For visual support, photography is a kind of abbreviation letter soup. AWB, DOF, RVB? Even for the experienced photographer, photo abbreviations can be confusing. Here are some of the most common acronyms in photography, not to mention the original terms are in English.
The aperture priority is a camera setting that allows you to adjust the aperture value (also known as f number or f number) while the camera automatically selects a shutter speed to produce an image with the correct exposure.
- By adjusting the aperture for different photographic effects.
- The camera’s internal photometer measures the lighting conditions of the scene and adjusts the shutter speed accordingly.
One of the most common acronyms in photography is the abbreviation?Af? (AutoFocus), is short for AutoFocus. The AF function automatically adjusts the camera lens to focus a subject, creating a sharp image.
There are several types of AF focus modes. The unique approach, known as AF-S (Nikon) or One Shot AF (Canon), will cause the camera to lock focus on the subject and the camera will not refocus as long as you hold down the shutter button halfway. Continuous focus or follow-up? Eye AF (Sony), AF-C (Nikon) or AI Servo (Canon), on the other hand, continuously resets the focus if you hold down the shutter button halfway. This keeps the focus on moving subjects. Some cameras also have a mode called AF-A (Nikon) or AI Focus AF (Canon) that automatically switches between the two modes.
Automatic is short for Automatic and is sometimes indicated by a small green rectangle in the camera’s shooting mode selector. In this mode, the camera calculates and adjusts all camera settings for correct exposure, automatically taking into account shutter speed, aperture, focus, and target. balance, ISO and light measurement.
Some cameras have automatic modes programmed to specialize in taking photos of a particular subject; for example, action or sport mode prioritizes higher ISO and faster shutter speeds; is represented by a number that appears on your screen if your camera offers these modes.
The light is different depending on the conditions. AWB or Automatic White Balance works on the camera to measure the white balance (WB) of a scene and remove any color projections that may prevent a photo. In general, you try to automatically analyze and correct the colors in your scene. This works reasonably, well in most cases, but it can be deceived.
Note: If you are recording in RAW format, you can easily adjust the white balance later in post-production.
B stands for Bulb, a mode designed for longer exposures, such as those often seen in timelapse and hyperlapse. In Bulb mode, when you press the shutter, the shutter remains open until the button is pressed again (or until it is released, depending on your camera).
This mode is usually used with a tripod and a remote trigger and is required to obtain exposures of more than 30 seconds (the maximum exposure time on most cameras).
Depth of field or DOF is the focus area of a photo. Depth of field is affected by aperture. A large aperture creates a low depth of field with a small amount of the image in focus. A small aperture creates a larger depth of field with more focus. Depth of field is also defined by the focal length of the lens and the distance between the objects and the camera.
It is one of the most popular acronyms in photography. The term DSLR means single-lens DSR DSR camera. A DSLR camera has a mirror that reflects the light of the lens and directs it through a prism or set of mirrors towards the viewfinder. This arrangement allows you to see what you are recording by looking at the When the shutter is pressed, the mirror rises and allows light passing through the lens to reach the camera sensor.
Learn more about DSLR cameras in this article
Exposure value. It is a system for indicating the correct exposure in which the shutter speed and the f / number are arithmetically related.
The F-Stop or F-Number is a term that indicates the size of your lens aperture. Each opening is expressed as an opening or an f/number as f/8 of/2. 8.
High dynamic range meaning in Portuguese “High dynamic range”. It’s a photographic technique used to balance high-contrast or underexposed or overexposed photos when something is highlighted. In technical terms, this means the amount of light of different intensities that can be recorded through the camera lenses. Therefore, it is possible to capture a lot of light and shadow information in your images.
Read this article about HDR mode features
IS stands for image stabilization. This technology has several names; Vibration reduction, SR, VR and VC are just a few. Image stabilization is a feature of your lens (not all lenses have it!) This allows for sharper images when shooting hand-in-hand at lower shutter speeds, in low light conditions, and with longer focal lengths.
Note: Some cameras have stabilization inside the camera body. Read the user manual to be sure.
ISO stands for International Organization of Standards. In photography and film, ISO was an indication of the sensitivity of a roll of film to be illuminated. In digital photography, ISO measures the relative sensitivity of the camera sensor. This value can be adjusted in the camera.
If you have questions about the best ISO for your images, see this article: What ISO to use.
The higher the number, the more light the sensor can capture; However, the higher the sensitivity of the film or sensor, the more grainy the image (in digital photography, it is called noise).
Editor’s note: No, it’s not that simple, but people who discover photography need to take small steps to understand these terms, so we’ve simplified it to make it easier to understand.
JPEG (sometimes abbreviated as JPG) is an image file format. What does that mean? Joint group of photography experts The name of the group that created the format. It is one of the most common image formats recorded by digital cameras, the other is RAW.
JPEG files are lost, which means that images in this file format are compressed. Lost formats are smaller and easier to handle, but suffer a loss of quality.
M or manual mode is a camera shooting mode that, when activated, means you have full control over all camera settings, including aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, measurement mode and more.
Note: Manual mode and manual focus are NOT the same and are not unique to each other. This means that you can take photos in manual mode using autofocus or auto mode using manual focus.
M4/3 is short for Micro Four Thirds and is also known as MFT. Developed by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008, the M4/3 is a system of interchangeable mirrorless lenses for digital cameras and lenses. This mirrorless system means that the camera does not have an optical viewfinder system like conventional SLR/DSLR cameras, but an electronic viewfinder (EVF). This system is simpler, lighter and allows for smaller cameras than DSLRs.
P means programming mode. This shooting mode allows the camera to automatically adjust aperture and shutter speed, while allowing you to adjust other settings such as ISO, flash, white balance and focus functions.
RAW is the same as raw. There are photographers who call this photograph the acronym “digital negative”. It’s not exactly that, but it’s better to understand.
What happens in a camera in RAW mode is that at the time of clicking the photosensitive sensors receive light and therefore generate electricity, unlike the JPEG format, whose image consists of millions of pixels that are sent to the processor at the time of click, RAW offers a more complete image with details very close to human vision , that is, the quality is much better. It just has a very, very large database that treats the image with much more quality.
See this more detailed article on RAW mode
Based on human perception of colors, RVB means red, green and blue (red, green and blue). RVB is an additive color space designed to view images on digital screens.
Shutter speed priority mode (also called SP or TV for time value) is a setting that allows you to select shutter speed while the camera automatically adjusts the aperture for correct exposure. of the scene you are filming and adjust the aperture accordingly.
This mode is best used to photograph fast-moving objects or to blur or freeze a moving subject.
SDR, or Dynamic Range Standard, is the current standard for video screens and movies. Unfortunately, it is limited by its ability to represent only a fraction of the dynamic range that HDR is able to offer. Therefore, HDR retains details in scenes where the contrast ratio of the monitor could be an obstacle. The SDR, on the other hand, does not have this capability.
SLR or? Single lens Reflex refers to a non-digital camera with unique parasit light capabilities (see DSLR above).
TIFF, short for Tagged Image File Format, is a file format for digital images that does not lose color or detail in the same way as loss-based compression formats, such as JPEG files. This type of file format is described as lossless.
The acronym for photography is not yet finished. TTL stands for Through the Lens and refers to an automatic flash measurement system. The camera flash fires a short burst before actual exposure, the camera reads the amount of light entering the lens, and adjusts the flash power according to the selected aperture. This mode is most commonly used with the camera flash.
USM stands for Ultra Sonic Motor, a type of autofocus engine used in Canon engraved lenses. Equivalent systems include Nikon’s SWM (silent wave engine), Sigma HSM (hypersonic motor), and Olympus supersonic wave drive (SWD) engine. designed to make the lens’s autofocus work as quietly as possible.
Ultraviolet. Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths less than about 400 nm and not visible to the human eye. It is a photographic process of recording images using ultraviolet spectrum (UV) light. Images taken with ultraviolet light have a variety of scientific, medical or artistic purposes. Images may reveal the deterioration of works of art or structures not visible under visible light. In the photography market there are lens filters that simulate these waves. In addition to the UV lens filter, there is also the MC UV, the CPL filter and the IR filter that simulates the effects of infrared rays.
WB stands for White Balance, the act of balancing the color found in different lighting conditions for an accurate image (see AWB). White balance can be adjusted in the camera and post-processing if you have recorded in RAW format.
Now you know a lot of abbreviations. Of course, there are many other acronyms in photography, but knowing these basics will put you on the right path to navigating the word soup, which is a photographic language.
See also this article on some of the terms photographers still use. 22 photography terms to know!
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