Electron multiplication CCDs (EMCCDs) are CCDs with structures to multiply the signal charge packet in a manner that limits the noise added during the multiplication process. This results in a net signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain. In applications where the signal is so faint that it is barely above the imager noise floor, EMCCDs can detect previously indiscernible signals.

When comparing lenses, the two most important numbers are the focal length range and lens speed.  Focal length range will be listed as XX-XX before the letters mm, (e.g. 18-55 mm).  Lens speed or maximum aperture will be listed as some number immediately following the letter f.  (e.g. f/2.8).   Let’s break apart what both focal length range and maximum aperture mean for your own lenses.

Measured in millimeters, focal length is the not the length of the lens, but how much of the scene will be in focus (angle of view) and the magnification (how large it will be relative to the original).  Smaller numbers equate to shorter focal lengths and lower magnification. Larger numbers indicate a narrower angle of view and higher magnification or zoom.

Thankfully, the manufacturers know this and each lens should be printed with a set of letters that match the same letters of your camera body to indicate compatibility.  Below are the abbreviations for full-frame vs. crop sensor for the most common camera brands:

Thank you for your excellent article, well laid out, clear and concise with no frightening and off putting jargon. My reason for reading was to gain a little knowledge prior to commencing a photography for beginners course and I had a list of about a dozen questions which you answered all but one of them superbly. The one you failed to mention, but in fairness wasnt pertinent to your article was, “What is meant by noise in a picture?”

Prime Lenses – In contrast, prime lenses only have one focal length.  They are sometimes called ‘fixed’ lenses because the focal length is fixed at one distance between the lens and the image sensor to keep the subject in focus.  You’ll know your lens is a prime lens because the focal length will be a single number listed in front of the millimeter measurement (e.g. 50 mm or 85 mm).  Prime lenses have benefits over zoom lenses because they tend to be lighter weight and also have larger maximum apertures or f/stops.  They’re popular in lower light and with portrait photography.

It’s important to note that the difference in these letters and what words like ‘hypersonic’ means is completely dependent upon the manufacturer.  There are no industry standards about silent wave motors in the same way that focal lengths and apertures are standardized among It’s best to read reviews about the lens performance online rather than rely on the motor type alone to describe the quality.

CMOSimage sensor book

CMOS area and line scan imagers outperform CCDs in most visible imaging applications. TDI CCDs, used for high speed, low light level applications, outperform CMOS TDIs. The need to image in the NIR can make CCDs a better choice for some area and line scan applications. To image in the UV, the surface treatment after backside thinning is key, as is the global shutter requirement. The need for very low noise introduces new constraints, with CMOS generally still outperforming CCDs at high readout speeds. The price-performance trade-off can favor either CCD or CMOS imagers, depending on leverage, volume, and supply security.

Most CMOS imager fabrication processes are tuned for high volume applications that only image in the visible. These imagers are not very sensitive to the near infrared (NIR). In fact, they are engineered to be as insensitive as possible in the NIR. Increasing the substrate thickness (or more accurately, the epitaxial or epi layer thickness) to improve the infrared sensitivity will degrade the ability of the imager to resolve spatial features, if the thicker epi layer is not coupled with higher pixel bias voltages or a lower epi doping levels. Changing the voltage or epi doping will affect the operation of the CMOS analog and digital circuits.

A familiar moment for beginning photographers:  You’ve opened up your brand new DSLR and are ready to start capturing the world around you.  As you attach the lens to the camera, panic ensues:  What are all those numbers and letters on the lens?  What do they mean?  Do I have the right lens for what I need?

cmossensor vs full-frame

CCDs can be fabricated with thicker epi layers while preserving their ability to resolve fine spatial features. In some near infrared CCDs, the epi is more than 100 microns thick, compared to the 5 to 10 micron thick epi in most CMOS imagers. The CCD pixel bias and epi concentration also has to be modified for thicker epi, but the effect on CCD circuits is much easier to manage than in CMOS.

Wide Angle Lenses (25 mm or less) – The first type of common lens with some of the shortest focal lengths are wide angle lenses.  The industry standard for wide-angle lenses is to cover a focal length 25 mm or less on a crop sensor camera (40 mm or less on full-frame).  It gives photographers the ability to capture a short focal length, but a wide field of view.

First, leverage is key. At the risk of stating the obvious, imagers that are already on the market will cost much less than a full custom imager, regardless of whether it is a CMOS or a CCD imager. If customization is necessary, unless the change is minor, it is generally cheaper to develop a custom CCD than it is to develop a custom CMOS imager. CMOS imager development is generally more expensive because CMOS uses more expensive deep submicron masks. There is also much more circuitry to design in a CMOS device. As a result, even in applications where a custom CMOS imager clearly has better performance, the value proposition can still favor a custom CCD.

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Wide angle lenses are popular for landscape and architecture photography where it’s important to capture as much background and scope of the scene as possible.   In most cases, wide-angle lenses will give a field of view of 65 degrees or more, giving you more control to get close to a subject without losing elements of the background.  There’s also a small subset of wide angle lenses known as ultra-wide angle lenses.  These have focal length ranges of 10-15 mm and are used to get very close to a subject and still include a background in view.

Lens diameter is measured in millimeters just like focal length.  Ø 77 mm and Ø 82 mm are the two most common lens diameters. Be sure to have this number handy when you purchase filters online.  Many filters are advertised based on the camera body, when in fact you should ensure they fit the diameter of your camera lens.

There are two types of lenses:  zoom lenses and prime lenses.  Zoom lenses allow you to capture a range of focal lengths using the same lens.  Prime lenses—also called fixed lenses—can only capture one focal length.  To determine if your lens is a zoom lens or a prime lens, simply look at the focal length numbers on the camera lens.

While it may be tempting to switch lens brands when you upgrade equipment or when you see a good sale on lenses, there’s no way to interchange a Canon lens with a Nikon lens.  The camera kits mount completely different and are not compatible.  There are third-party lenses that are compatible with either Canon or Nikon lenses.  However, these still are not interchangeable between brands.  To date, there is no such thing as a ‘universal’ lens mount.

Depending on the type of lens that you own, the focal length will either be listed as a range of numbers (e.g. 18-55 mm) or one number 50 mm.  The difference between a focal length range and fixed focal length will indicate if your lens is a zoom lens or a prime lens.

Macro lenses come in short lengths (good for low light, macro, and some portraits) as well as standard macro lenses (shooting about 9-11 inches away from the subject in good lighting) and telephoto macro lenses (shooting up to 2 feet away).  While the focal lengths vary, macro lenses come with a ‘minimum focus distance’ that will indicate the closest you can be and still have the subject clearly in focus.

As with image stabilization, every camera manufacturer advertises and markets their own type of silent wave motor.  You’ll see different abbreviations for each of the major brands.  Below are the silent wave motor abbreviations for the common lens brands:

Full Frame vs. Crop Sensor – All major camera manufacturers sell different models of cameras based on the size of the sensor.  When you fit your camera lenses to your camera body, you need to make sure that the lens you purchase is compatible with the lens size (full frame vs. crop sensor vs. mirrorless.  If you own a full-frame camera, you won’t be able to use a lens built for a crop sensor camera and vice-versa.

Standard lenses are considered ‘general purpose’ lenses because they can be used for all types of photography.   They are common for portraits and large group photos, street photography and any situation where you’re photographing with the flexibility to move around and get the best angle to shoot from.

To image in the near infrared (700 to 1000nm), imagers need to have a thicker photon absorption region. This is because infrared photons are absorbed deeper than visible photons in silicon.

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One of the biggest distortion concerns with macro lenses is called chromatic aberration.  It’s a technical term to describe the ‘halo’ of purple/yellow coloring that occurs on the fringe of subjects in macro photos.  With careful composition and some post-processing techniques, it’s possible to correct this, but you’ll want to read performance reviews before purchasing Macro lenses to be sure you’ll be getting the highest quality image possible.

IsCMOSsensor full frame

Every lens in your kit will have a focal length listed on the lens. Arguably, it’s the most important thing you need to know about your current lenses and it’s very important when buying new ones.

Compared to CMOS, EMCCDs are most advantageous when the imager does not need to image at high speed. Higher speed operation increases the read noise in CCDs. Hence, even with the SNR improvement from the EMCCD, the difference between an EMCCD and a CMOS imager may not be much, especially when compared to scientific CMOS imagers that are specifically designed to have very low read noise. High speed EMCCDs also dissipate significantly more power than conventional imagers.

Some entry-level lens kit will attempt to sell that your zoom lens functions as a macro.  However macro lenses provide the best magnification and image quality without distortion.  look for MACRO printed on your lens for true macro technology.

Beginning photographers sometimes glance over the value of a standard lens, preferring to jump right to the effects of a wide-angle or telephoto lens.  Yet the performance of standard lenses should not be overlooked.  Photos taken with a standard lens are the most natural and can have higher image quality than those taken with a zoom lens.  Prime lenses in standard lengths are small, lightweight, and offer a lot of speed over other lenses.

Third, supply security is important. It is very costly to be left with a product that is designed around an imager that is discontinued. In spite of a better value proposition, it may be wiser to choose the company which is best able to produce the imager – CMOS or CCD – long term.

Once you’ve done the exercise with stationary objects, move outdoors and attempt the same exercise with an object at a further distance or a landscape.  It’s the best way to learn more about focal length and the lenses you own.

A few lenses everyone should consider having in their camera bag:  A 50 mm f/1.8 prime lens.  It’s a gold standard for portraits and street photography. A versatile zoom lens with a range of at least 70-300 mm is also helpful to have around.  It will give a bit more zoom than your standard kit lens and offer higher quality images. Finally, consider a wide-angle lens.  It’s great for small quarters and shooting large objects like buildings.  They don’t often come in basic lens kits but should be one of the first you consider adding on.

Aside from area and line scan imagers, there is another important type of imager. Time delay and integration (TDI) imagers are commonly used in machine vision and remote sensing and operate much like line scan imagers, except that a TDI has many, often hundreds, of lines. As the image of the object moves past each line, each line captures a snapshot of the object. TDIs are most useful when signals are very weak, since the multiple snapshots of the object are added together to create a stronger signal.

You may be surprised to know though, that in some cases you may be able to use your old film lenses with a DSLR camera body.  Canon has used the same lens mount system since 1987.  Nikon’s has been around since 1959.  If you have a film lens that dates back around then, you should be able to get it to attach to your camera body.

With the promise of lower power consumption and higher integration for smaller components, CMOS designers focused efforts on imagers for mobile phones, the highest volume image sensor application in the world. An enormous amount of investment was made to develop and fine tune CMOS imagers and the fabrication processes that manufacture them. As a result of this investment, we witnessed great improvements in image quality, even as pixel sizes shrank. Therefore, in the case of high volume consumer area and line scan imagers, based on almost every performance parameter imaginable, CMOS imagers outperform CCDs.

Sometimes you may find the words MACRO printed on the side of a lens.  True macro lenses have at least a 1:1 magnification.  Often it’s 2:1 or better (see below for more information about Macro lenses and what types of photography they are best for).  Lenses created by the popular manufacturers that create at least life-size images on the camera sensor should have MACRO printed somewhere on the lens.

CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensors are two different technologies for capturing images digitally. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses giving advantages in different applications.

Much has been written about the relative advantages of CMOS versus CCD imagers. It seems that the debate has continued on for as long as most people can remember with no definitive conclusion in sight. It is not surprising that a definitive answer is elusive, since the topic is not static. Technologies and markets evolve, affecting not only what is technically feasible, but also what is commercially viable. Imager applications are varied, with different and changing requirements. Some applications are best served by CMOS imagers, some by CCDs. In this article, we will attempt to add some clarity to the discussion by examining the different situations, explaining some of the lesser known technical trade-offs, and introducing cost considerations into the picture.

Choosing the correct imager for an application has never been a simple task. Varied applications have varied requirements. These requirements impose constraints that affect performance and price. With these complexities at play, it is not surprising that it is impossible to make a general statement about CMOS versus CCD imagers that applies to all applications.

I have found a camera lens at an estate sale and was wondering if you could tell me what the numbers on the lens, 4 8/4 front and 4 8/4 back, mean. The lens is made by Gundlach-Manhatten Optical Co. Rochester N.Y. Since I know nothing about camera lens, I would appreciate your help. Thank you

Although backside thinning is now ubiquitous in mobile imagers, UV response is not. To achieve stable UV response, the imager surface requires specialty surface treatment, regardless of whether the imager is CMOS or CCD. Many backside thinned imagers developed for visible imaging have thick oxide layers that can discolor and absorb UV after extended UV exposure. Some backside thinned imagers have imaging surfaces that are passivated by a highly doped boron layer that extends too deep into the silicon epi, causing a large fraction of UV photogenerated electrons to be lost to recombination.

Along with focal length, you will also find maximum aperture printed on your camera lens.  Aperture refers to the size of the opening where light passes through to the sensor.  It’s commonly written with f/stop on the camera lens (e.g. f/5.6, f/2.8, f/2).  While there’s good information online on how to interpret f-numbers (it’s actually a ratio), what’s important for beginners to know is the lower the number, the larger the aperture or size of the space where light can enter.  The higher the number, the smaller the aperture or opening and the less exposure.

So far, we have focused on the performance differences between CMOS and CCD imagers. It would be naive to assume that business decisions are based on performance trade-offs alone. What matters more to many business decision-makers is value, or the performance received for the price paid.

Super-telephoto/Ultra-telephoto Zoom Lens (greater than 300mm) — If you plan to spend a majority of your time shooting sports and wildlife photography, you may consider investing in an ultra-telephoto lens.  These are a sub-set of telephoto lenses that have focal lengths of at least 300-400 mm.  Considered a ‘specialty lens’ ultra-telephoto lenses are high-priced, but allow photographers to clearly focus on subjects far in the distance.

In general, these are the categories of focal lengths you’ll find among major camera brands.  Below we’ll cover what each of these lens categories is used for in more detail, but this will provide a general idea of the range of focal lengths you might find stamped on your lenses:

The performance advantage of CMOS imagers over CCDs for machine vision merits a brief explanation. For machine vision, the key parameters are speed and noise. CMOS and CCD imagers differ in the way that signals are converted from signal charge to an analog signal and finally to a digital signal. In CMOS area and line scan imagers, the front end of this data path is massively parallel. This allows each amplifier to have low bandwidth. By the time the signal reaches the data path bottleneck, which is normally the interface between the imager and the off-chip circuitry, CMOS data are firmly in the digital domain. In contrast, high speed CCDs have a large number of parallel fast output channels, but not as massively parallel as high speed CMOS imagers. Hence, each CCD amplifier has higher bandwidth, which results in higher noise. Consequently, high speed CMOS imagers can be designed to have much lower noise than high speed CCDs.

In the case of an aperture range, you’ll find two numbers printed on the lens.  For example, you might find f/3.5-5.6 printed on the lens.  In this case, depending on the focal length the zoom lens is set at, the maximum aperture will be a range from f/3.5 to f/5.6.   In general, the more you zoom the narrower the aperture on the lens.

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Typically when the new lens version becomes available, the older version will no longer be available from licensed camera retailers.  However, you may still be able to purchase the previous version on the used market or from an online retailer that tend to sell the older versions longer.  It’s helpful to know the exact lens version you’re using though because information about older versions quickly becomes hard to find.  If you’re reading reviews about lens performance from other photographers, be sure you have the exact version as performance and quality may be quite different.

Some camera lenses have the diameter of the lens printed on it using the diameter symbol “Ø”.  This refers to the diameter of the end of the lens and is helpful when purchasing filters for the camera.  When you purchase filters, you’ll need to make sure that they are large enough to cover the full lens or the correct diameter for circular screw-on filters.

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Beginning photographers should spend some time learning about the focal lengths of the lenses they own. Focal length can dramatically impact the perspective of an image and contributes to composition in ways you should be familiar with.  To explore the focal length of your camera, try this exercise:

Focusing Motor Type – Sometimes you may also see a series letters (USM, SWM, HSM, etc.) printed somewhere on the lens, or the words “hypersonic” or “ultrasonic.”  You’ll especially find this on higher-end or specialty lenses.  These are all terms that camera manufacturers use to describe the type of focusing motor in the lens, called a silent wave motor.  Sometimes these types of motors are also called hypersonic or ultrasonic.  In general, camera manufacturers advertise silent wave motors because they tend to be faster and quieter than the standard focusing motor you’ll find in entry-level lenses.

Before you start shopping for new lenses, you’ll want to know before purchasing a lens is what you plan to use it for.  A good multi-purpose lens can elevate all types of photography.  However, if you plan to shoot flowers, sports, or wildlife you might be better off choosing a more specific lens.  Most photographers start to specialize in lenses that match the types of photography they shoot the most.

CMOSimage sensor PDF

Lens Version – Some lenses will be printed with a number or letter system indicating which version of the lens you have.  For example, a lens that has a “II” listed at the end of the lens name indicates that it’s the second version of that same lens model.  It has the same focal length and maximum aperture as the first model but is an ‘improved’ version with higher-quality features. It’s essentially the same as how software developers use the “v2.0” terminology. You may even find “III” lenses, however third iterations of the same lens are rare.

Please explain the difference in distance other than mm? between a 300mm and a 400mm. I have a 300 and photograph wildlife. Thinking about buying a 400mm. Is there a much greater advantage? I am having trouble getting the shots I want with 300mm. I take photos strictly for ref. to paint from. Thank you.

Telephoto Lenses (70 mm or longer)  — Lenses that are 70 mm or longer are known as telephoto lenses.  Beyond kit lenses, this is often where beginning photographers invest in their first lens.  Telephoto lenses are most often zoom lenses, giving you a wide variety of focal lengths to shoot with.  Popular ranges include 70-200 mm, 80-400 mm, 70-300 mm.  Telephoto lenses compress distance, making subjects look closer than they are to the naked eye.

CMOSsensor Samsung

UV response and backside thinning are achievable in all line scan imagers, but not all area imagers. No global shutter area CCD can be backside thinned. The situation is better in CMOS area imagers, though still not without trade-offs. CMOS area imagers with rolling shutter can be backside thinned. Conventional CMOS global shutter area imagers have storage nodes in each pixel that need to be shielded when thinned, but only if these UV sensitive imagers will also be imaging in the visible. In backside thinned area imagers, it is not possible to effectively shield part of the pixel from incident illumination, without severely degrading the imager’s fill factor (the ratio of the light sensitive area to the total pixel area). There are other types of CMOS global shutter area imagers that do not have light sensitive storage nodes, but have higher noise, lower full well, rolling shutter, or a combination of these.

When purchasing telephoto lenses, it’s important to select the most speed for the greatest focal length.  Speed is especially important here, as stopping wildlife and sports subjects on the move can be difficult to do without introducing blur and noise to the image.  Choosing a lens with an aperture of f/4 or larger is best, even if it’s a significant investment.

CCDs and CMOS imagers were both invented in the late 1960s and 1970s (DALSA founder Dr. Savvas Chamberlain was a pioneer in developing both technologies). CCD became dominant, primarily because they gave far superior images with the fabrication technology available. CMOS image sensors required more uniformity and smaller features than silicon wafer foundries could deliver at the time. Not until the 1990s did lithography develop to the point that designers could begin making a case for CMOS imagers again. Renewed interest in CMOS was based on expectations of lowered power consumption, camera-on-a-chip integration, and lowered fabrication costs from the reuse of mainstream logic and memory device fabrication. Achieving these benefits in practice while simultaneously delivering high image quality has taken far more time, money, and process adaptation than original projections suggested, but CMOS imagers have joined CCDs as mainstream, mature technology.

All lenses have a maximum aperture printed on them in the f/x.x format.  This refers to the maximum size of the aperture possible with that particular lens.  Prime lenses have one fixed maximum aperture.  Zoom lenses can have a fixed maximum or they can have a range of maximum apertures.  Fixed maximum ranges on zoom lenses tend to be more expensive, it’s more common to have an aperture range.

Low noise CMOS imagers may not have the NIR, UV, or TDI integrating advantages of a CCD. Consequently, because the signal can be much weaker, even when the read noise is comparable to what an EMCCD can achieve, an EMCCD solution may still be better overall.

CCDs combine signal charges, while CMOS TDIs can combine either voltage or charge signals. The  charge summing operation can be noiseless, but CMOS voltage summing cannot. When a CMOS voltage-domain TDI has more than a certain number of rows, the noise from the summing operation adds up to the point that it becomes impossible to match a charge-domain TDI. The tradeoff is in speed and cost. CCD TDI provides great sensitivity but eventually reaches a speed limit. CMOS has speed advantages, but charge-domain CMOS TDI is more difficult and costly to design and manufacture. For lower numbers of row summing, voltage-domain TDI summing can provide cost-effective high performance, but for the most challenging (highest speed, lowest light) applications, charge-domain CMOS TDI (like that found in Teledyne's Linea HS cameras) delivers the highest performance.

Zoom lenses will be printed with the range of focal lengths, but they will also have a focal length guide along part of the zoom ring.  It should appear as a series of increasing numbers with a line that moves up and down as you increase or decrease the zoom.  The line indicates the exact focal length you are shooting at between the minimum and maximum focal length range.

Thank you for sharing information on cameras and lenses for beginners in an easy to understand language. Everything is clear except the difference between full frame vs crop sensor cameras.

CCDs that are specifically designed to be highly sensitive in the near infrared are much more sensitive than CMOS imagers.

Secondly, volume matters. Although the cost to develop a new CMOS imager is higher, CMOS imagers that can leverage from larger economies of scale will have lower unit cost. With high volumes, a low unit cost can be financially more important than a low development cost.

Both types of imagers convert light into electric charge and process it into electronic signals. In a CCD sensor, every pixel's charge is transferred through a very limited number of output nodes (often just one) to be converted to voltage, buffered, and sent off-chip as an analog signal. All of the pixel can be devoted to light capture, and the output's uniformity (a key factor in image quality) is high. In a CMOS sensor, each pixel has its own charge-to-voltage conversion, and the sensor often also includes amplifiers, noise-correction, and digitization circuits, so that the chip outputs digital bits. These other functions increase the design complexity and reduce the area available for light capture. With each pixel doing its own conversion, uniformity is lower, but it is also massively parallel, allowing high total bandwidth for high speed.

Telephoto lenses are popular among sports, wildlife, and nature photography.  Telephoto lenses allow you to bring the action of these scenes up close in an image.  They are less commonly used in portrait, street, and landscape photography because of the potential for distortion and the loss of background when zooming in close to a subject.

Now that you know how to determine the focal length range of a lens and the maximum aperture of your lens, you can understand the basic performance of almost any camera lens.  Lenses come in some common focal length sizes which allow you to compare them apples to apples across different brands.  It’s helpful to know the basic lens sizes that are common for beginners to own and what type of conditions they’re most useful for.

Macro (focal lengths vary)         Another common lens to find in a photographer’s bag is a macro lens. They are the perfect lens if you find yourself regularly taking close-up shots like flowers, insects, or detailed food photography.

The same applies to lens filters, remote shutter releases, and external flash.  Many of these camera accessories are exclusive to the brand of lens and are not interchangeable.  It’s important to review your manufacturer’s guide to determine compatibility with camera accessories.

In machine vision, area and line scan imagers rode on the coattails of the enormous mobile phone imager investment to displace CCDs. For most machine vision area and line scan imagers, CCDs are also a technology of the past.

Thank you so much for this article. I am new to photography and still have a lot to learn but your article helped me to understand a lot about the lenses that came with my starter set up from Canon.

Hi my name is Brandon. I am an avid photographer and love the outdoors. ShutterTalk is where I share things that I have learned about photography and help other photographers, new or experienced, enjoy their cameras and taking pictures even more.

Just like other telephoto lenses, ultra-telephoto lens buyers should shop for the most speed for the greatest focal length.  Given how important it is to stop motion in these photos (and the high potential for noise and blur at long distances), it’s often better to choose a slightly shorter focal length if it means you can achieve a higher speed.  Budgets for ultra-telephoto lenses vary greatly, but it is possible for a beginner to shop around for an affordable product that will shoot like the pros.

Not to worry.  While there are lots of numbers and letters on lenses, once you’re familiar with how to read them, it’s easy to know what lens you’re working with and what the lens will do for your photography. Rest assured, by the end of this guide you’ll be an expert on how to read camera lens numbers and choose the best lens for your next shoot.

Along with focal length and maximum aperture, you may find other numbers printed on your lens.  Not all lens manufacturers have these numbers and letters printed, but it helps to be familiar with the other types of abbreviations you might find on a lens.

Since ultraviolet photons are absorbed very close to the silicon surface, UV imagers must not have polysilicon, nitride or thick oxide layers that impede the absorption of UV photons. Modern UV imagers are hence backside thinned, most with only a very thin layer of AR coating on top of the silicon imaging surface.

Standard Lenses (35mm to 60 mm) – Lenses that fall between 35 mm and 60 mm focal length are considered ‘standard’ lenses.  You may also see them marketed as ‘standard zoom’ or ‘normal’ lenses.  Most photographers start with lenses in this focal length range, and they are common as camera kit lenses.  Between wide-angle and telephoto lenses, standard lenses are the best at capturing the same scene as the naked eye.

If you plan to purchase a new camera lens there are some basic lens features that you’ll want to know when you purchase.  Understanding these features can help you better understand why two lenses that look similar on the outside might be sold at very different price points.  Considering these factors will also help you to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples across different lens brands.

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Zoom Lenses – For zoom lenses, you’ll see both the minimum focal length and the maximum focal length that can be captured by the lens printed directly on your lens.  18-55 mm means that the minimum distance is 18 mm and the maximum distance between the lens and the image sensor is 55 mm.  Zoom lenses have great utility because they capture all the focal lengths in between the range.  You can carry less camera equipment but still, have a subject in focus at any of those distances.

Another item you may find stamped on your lens is image stabilization technology.  Each camera manufacturer handles image stabilization slightly differently.  Some camera bodies have built in stabilization so the lens doesn’t need to provide stability.  Others rely on the lens to provide stabilization.  If your camera body does not have it built in, you’ll want to confirm that your lens has image stabilization technology by looking for letters printed on the lens.Unfortunately, the common camera manufacturers abbreviate and market their image stabilization differently.   There’s no common set of letters that are used across brands like Canon, Nikon and Sony to indicate image stabilization in the lens.   Below are the abbreviations for the common lens brands:

When purchasing a wide-angle lens, you want to focus on getting as much speed for the most affordable price.  Consider choosing a prime wide-angle lens as they have fewer components and tend to be priced cheaper.  Prime lenses often times perform better at wide-angle focal lengths anyway as compared to their zoom counterparts.