Camera terminology ?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Hi..

I'm new to digital photography. I recently picked up a Canon G5
and am having a ball. I'm simply *amazed* at the quality of the
images.

Anyway.. A couple of (probably stupid) questions :-)

I'm wondering about digital camera terminology..

I've figured out that my G5 is a zoom lens reflex (ZLR) because it
has a single fixed zoom lens. (This makes perfect sense

But, I see that if you have a camera where you can change lenses like
the Canon 300D, then you have a *single* lens reflex camera. If you
can use multiple lenses, why not call it a multiple lens reflex camera
(MLR) ? To me, a single lens camera is a fixed single lens camera like
my G5 has. What am I missing here ?

And.. What does reflex mean ? Again.. Nothing in the owner's manual
about this. (I'm guessing it describes the mechanical mechanism that
trips the shutter).

Finally..

With my exposure compensation function, the scale is in +/- EV steps.
I've figured out *what* exposure compensation does, but what do the
letters EV stand for ?? ElectroVolt :-) (I did read the manual, but
can't seem to find it)..

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:10:25 -0600, Frank Enns wrote:

> Hi..
>
> I'm new to digital photography. I recently picked up a Canon G5
> and am having a ball. I'm simply *amazed* at the quality of the
> images.
>
> Anyway.. A couple of (probably stupid) questions :-)
>
> I'm wondering about digital camera terminology..
>
> I've figured out that my G5 is a zoom lens reflex (ZLR) because it
> has a single fixed zoom lens. (This makes perfect sense

Less than you think, but that's another discussion.

> But, I see that if you have a camera where you can change lenses like
> the Canon 300D, then you have a *single* lens reflex camera. If you
> can use multiple lenses, why not call it a multiple lens reflex camera
> (MLR) ? To me, a single lens camera is a fixed single lens camera like
> my G5 has. What am I missing here ?

Single lens for viewing *and* taking, as against TLRs which used a seperate
viewing lens.

> And.. What does reflex mean ? Again.. Nothing in the owner's manual
> about this. (I'm guessing it describes the mechanical mechanism that
> trips the shutter).

The light gets reflected to the viewfinder with a mirror. No mirror (or
other reflecting surface) and it's not a reflex of any sort.

> Finally..
>
> With my exposure compensation function, the scale is in +/- EV steps.
> I've figured out *what* exposure compensation does, but what do the
> letters EV stand for ?? ElectroVolt :-) (I did read the manual, but
> can't seem to find it)..

Exposure Value. EV 0 == ISO 100, 1 second, f/1

--
John Bean

Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly
because it means you don't have to try (Peggy Noonan)

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Frank Enns wrote:
[]
> And.. What does reflex mean ? Again.. Nothing in the owner's manual
> about this.
[]

In your camera, reflex means that you are viewing the scene through the
taking lens. The reflex is an electronic version of the mirror optical
reflex found in SLR cameras, and applies when you are using the swivel LCD
finder as opposed to the direct-viewing optical finder (which has a
separate lens). TTL (through the lens) was term previously used to
describe metering with the taking lens.

David

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I know the feeling Frank...I've been using a G2 for three years now....

This terminolgy goes way back to the early days of photography. A single
lens reflex (SLR) is a camera, with interchangeable lenses, where the image
"seen" by the lens is viewed viewed directly through a mirror and a
pentaprism. When the picture is taken, the mirror swings up, the shutter
opens, and the image is projected on the film....or image sensor. I believe
the "single" was used to differentiate it from cameras that had muliple
lenses on a turret...mostly motion picture cameras. I'm not sure where
"reflex" comes from, it probably refers to the reflex action of the mirror
swinging up out of the way during picture taking.
A zoon lens reflex, (ZLR) is a marketing term coined, I think by Olympus, to
denote an SLR with a fixed zoom lens. They first used this to describe
some of their 35 mm cameras several years ago.

For digital cameras...to be consistent with the original use, ZLR would
denote a camera like the Oly E20, with a fixed zoom lens and an optical path
through a mirror and pentaprism, to the viewfinder. The Olympus E1, with
it's interchangeable lenses, would be an SLR.
Most people also use digital ZLR to denote a camera with an electronic
viewfinder (EVF) that minics the optical viewfinder on an SLR. It's a
minature version of the LCD screen found on most digital cameras. You could
argue that since you're getting a live feed on your G5's LCD panel, that's
it's also a ZLR...but we're really picking nits over an arbitrary marketing
term here...

EV means exposure value. It's the combination of shutter speed and lens
aperature that will produce a given effect on the film, or sensor.
A change of +/- one (1) EV can be achieved by opening or closing the lens
aperture by one f-stop, or by halving or doubling the shutter speed...in
manual mode. If you do this in one of the auto modes, the camera will
compensate and you get no difference in the EV.

cheers...MTB

"Frank Enns" <fenns-32@hotmail.com.removethis> wrote in message
news:BrDwd.3256$Ka6.18427@news1.mts.net...
> Hi..
>
> I'm new to digital photography. I recently picked up a Canon G5
> and am having a ball. I'm simply *amazed* at the quality of the
> images.
>
> Anyway.. A couple of (probably stupid) questions :-)
>
> I'm wondering about digital camera terminology..
>
> I've figured out that my G5 is a zoom lens reflex (ZLR) because it
> has a single fixed zoom lens. (This makes perfect sense
>
> But, I see that if you have a camera where you can change lenses like
> the Canon 300D, then you have a *single* lens reflex camera. If you
> can use multiple lenses, why not call it a multiple lens reflex camera
> (MLR) ? To me, a single lens camera is a fixed single lens camera like
> my G5 has. What am I missing here ?
>
> And.. What does reflex mean ? Again.. Nothing in the owner's manual
> about this. (I'm guessing it describes the mechanical mechanism that
> trips the shutter).
>
> Finally..
>
> With my exposure compensation function, the scale is in +/- EV steps.
> I've figured out *what* exposure compensation does, but what do the
> letters EV stand for ?? ElectroVolt :-) (I did read the manual, but
> can't seem to find it)..
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Frank Enns" <fenns-32@hotmail.com.removethis> wrote in message
news:BrDwd.3256$Ka6.18427@news1.mts.net...
> Hi..
>
> I'm new to digital photography. I recently picked up a Canon G5
> and am having a ball. I'm simply *amazed* at the quality of the
> images.
>
> Anyway.. A couple of (probably stupid) questions :-)
>
> I'm wondering about digital camera terminology..
>
> I've figured out that my G5 is a zoom lens reflex (ZLR) because it
> has a single fixed zoom lens. (This makes perfect sense
>
> But, I see that if you have a camera where you can change lenses like
> the Canon 300D, then you have a *single* lens reflex camera. If you
> can use multiple lenses, why not call it a multiple lens reflex camera
> (MLR) ? To me, a single lens camera is a fixed single lens camera like
> my G5 has. What am I missing here ?
>
> And.. What does reflex mean ? Again.. Nothing in the owner's manual
> about this. (I'm guessing it describes the mechanical mechanism that
> trips the shutter).
>
> Finally..
>
> With my exposure compensation function, the scale is in +/- EV steps.
> I've figured out *what* exposure compensation does, but what do the
> letters EV stand for ?? ElectroVolt :-) (I did read the manual, but
> can't seem to find it)..
>
>
Somewhere, someone should have explained that the G5 isn't a ZLR, in amongst
the explanations of what an SLR and ZLR are. The G5, among others uses a
viewfinder to compose the image, you look through that rather than the lens.
The "R" in the other two refers to the camera's ability to let you see the
image through the lens. Point and shoot is a rather derogatory term for
cameras that use a viewfinder but not a coupled rangefinder, there isn't, as
far as I know, a more complementary term for the expensive viewfinder types
like the G series of Canons, but there probably should be, if only to
differentiate them from the $50 Vivitars.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 09:23:37 -0800, "Skip M" <shadowcatcher@cox.net>
wrote:

>"Frank Enns" <fenns-32@hotmail.com.removethis> wrote in message
>news:BrDwd.3256$Ka6.18427@news1.mts.net...
>> Hi..
>>
>> I'm new to digital photography. I recently picked up a Canon G5
>> and am having a ball. I'm simply *amazed* at the quality of the
>> images.
>>
>> Anyway.. A couple of (probably stupid) questions :-)
>>
>> I'm wondering about digital camera terminology..
>>
>> I've figured out that my G5 is a zoom lens reflex (ZLR) because it
>> has a single fixed zoom lens. (This makes perfect sense
>>
>> But, I see that if you have a camera where you can change lenses like
>> the Canon 300D, then you have a *single* lens reflex camera. If you
>> can use multiple lenses, why not call it a multiple lens reflex camera
>> (MLR) ? To me, a single lens camera is a fixed single lens camera like
>> my G5 has. What am I missing here ?
>>
>> And.. What does reflex mean ? Again.. Nothing in the owner's manual
>> about this. (I'm guessing it describes the mechanical mechanism that
>> trips the shutter).
>>
>> Finally..
>>
>> With my exposure compensation function, the scale is in +/- EV steps.
>> I've figured out *what* exposure compensation does, but what do the
>> letters EV stand for ?? ElectroVolt :-) (I did read the manual, but
>> can't seem to find it)..
>>
>>
>Somewhere, someone should have explained that the G5 isn't a ZLR, in amongst
>the explanations of what an SLR and ZLR are. The G5, among others uses a
>viewfinder to compose the image, you look through that rather than the lens.
>The "R" in the other two refers to the camera's ability to let you see the
>image through the lens. Point and shoot is a rather derogatory term for
>cameras that use a viewfinder but not a coupled rangefinder, there isn't, as
>far as I know, a more complementary term for the expensive viewfinder types
>like the G series of Canons, but there probably should be, if only to
>differentiate them from the $50 Vivitars.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong5/

Thanks skip, I'll take back my comment on this being an SLR, it's
definitely not, because it's not a ZLR.

If a point'n'shoot is a P&S, can't we call this a ZP&S ?

--
Owamanga!

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

MTBike1970 <NOSPAMmtbike1970@yahoo.ca> wrote:
> I know the feeling Frank...I've been using a G2 for three years now....

> This terminolgy goes way back to the early days of photography. A single
> lens reflex (SLR) is a camera, with interchangeable lenses,

Not necessarily interchangeable, no. The first SLR had fixed lenses,
and there have been several examples of fixed-lens SLR since then.

> where the image "seen" by the lens is viewed viewed directly through
> a mirror and a pentaprism. When the picture is taken, the mirror
> swings up, the shutter opens, and the image is projected on the
> film....or image sensor. I believe the "single" was used to
> differentiate it from cameras that had muliple lenses on a
> turret...mostly motion picture cameras.

No, it's to distinguish it from a twin lens reflex, which has two
lenses, one for viewing and one for taking.

> I'm not sure where "reflex" comes from, it probably refers to the
> reflex action of the mirror swinging up out of the way during
> picture taking.

It comes from "reflex", which comes from the same root as "reflect".
It refers to the mirror.

Andrew.