Photo Jargon Dictionary

Here is a new one.

Anyone know what CA means? This seems to be the new term of the week that I never saw before this week.

Yeah... chromatic aberrations were never abbreviated like that.

Ah. OK. So we just making up abbreviations now? That is like my 12 year old niece who will type "SWAYDRN?" and expect me to know what that means, apparently she made it up for "So what are you doing right now?".

Creative, Reflective, 'Arty', Photo.

Either you've slept through all the bridge camera disasters of the last 3 years, or you know it as purple fringeing

Oh, I had a good laugh at that one .... that's priceless ....

chris clements wrote:
Either you've slept through all the bridge camera disasters of the last 3 years, or you know it as purple fringeing

Alex 'What is purple fringeing for $200?"

I know that one but CA is a whole new term to me.

LOL!

ok, i have a dumb one, what's the L at the end of lens types in gear lists?

L = Luxury. Canon's top of the line.

ooooh! thanks.

it's no wonder i don't know that one with my budget!

dont worry about it too much

its just marketing hype

People say L means Luxury, though I don't think Canon have officially termed it so. What it means is a red ring around the end of the lens, a red letter L on the box (apart from the big super-telephotos that come in brown corrugated cardboard boxes), you get a good lens hood and a lens case (which is usually pretty useless - I put mine back in the boxes) with the lens, and a big bill.

L lenses are undoubtedly good lenses, but they're not needed for good pictures. That said, not all L lenses have astronomic price tags - one of the most popular is the EF 70-200mm f/4L, which, so long as you can live with the lack of IS, is an excellent telephoto zoom. The EF 17-40mm f/4L is popular as an alternative to the kit lens, though whether it will keep that place with the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS now available, I'm not sure.


Canon have not designated any EF-S lenses as L (even though there's L binoculars, and the Powershot Pro 1 had an L lens). However, there's arguments that the EF-S 17-55mm IS is really an L lens, and good arguments too for the EF-S 10-22mm ultra-wide lens on the optics side, even if construction falls a bit short of L standards.


The most important thing is to understand the lens options available, so that you can figure out what's right for you and your budget. There are some excellent non-L lenses. One example is the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM - when I can afford a Macro lens, this is what I'll buy - the extra expense of the EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro isn't justified for me.


There are also some L lenses that are somewhat specialist which may disappoint if bought blindly. The EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS is an example of this - great focal length range, but slow, heavy and not at its best at either end of the zoom range. It's really a specialist lens for certain types of photojournalism and event photography where you need the full range of focal lengths without having time to switch lens or switch camera. For the right task, it's an excellent lens, but most people would probably be happer if they split that range between two or more lenses.

David

thanks david! that clears up a lot. Im glad your happy with your new macro . . . i just got the EF60mm f/2.8 and i'm quite happy with it.

EF60mm or EF-S 60mm? That lens is so sharp, it should have been part of the 'L's. Ok, tinker your brains, what does -S stand for in EF-S

My best guess was EF lens (- minus) Sharpness. But the lens Canon brought out, made me wrong j/k

your are absolutely right, its the EF-S (didnt' have my glasses on when i looked across the room). it is wonderfully sharp. most of the pics i've posted are with that lens, i don't really use anything else for my studio work.

im glad you agree its a good lens. i got the 350d for xmas and got to pick out my third lens. was brand new to lenses at the time so i had to make an educated guess. as much as i wanted the 50mm the 60 seemed to me to be a much better quality.