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
• Anastigmat - marketing term for anatigmatic corrected lenses
• 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
• 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.
• autofocus - The ability of any camera/lens to focus itself electronically.
• 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.
• bellows
• body cap
• bounce flash
• box camera - a class of camera types
• 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
• compact camera
• Compur - a brand of camera shutters, made by the F. Deckel company of Munich, Germany.
• contact print - a print of a negative made by laying the film directly on the paper and exposing to light.
• contrast
• 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.
• everset shutter - A shutter that is tripped by the sole energy of the finger pressing the release. It does not need cocking but cannot provide high speeds and needs to press the release harder than a cocking shutter.
• 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 - to focus means to adjust a lens or its optical elements for achieving a sharp image of subjects in a certain distance from the camera
• focus free - A camera is focus free (or fixed focus) when its lens and all of its optical elements are in a fixed position. No focusing for the subject is possible (or in sales talk, none is required), as the depth of field is assumed to be sufficient for anything other than a "close-up", at least for small magnifications.
• focus rail
• focus screen - it's a common focusing method for plate cameras to put a satinized glassplate into the camera's back instead of a film plate. After adjusting the lens for getting the image's subject sharp the glass plate can be replaced by the film plate for making the exposure.
• 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.
• light-value system
• lomography - movement that promotes (and exploits) the use of Lomo cameras (predominantly the LC-a) and a "shoot from the hip" attitude.
• loupe
• macro
• magazine camera - old type of box camera for plates or film sheets
• 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.
• photography
• 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 (device) - 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.
• RR lens - initials of Rapid Rectilinear: a lens made of a symmetric pair of cemented doublets (also called Aplanat lens)
• 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.