What Does ISO Mean? And Other Photographic Abbreviations

February 17, 2015 Jordan Michael Lockhart

Below you will find the answer to "What does ISO mean?" and other photographic abbreviations. They're not need-to-know but good-to-know!

ISO

ISO stands for International Organization of Standardization. In photography it refers to a unit (number) which quantifies the sensitivity of photographic film or an image capturing system. Higher ISO numbers mean a higher sensitivity to light.

Example Usage: "Set the camera to 100 ISO."

JPEG

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Expert Group, and is a file format most commonly used for digital images. JPEG is a compression type that allows the stored amount of detail to vary resulting in smaller or larger files sizes.

Example Usage: "Send me some JPEGs of the show."

EVIL

Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. A type of hybrid camera with the small body and style of a compact camera but with professional features of an interchangeable lens system and an electronic viewfinder (mirrorless).

Example Usage: "I must have the EVIL Sony RX100III now."

MP

Megapixel (you knew that!). A measurement of the resolution of a digital camera or image equal to one million pixels.

Example Usage: "The new Canon 5Ds has a 50MP sensor"

LCD

Liquid Crystal Display. A common type of screen used on cameras to display images and information relative to interaction with the camera.

Example Usage: "Careful not to scratch the LCD screen please."

LED

Light Emitting Diode. Often used on the rear of cameras as activity indicator lamps, such as an indication the camera is busy writing images to the card. They can also be used as a continuous video light, arranged in an array of 1 to 126 or more LEDs typically with an adjustable brightness wheel. LEDs have low power consumption and emit almost no heat.

Example Usage: "Why is my LED still blinking?"

NFC

Near Field Communication. A short range wireless connectivity technology becoming an increasingly popular feature in newer cameras. NFC enables wireless transfer of images from your camera to a phone or tablet without the use of wires or a desktop/laptop computer.

Example Usage: "Does that camera have NFC?"

SD

Secure Digital. A small removable memory card used in many cameras. Most computers have a slot for SD connectivity.

Example Usage: "Oh no, I forgot my SD card..."

SDHC

Secure Digital High Capacity. An SD card with a capacity higher than 32GB (that's Gigabytes!).

Example Usage: "You'll want the best SDHC for a Panasonic GH4"