Alphabet Soup

[480sparky]

Got bored today, so I went hunting for the descramblings of various manufacturers alphabet soup they use on their gear:

Canon
AFD – Arc-Form Drive
AL – Aspheric Lens
CA – Circular Aperture
CaF2 – Fluorite Element
DO – Diffractive optics
ED - Extra-low Dispersion
EF - Electronic Focus
EF-S Electronic Focus with "Short back focus"
E-M – Electronic Manual Focusing
FT-M – Full time manual focus
IF – Inner Focus
I/R – Internal or Rear Group Focusing
IS – Image Stabilization
L – Luxury
MP-E – Macro Photo Electronic
Super UD – Super Ultra-Low Dispersion glass
T/S (TS-E) – Tilt/Shift
UD – Ultra-Low Dispersion Glass
USM – Ultrasonic Motor


Nikon
AF-I – Internal Autofocus
AF-S - Focusing is driven by a "Silent Wave" motor
A/M mode – Autofocus Priority with Manual override
A-M switch – Automatic – Manual focus switch
AS - Aspherical lens elements
ASP - Aspherical lens elements
CRC - Close-Range Correction system
D - The lens provides Distance information to the camera electronically for more accurate light metering
DC - Defocus Control
DX - The lens is specifically designed for use on Nikon digital ASP-C DSLR cameras. ED - Extra-low Dispersion
G – “Gelded”, lens has no aperture ring
IF - Internal Focus
M/A - Manual/Automatic focus mode
ML - Meniscus Protective Lens
N - Nano Crystal Coat
RD – Rounded Diaphragm
RF – Rear Focusing
SIC - Super Integrated Coating
SWM - Silent Wave Motor
VR - Vibration Reduction

Tamron
AD - A lens with Anomalous Dispersion
ASL - Aspherical Lens Elements
Di – Designed for full-frame or 35mm film cameras
Di II - Designed for crop sensor or APS-C format cameras
HID - High Index High Dispersion Glass element
IF - Inner Focus
LD - Low Dispersion elements
MACRO – A lens designed to prove close-focusing ability
SP - Super Performance
USD – motor
VC – Vibration Compensation
XR - High refraction index glass elements
ZL – Zoom Lock


Sigma
ASP (Aspherical Lens)
APO – Apochromatic lens element
CONV – Converter adaptable (can use a teleconverter)
DC - Designed for crop sensor or APS-C format cameras
DF - Dual Focus
DG – Designed for full-frame or 35mm film cameras
EX – Used to denote a higher grade of finish
HF – Helical Focusing
HSM - Hyper-Sonic Motor
IF – Internal Focus
OS – Optical Stabilization
RF – Rear Focus
US – Ultra Compact


Tokina
AS – Aspherical
AT-X – Advanced Technology eXtra
D – Digitally optimized coatings
DX - Designed for crop sensor or APS-C format cameras
F&R – Front and rear aspherical elements
FC – Focus clutch
FE – Floating element
HLD - High refraction, low dispersion
IF-S – Motor
IRF – Internal rear focusing
PRO – Hardened with Alumite (Armalite)
SD – Super low dispersion




I'm no expert on the matter, so if you think there's any errors or additions, feel free to PM me.

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[pjaye]

Extremely helpful. Printed to carry with me when I'm out drooling over nikon stuff. TFS.

 

[nmoody]

Nice work, totally sticky worthy

 

[18.percent.gary]

Good thing you're not a pilot... I could pick ONE avionics device and the related abbreviations and acronyms related to it alone would completely eclipse your entire list LOL.

 

[Heitz]

yea thanks for the effort. this is very useful. Should totally be a sticky or added to an already existing sticky

 

[480sparky]

Good thing you're not a pilot... I could pick ONE avionics device and the related abbreviations and acronyms related to it alone would completely eclipse your entire list LOL.

Pffft. I'd choose -one- low-level NASA project and have enough TLA's to choke the internet.

 

[TheFantasticG]

It's pretty bad in the oil field... But meh. Lot of it is due to ex military and people just love to give things acronyms instead of just calling it what it is.

 

[18.percent.gary]

In a lot of professions brevity is necessary so acronyms and... oh crap this message is already too long. Over and out.