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Photography vocabulary · Lenses & Focus

Lens

Meaning in photography, with examples

/lenz/nounCore term

In photography, lens means: The part of a camera that collects light and focuses it onto the sensor or film. It contains several pieces of glass and usually the aperture.

In Turkish: objektif, lens

How it is used

On interchangeable-lens cameras you mount, change and swap lenses. Photographers describe a lens by focal length and maximum aperture, e.g. “a 50 mm f/1.8”. The plural is lenses. Lens cap and lens hood are everyday phrases.

Example sentences

  1. Can I borrow your 85 mm lens for tomorrow's shoot?

  2. Always put the lens cap back on before the camera goes into the bag.

Common collocations

  • change lenses
  • kit lens
  • fast lens
  • lens cap
  • lens hood
  • focal lengthA lens measurement in millimeters, such as 24 mm or 200 mm, that tells you how wide or how magnified the view will be.
  • prime lensA lens with one fixed focal length, such as 35 mm or 50 mm, that cannot zoom. Primes are often sharper and have wider apertures than zooms.
  • zoom lensA lens whose focal length can be changed, such as a 24–70 mm or 70–200 mm, so you can go wider or closer without moving.
  • apertureThe adjustable opening inside a lens that lets light through. A wider opening lets in more light and gives a shallower depth of field.
  • autofocusA camera system that adjusts the lens by itself so that the subject becomes sharp, usually when you half-press the shutter button.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Lenses & Focus

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