autofocus calibration. There are three basic categories of Global Vision lenses:
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Tamron lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens. Tamron offers a considerable degree of functional features and lens types, particularly lens types that affect chromatic aberration:
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Tokina lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens:
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
Samyang (also sold as Pro-Optic, Rokinon, Bower) lenses use the following terms to indicate features of each lens:
Answered by scottbb on December 18, 2020
"Red Badge" or "Red Label": XF lenses with the label in red; reserved for higher-end zoom lenses.
GF: Currently the designation for all current and announced G-mount lenses. These cannot be used on X-mount cameras.
Note that Fujifilm styles these names with no space separating the mount designation, focal length, and aperture. That convention is usually disregarded by others (stores, reviewers, etc.).
Answered by mattdm on December 18, 2020
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