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Camera lens markings
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Decoding the markings on vintage and modern camera lenses, lens adapters, and lens filters.
| Marking | Description |
|---|---|
| 1:1.8 | f number, maximum value shown (a single number for a prime or fixed focal length lens, a single number or range of numbers for zoom lenses). The lower the number, the "faster" the lens (and generally more expensive). The number is calculated by dividing the diameter of the front lens .(aperture) by the focal length(s) |
| φ | Lens filter thread size in millimeters. |
| , | Commas are the equivalent of a decimal point on many lens. |
| 50mm | The focal length in millimeters, sometimes given as centimeters. |
| AF | Auto Focus. |
| AR | Konica AR mount. |
| ASL (Tamron) | An aspherical optics design lens. |
| AUTO | Automatic aperture. |
| BBAR (Tamron) | Broad Band Anti Reflection; another name for multi-coated lenses. |
| C/Y | Contax or Yashica lens mount. |
| CF (Tamron) | Continuous focus (through zoom). |
| Close Focus | Close focus, the lens may have some "macro" capabilities (at least 1:6 magnification). |
| CS (on base) | Contax Screw mount, or Contax S camera mount, the first camera with 42mm thread interchangeable lenses. Now known as the M42 or M42 x 0.75 thread pitch mount. Also called the Pentax screw mount, Universal thread mount or Universal screw mount. |
| EOS | Canon EOS camera mount (1988 to present). |
| FD | The Canon FD Bayonet mount. |
| FL | The Canon FL Bayonet mount. |
| HAZE | Haze lens filter |
| IF (Tamron) | Internal focusing; the lens does not change length when zoomed |
| IS | Image stabilization; found in modern EF and other modern Canon lenses |
| K | Pentax K Mount |
| K/R | Ricoh K mount; same as the Pentax K mount except they have an additional pin or bearing connecting to the Ricoh |
| LD (Tamron) | Low Dispersion, a higher quality version of the lens |
| LTM | Leica Thread Mount; = M39 |
| M39 | A 39mm diameter threaded mount, also called the Leica Thread Mount (LTM) |
| M42 | 42mm threaded mount with a 1mm thread pitch, =M42x1.0. Also called the Contax screw mount, Pentax screw mount, Universal thread mount or Universal screw mount. Compare with the T mount. |
| MACRO | A loose term generally meaning the lens can achieve a 1:6 magnification or better. A true Macro lens has a 1:1 magnification or better (a 1 cm wide object covers 1 cm of the sensor) |
| MC | For almost all lens, this means Multi-Coated optic |
| MC (Minolta only) | Meter Coupling; version of the SR mount (in use 1966-1977) |
| Rokkor-PG | Minolta Rokkor lens. The first letter is the designation of lens groups, the second letter is the number of lens elements |
| MD (Minolta only) | Minimum Diaphragm; version of the SR mount, successor to the MC mount (in use 1977-1985) |
| MF | Manual Focus |
| OS (Sigma) | Optical Stabilization |
| PK | Pentax K Mount |
| Rokkor | Principal lens line offered by Minolta through the 1980s |
| serial numbers | Some lenses are marked with unique serial numbers. Often the first few numbers of a serial number can be decoded to identify the year and factory or country where they were made. |
| SMC | Super Mutli Coated lenses (mostly Pentax) |
| SP (Tamron) | Super Performance; a higher quality version of the lens |
| T | T mount; has a 42mm diameter thread with a 0.75mm thread pitch, =M42x0.75; (see M42) |
| Takumar | Takumar is the name that Asahi Optical gave to its lenses |
| TELE | Telephoto capabilities, generally with a focal length greater than 135mm |
| USM | Ultra Sonic Motor; one type of auto focus motors in modern Canon cameras |
| UV | UV light lens filter. |
| VR (Nikon) | Vibration Reduction. |
| ZOOM | Lens with a variable focal length. |
Vintage lenses that can be adapted to Canon EOS without optical elements to achieve infinity focus: Contax/Yashica, CY Leica R lenses, M42 screw mount, Praktiflex M40 (use 40 to 42 adapter), Nikon F, Olympus OM, Pentax K PK (including KPR Ricoh version), Praktica / Pentacon PB, Exakta (EXA), Auto Topcon RE, Tamron Adaptall. These lenses can be adopted by adaptors without corrective lenses if macro-only is desired (without infinity focus): Canon FD, Nikon S (Rangefinder), Konica F (KM), Minolta R-MC-MD, Minolta A-mount has clearance issues, Sigma SA, and all Rangefinders.
Common Vintage Lens Mounts
if the diameter of a screw mount lens is less than 4 cm, and an aperture pin is lacking, it is an M39 or Leica Thread Mount (LTM). There are a number of variants of the PK mount.
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