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It is pretty obvious from reading the article that the default imaging system used is 35mm still photography - ie. 50mm is a "standard lens", but nowhere do I see that in the discussion. Most of us who have used cameras with different formats get this, but the uninformed reader who sees this for the first time will not...
There is a lot of variation in format out there - from 1/4" consumer camcorder lenses to medium format or larger still camera lenses and a 50mm lens would be a telephoto lens in one format or a wide angle lens in another format. How to make this more understandable?
The reason this is a can of worms is that APS-C sensors have a much smaller sensor area than a full frame sensor (and not even the same between manufacturers), yet the manufacturers are selling lenses marked with the numbers appropriate for full frame (yet the actual focal lengths do not match the numbers). I use both an APSC-C Sony Alpha58 (APS-C) and an Alpha99 (FF) and regularly interchange lenses, so I can easily see the differences when using the same lens.
At the very least, you need to have links to other pages where this topic is discussed!
52.119.115.152 ( talk) 01:18, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
I've read that the term prime lens to mean "fixed focal length" (rather than a zoom) is a (relatively) recent adoption, and that some people don't like using it this way. They say a prime is the major lens attached to a camera, to distinguish it from any attachment lenses such as teleconverters, etc. So you could have a zoom lens as a prime lens, for instance. They would use the term "FFL lens" to mean what this article calls a prime lens. People who know more about photography, is this usage sufficiently widespread to make it worth adding to the article? -- Bob Mellish 16:55, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
Since it is obviously confusing if the same term is used to mean fixed focal length AND variable focal length, the misusage should be avoided, notwithstanding its current popularity. "Prime lens" is correctly used when "prime" is taken in the sense of "primary," "chief," "original," "first in order," etc., which are all dictionary definitions for the word "prime." It makes no difference whether the prime lens is FFL or zoom; one is just as much prime as the other. There is NO dictionary definition for "prime" meaning fixed focal length, or fixed anything else. Jack Falstaff 03:59, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
Jack & Don, thank you for pointing out the alternative meaning of the term. If you could provide a link to the catalogs you mentioned (preferrably published on a lens manufacturer website or, say, a major photo store, or something of this sort) - I think it would be totally ok to remove the disputed flag.
As to the references to "true" or "correct" meaning of the term - I don't think there's an established authority to assert correctness in this field, thus such references are unverifiable and may not be included in Wikipedia articles. The same goes for our guesses about why most photographers nowdays use the term "prime" as a synonym for "FFL": it's just a guess, and we have to stick to the facts. Azov 19:25, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
Here is a catalog that correctly calls a zoom lens a variable prime lens
http://www.cinequip.com/Category_detail.asp?Category=Lenses
Don Williams 21:36, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
May I recommend a compromise? I can think of two options.
(1) We could make this page a disambiguation page, and move the present article to fixed focal-length lens or whatever is the proper wording.
(2) We could adjust the intro paragraph to reflect the changing usage of the term. How about something to this effect:
I did some edits before looking here, but it seems that what I did was pretty much in the spirit of what you guys were converging on. Feel free to work on it. Dicklyon ( talk) 05:48, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
Illustrating this article with hunks of plastic made by Nikon and Canon doesn't add much educational content, even with captions about their specs. I have replaced these with two photographs that provide useful illustrations about the topic of this article. One is a high-quality metal-barreled lens with clear markings and an inset diagram of its optical design. The other is a pair of lenses with visibly large apertures, larger than any (commonly available) zoom. -- Stybn ( talk) 17:11, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
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Cheers. — cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 03:11, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
The differences section could be a little more encyclopedic. Vaughan Pratt ( talk) 17:26, 13 September 2021 (UTC)
This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
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It is pretty obvious from reading the article that the default imaging system used is 35mm still photography - ie. 50mm is a "standard lens", but nowhere do I see that in the discussion. Most of us who have used cameras with different formats get this, but the uninformed reader who sees this for the first time will not...
There is a lot of variation in format out there - from 1/4" consumer camcorder lenses to medium format or larger still camera lenses and a 50mm lens would be a telephoto lens in one format or a wide angle lens in another format. How to make this more understandable?
The reason this is a can of worms is that APS-C sensors have a much smaller sensor area than a full frame sensor (and not even the same between manufacturers), yet the manufacturers are selling lenses marked with the numbers appropriate for full frame (yet the actual focal lengths do not match the numbers). I use both an APSC-C Sony Alpha58 (APS-C) and an Alpha99 (FF) and regularly interchange lenses, so I can easily see the differences when using the same lens.
At the very least, you need to have links to other pages where this topic is discussed!
52.119.115.152 ( talk) 01:18, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
I've read that the term prime lens to mean "fixed focal length" (rather than a zoom) is a (relatively) recent adoption, and that some people don't like using it this way. They say a prime is the major lens attached to a camera, to distinguish it from any attachment lenses such as teleconverters, etc. So you could have a zoom lens as a prime lens, for instance. They would use the term "FFL lens" to mean what this article calls a prime lens. People who know more about photography, is this usage sufficiently widespread to make it worth adding to the article? -- Bob Mellish 16:55, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
Since it is obviously confusing if the same term is used to mean fixed focal length AND variable focal length, the misusage should be avoided, notwithstanding its current popularity. "Prime lens" is correctly used when "prime" is taken in the sense of "primary," "chief," "original," "first in order," etc., which are all dictionary definitions for the word "prime." It makes no difference whether the prime lens is FFL or zoom; one is just as much prime as the other. There is NO dictionary definition for "prime" meaning fixed focal length, or fixed anything else. Jack Falstaff 03:59, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
Jack & Don, thank you for pointing out the alternative meaning of the term. If you could provide a link to the catalogs you mentioned (preferrably published on a lens manufacturer website or, say, a major photo store, or something of this sort) - I think it would be totally ok to remove the disputed flag.
As to the references to "true" or "correct" meaning of the term - I don't think there's an established authority to assert correctness in this field, thus such references are unverifiable and may not be included in Wikipedia articles. The same goes for our guesses about why most photographers nowdays use the term "prime" as a synonym for "FFL": it's just a guess, and we have to stick to the facts. Azov 19:25, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
Here is a catalog that correctly calls a zoom lens a variable prime lens
http://www.cinequip.com/Category_detail.asp?Category=Lenses
Don Williams 21:36, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
May I recommend a compromise? I can think of two options.
(1) We could make this page a disambiguation page, and move the present article to fixed focal-length lens or whatever is the proper wording.
(2) We could adjust the intro paragraph to reflect the changing usage of the term. How about something to this effect:
I did some edits before looking here, but it seems that what I did was pretty much in the spirit of what you guys were converging on. Feel free to work on it. Dicklyon ( talk) 05:48, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
Illustrating this article with hunks of plastic made by Nikon and Canon doesn't add much educational content, even with captions about their specs. I have replaced these with two photographs that provide useful illustrations about the topic of this article. One is a high-quality metal-barreled lens with clear markings and an inset diagram of its optical design. The other is a pair of lenses with visibly large apertures, larger than any (commonly available) zoom. -- Stybn ( talk) 17:11, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on
Prime lens. Please take a moment to review
my edit. If necessary, add {{
cbignore}}
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{
nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 18 January 2022).
Cheers. — cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 03:11, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
The differences section could be a little more encyclopedic. Vaughan Pratt ( talk) 17:26, 13 September 2021 (UTC)