During most of the 20th century photography depended mainly upon the photochemical technology of silver halide emulsions on
glass plates or
roll film
Roll film or rollfilm is any type of spool-wound photographic film protected from white light exposure by a paper backing. The term originated in contrast to sheet film. Confusingly, roll film was originally often referred to as "cartridge" film be ...
.
[Langford, Michael. ''Story of Photography''. Focal Press, 1998, pp. 224. .] Early in the 21st century this technology was displaced by the electronic technology of
digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...
s. The development of digital
image sensor
An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of c ...
s,
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...
s,
memory card
A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...
s, miniaturised devices and
image editing
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as a ...
software enabled these cameras to offer their users a much wider range of operating options than was possible with the older silver halide technology.
[Busch, David D. ''Digital SLR Cameras and Photography For Dummies''. For Dummies, Wiley 2009. .][Kelby, Scott. ''The Digital Photography Book''. Peachpit Press, 2006, pp. 240. .] This has led to a proliferation of new
abbreviation
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
s,
acronyms and initialisms
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in '' NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, a ...
. The commonest of these are listed below. Some are used in related fields of
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...
and
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
but many are specific to
digital photography
Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image ...
.
Acronyms and initialisms that are not brand-specific
Initialisms that are used mainly by specific brands
References
General references
* Blair, John G. ''The Glossary of Digital Photography''. Rocky Nook, 2007, .
* Peres, Michael R. ''The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography'', Fourth Edition. Focal, 2007, .
* Taylor, Phil. ''Digital Photographic Imaging Glossary''. Trafford, 2006, .
Glossary, issued by Nikon explaining the Nikkor lens codes. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Abbreviations in Photography
*
Photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...