> 3 minute read

What’s Inside Your Lens?

Have you ever wondered what all of those letters in your lens’s name mean? They tell you about the technology that underpins the optics and how each lens is made.

The names of our lenses can get a bit technical sometimes, and this is because they follow a naming system that is based on the technology inside them. Starting at the beginning of the lens’s name, X Series lenses are divided up into two camps: XC and XF.

XC – More compact, lightweight and affordable. Ideal for those starting out.
XF – Built to exacting standards, with more metal in their construction.

Next in the lens’s name comes the focal length, in mm, and the maximum aperture. After that you may see an R – this indicates the lens has an aperture ring control.

Then comes a string of other letters, which may, or may not, include the following:

LM – Linear motors power autofocus in this lens, for fast, virtually silent performance.
OIS – Optical Image Stabilisation technology protects against blur from camera shake.
WR – Weather-resistant sealing protects against dust and moisture.
Macro – This lens is capable of very close focusing and reproducing an image on the camera’s sensor that is either life-size or half life-size.

Put all these together and you have a lens name like this one:

XF80mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro

There are also other optical technologies not indicated in a lens’s name, but which are crucial to its performance. These include:

ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass
This is used in many of our lenses to minimise colour fringing around high-contrast edges. It works by making sure that light rays of different colours come into sharp focus at the same point.

HT-EBC (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating)
Originally developed for broadcast lenses, this advanced optical coating minimises the amount of light that reflects off the glass elements in your lens instead of passing through them. This not only ensures you’re capturing as much light as possible, but also reduces flare and ghosting caused by internal reflections.

Aspherical lens elements
Traditionally, the shape of glass lenses is based on the curve of a sphere, but lens elements produced in this way can focus light rays passing through their edges at a slightly different place to those passing through their centre, which leads to image quality problems. For this reason, we use aspherical lens elements in some of our lenses. These have a curvature that’s not derived from a sphere, but is instead computer designed to maximise image quality.

These powerful lens technologies help to deliver outstanding results across our range, producing accurate colours, superb levels of detail, and outstanding subject definition, all of which is harnessed whenever you make an image.

Your Next Steps

• CHALLENGE Show us how you use our lens technologies to produce fantastic images. Post your best image to social media with the hashtag #learnwithfujifilm and #lensquality. You can also submit your work here for a chance to be featured on our social media channels.