Glossary

This is a growing glossary of common camera and photography terms. Feel free to add items that aren't listed by using the "edit" tab at the top of the screen.

0 to 9

• 2-way head - A tripod head that moves along 2 axes; this design is older but is still often used in sports photography or by others using long, heavy lenses.
• 3-way head - A tripod head that moves along 3 axes allowing the camera to be placed in just about any position relative to the tripod.
• 35mm - A film 35mm wide with large perforations at each edge; most commonly this is used for 24×36mm frames on a roll of film wound from and subsequently back into an easy-to-load cassette.

A to E

• air release
• aperture - An opening in a lens that controls the amount of light passing through it.
• aperture priority - A metering method that recommends a shutter speed based on a desired aperture.
• aspherical
• autofocus - The ability of any camera/lens to focus itself electronically.
• auto exposure - An in-camera exposure system that attempts to set the aperture and shutter speed (and CCD sensitivity in many digital cameras) to get the best exposure for the current lighting situation.
• autographic - a feature allowing hand-written comments on the negative. 1914-1934
• auxiliary lens - a lens that attaches to the front of another lens to change the field of view (narrower, wider) or focusing characteristics (able to focus more closely).
• back - The back of a camera, containing the recording media.
• bakelite - an early form of plastic, used in camera making from the 1930s to the 1960s.

• ball head - tripod head based around a lockable, free-moving ball.
• barn doors
• barrel
• Bay I - Bayonet type I. A type of filter mount commonly used on TLRs.
• Bay II - Bayonet type II. A type of filter mount used on some TLRs.
• body cap
• bounce flash
• bracket (exposure/white balance)
• bridge camera - usually a SLR with a fixed zoom lens, intermediate between the point-and-shoot compact and the system SLR
• brilliant finder - a very small, simple finder designed to be looked down into
• brolly - Another name for an umbrella.
• cable release - An attachment that screws into a shutter release that allows you to trip the shutter mechanically while not otherwise touching the camera.
• CCD
• center-weighted - an in-camera light-meter system that favors the center of the frame although it does take into account the rest of the frame to a lesser extent.
• click stops - See also detents.
• coated - See lens coating.
• color balance/temperature
• contrast
• Compur - a brand of camera shutters, made by the F. Deckel company of Munich, Germany.
• contact print
• compact camera
• Copal - a brand of Japanese camera shutters.
• coupled rangefinder - A rangefinder which is mechanically coupled to the focus adjustment on a lens.
• cross processing
• data back - a camera back for film cameras that imprints (or burns) information onto a film frame.
• dark slide
• depth of field - The range of distances (from near to far) within which a scene will be considered to be "in focus" (within which the circle of confusion will be acceptably small)
• detents - Positions on a moving dial (e.g. shutter speed or aperture dial) from which movement needs some friction.
• diaphragm - The mechanism in a camera lens that creates a variable aperture.
• diopter - An optical adjustment that allows someone to adjust the viewfinder's magnification to their vision.
• double exposure - intentional or unintentional action of exposing the same film frame twice.
• DSLR - Digital Single Lens Reflex camera
• element - An individual piece of glass within a lens.
• E-TTL -
• EVF - Electronic View Finder: commonly found on prosumer digicams.
• exposure - The combination of shutter speed, aperture, film sensitivity, and light used to create a single photograph.
• exposure compensation
• extension tubes

F to K

• f-stop - The measure of the aperture setting on a lens.
• field camera - A large format camera, slightly stripped down to make it more portable.
• field of view - The diagonal measure of the part of a scene that is visible with a given lens.
• filter
• filter rings
• film advance - Mechanism for moving the film from one spool to another, usually one frame at a time.
• film plane - The plane onto which light entering a lens is focused.
• finder - Short for viewfinder.
• fisheye - Fisheye lenses have a very wide field of view, usually around 180 degrees.
• flare - occurs when light enters the lens that isn't part of the image and then subsequently hits the camera's film or digital sensor.
• flash
• flash meter
• flash sync - The manner by which a flash is fired while the shutter is open.
• flash trigger
• fluid head - A tripod head often used in video production that attempts to dampen sudden movements to ensure smooth panning.
• focal plane - The flat plane onto which a lens focuses its image.
• focal plane shutter - A shutter, usually consisting of fabric or metal "curtains", that operates at the focal plane (right in front of the film).
• focus
• focus rail
• focus screen
• frame counter - A mechanism for recording the number of exposures made or for calculating the number of exposures remaining on a roll of film or memory card.
• front curtain sync - In an SLR, firing of the flash at the moment when the front curtain is open.
• Fungus - a fungus that can grow between lens elements resulting in feathery or hazing damage to a lens,
• GOST - A measurement of film speed used in the former Soviet Union.
• grain
• grain focusser
• guide number
• half-frame
• handle mount flash
• histogram
• hot lights
• hot shoe
• infity focusing
• image stabalization

L to Q

• large format - A film format larger than medium format, in which negatives are loaded one at a time rather than in rolls.
• leaf shutter - A type of shutter mechanism that uses small metal blades in a leaf pattern.
• Leica nipple
• lens - One or more glass elements used to focus an image onto the focal plane.
• lens barrel - The tube that contains the lens elements.
• lens cap - Hard, protective cover that clips over the front lens element when the lens is not in use.
• lens coating - A microscopic antireflection coating applied to lenses that reduces flare and increases contrast. All modern camera lenses are coated.
• lens hood
• lens mount
• lens speed - refers to the largest aperture available on a lens. Anything f2 or under is fast; f5.6 is slow.
• light box
• light leaks - Any light, other than that focused through the lens, that gets inside of the camera body.
• light meter - A device that measures light to determine the proper exposure settings for a scene.
• lomography - movement that promotes (and exploits) the use of Lomo cameras (predominantly the LC-a) and a "shoot from the hip" attitude.
• loupe
• macro
• medium format - A film format larger than 35mm but smaller than large format (typically 120 film) wound onto spools.
• metering - measuring the amount of light for an exposure.
• mirror box
• mirror lens
• mirror lockup - A feature on some SLRs that allows the reflex mirror to be locked in the up position to eliminate vibration.
• mirror slap - The vibration caused by the mirror in an SLR flipping out of the way before a shot.
• monopod - A one-legged camera support.
• multicoated - See lens coating.
• multiple exposure - creative/experimental technique
• neutral density filter - A filter used to reduce tha amount of light enetering the lens.
• noise (sensor)
• normal lens - the "normal" lens for any film format has a focal length the size of the diagonal of the format (for 35mm, a "normal" lens is about 50mm).
• off shoe/camera flash - flash photograpy when the stobe is not mount directly on the camera - can result in a more natural lighting effect.
• optical axis - The straight line which passes through the centers of curvature of the lens surfaces.
• panorama
• parallax - An effect in photography where the image seen in the viewfinder is not the same as the image seen through the lens.
• parallax error - the diference between what the photographer sees and what the camera takes. This is most evident in close up work when using a viewfinder that does not look through the taking lens.
• prosumer
• point-and-shoot - Camera designed to eliminate the user's need to make focus and exposure settings.
• polarizer - A filter that only allows light with a specific orientation to pass through it.
• portrait lens - in 35mm terms this is usually a prime lens in the 85mm to 135mm range.
• presure plate
• prime lens - a lens that is set to a single focal length
• prismatic finder - the most common kind of viewfinder style found on SLRs. The viewing image is bounced through a path tracing a figure 4 through the prism turning the viewfinder image right ways up.
• QL - A Canon designation for film cameras using their "quick loading" feature.

R to Z

• rangefinder - A focusing mechanism in which two overlapping images are lined up on top of each other.
• rangefinder base - The distance between the viewfinder and rangefinder windows on a rangefinder camera.
• red eye
• ring flash
• rear curtain sync - In an SLR, firing of the flash at the moment before the rear curtain starts to close.
• saturation
• seamless background - backdrop used in studio photography that does not have a hard transition beteen the floor and the wall. Usually paper.
• scrim
• self-timer - A mechanism built into the shutter release, used to release the shutter after a set period of time.
• selenium
• sharpness
• shutter curtain - Most focal plane shutters are composed of two curtains; a front and rear curtain.
• shutter - The mechanism that opens and closes to make an exposure.
• shutter lag - See also shutter latency.
• shutter latency - The delay between the moment the shutter release is pressed and the moment the shutter actually opens.
• shutter priority - A metering method which recommends an aperture based on a selected shutter speed.
• shutter release - The mechanism (usually a button) that causes the shutter to open and close.
• shutter speed - The amount of time the shutter remains open.
• slave flash
• snoot
• soft box
• soft focus - a flatterring technique often used in portrait photography that deliberately adds blur to a lens. The blur hides blemishes and smooths wrinkles.
• soup
• split-prism
• spocket holes (film)
• slow sync
• SLR - "Single Lens Reflex."
• spot meter
• standard lens - See normal lens
• stereo and stereophotography
• stop down
• strap lugs
• strobe
• subminiature - a film format smaller than 24x36mm, or smaller than 18x24mm, depending on the authors
• sunny-16 rule - A light metering guideline that says proper exposure on a sunny day is f/16 at a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of your film speed.
• teleconverter
• telephoto - any lens longer than normal.
• tilt and shift lens
• TLR - "Twin Lens Reflex."
• toy camera - An inexpensive camera usually made almost entirely out of plastic (including the lens).
• trigger advance
• tripod - camera support with 3 legs.
• TTL - "Through the Lens."
• umbrella (shoot though and bounce)
• view camera - A large format camera that allows the geometric relationship between the film plane and the lens plane to be adjusted.
• viewfinder - The part of a camera you look through when composing your shot.
• viewfinder blackout - the time when the mirror in an SLR flips up to allow the film plane to be exposed during which the photographer cannot see anything through the viewfinder.
• vignetting - when part of the len's construction impedes on the film plane resulting in dark corners in the image.
• waistlevel finder - a view finder commonly found on TLRs and old SLRs in which the photographer looks down through a chimney to the image which is rendered back to front on a ground-glass screen.
• white balance
• wide-angle lens - a lens whose focal length is less than the "normal" length for the film format.
• zoom lens - a lens that adjusts to cover a range of focal lengths.