Alphabet Soup that various manufacturers use on their gear

480sparky

Senior Member
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.

(Yeah... I know... there's more than just Nikon, and this is a Nikon forum. But I found 'em anyway)
 
Last edited:
Now a sticky. I also expanded the title so people would know what the thread was about.

Good post. We should probably delete the canon part and leave the rest for the sticky
 
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