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Thread: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

  1. #11

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    I would like to contribute to this discussion but wouldn't be giving an objective opinion.
    Subjective is fine and seems to be prefered in this discussion

  2. #12

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    Steven,

    To me 'lens' sounds a bit less pretentious than objective, but on the other hand, 'glass' is a bit too casual for me.

    So, somebody who takes photos uses a lens, a scientist uses objectives in his lab, and that jaded camera collector has all kinds of 'glass' which he rarely uses.

    -Arne

  3. #13

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    A lens we can see through, that is not always the case with objectives.

  4. #14

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    The problem is that a "lens" is made up of lenses - it is not exactly easy to communicate about lens problems with English-speaking laymen.

  5. #15

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    Quote Originally Posted by Steven Tribe View Post
    For most of us, objectives are something found at the front end of microscopes or telescopes (in contrast with occulars, that are found at the other end!). Yet, in the 19th. Century, camera lenses were called objectives (or occasionally, objective lenses). The function of non-camera objectives and camera "lenses" are exactly the same and all European languages I know use their local variant of "objective" for lenses. Is it just because the word is shorter or has it something to do with the mass popularisation of photography in the 1890's?
    Using the word as it used to be used would help an awful lot with descriptions ( objective - cell - groups - individual lenses)!
    As a user of cameras and a user of telescopes, I've come to realize that that the difference between a camera's objective lens and a telescope's objective lens (if it has one, not all telescopes, and not all camera lenses, have lenses) is moot: both can be used with a film holding body, and both can be used with an eyepiece (ocular) for visual observation whether terrestrial or heavenly. In essence they are all objective lenses (even those without lenses).

    So what is proper usage? I don't think there is a well defined standard. Lately I personally have been referring to all objective and ocular lenses as "glass" because when I talk about them, the conversation invariably comes around to the quality of the glass used. A lot of photographers are taking very good images with mediocre (camera) glass, just as a lot of amateur astronomers do meaningful observing and excellent imaging with mediocre (telescope) glass. Those in the know, however, realize the glass can give a slight edge to the quality of the picture.

    Just my humble opinion...

    Brian

  6. #16

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    I was looking through my old photographic dictionaries and my 1911 copy freely uses both objective and lens interchangebly.
    Common usage aside, there is still nothing wrong with using Objective and in literature that has to be precise, such as patents, it is still de rigeur.
    Regards
    Bill

  7. #17

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    A dictionary definition called up from Google just now says that an objective is:

    "Also called object glass, object lens, objective lens. Optics. (in a telescope, microscope, camera, or other optical system) the lens or combination of lenses that first receives the rays from the object and forms the image in the focal plane of the eyepiece, as in a microscope, or on a plate or screen, as in a camera."

  8. #18
    Greg Lockrey's Avatar
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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    My first studio's name was "The Optimum Aperture". I thought it was a cool name that I found in a Leica catalogue and it looked good in Avant Garde type. The problem was that it was over everyone's head and the majority of the phone calls I got came from furnace manufacturers looking for injector orifaces.
    Greg Lockrey

    Wealth is a state of mind.
    Money is just a tool.
    Happiness is pedaling +25mph on a smooth road.



  9. #19

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    The word "lens" is very ancient and comes from the resemblance of the shape of a biconvex lens to that of a lentil.

  10. #20

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    Re: Why do we call them lenses instead of objectives?

    We call it a lens because that's what it is!

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