Photo Glossary

Large format camera

General term for any camera having a picture format of 4 x 5 inches or larger.

Latent image

The invisible image produced by exposure on a photosensitive surface. It can be made visible by development.

Lateral reversal

Mirror image reversal of the subject from left to right, as found in the viewfinders of some reflex cameras.

Latitude

The acceptable limits of things such as focusing, exposure and development. The limit of latitude varies by film type. Faster films tend to have greater latitude than slower films.

LCD

Liquid Crystal Display. An information display system. Used for external displays on cameras, screen computer monitors or other electronic devices. Cameras' LCD shows such information as remaining exposures, flash status and aspect ratio selected.

Leaf shutter

A shutter that is location near to the aperture in the lens. Utilizes a spring with the aperture control device to control the exposure time. It can be synchronized with a flash at any speed.

LED

Light emitting diode. LED is an electronic device used to give exposure information.

Lens

An optical device used to control and focus light.

Lens barrel

Metal or plastic tube with a blackened inner surface, in which the lens elements and mechanical components of the lens are mounted.

Lens cap

Plastic, rubber or metal cover which fits over the front or back of the lens to protect it.

Lens coatings

Thin anti-reflective materials applied to the surface of a lens in one or multiple layers, to help reduce light reflection and increase amount of transmitted light.

Lens elements

The individual pieces of glass that form the overall optical construction.

Lens hood (or Lens shade)

A lens addition, opaque tube in front of a lens. Used to shield a lens from stray light outside the field of view and minimize lens "flare".

Lens shutter camera

Camera with the shutter built into the lens.

Lens speed

The largest lens opening (smallest f-number) at which a lens can be set. A fast lens transmits more light and has a larger opening than a slow lens.

Lens system

The type and quantity of lenses available for use with a particular camera.

Light box

A device for viewing film or slides. Constructed of a light behind a glass or plastic surface on which the film or slides are placed for viewing.

Light meter

A light sensitive device used to measure light and indicate the ideal exposure settings.

Lighting ratio

Ratio of the brightness of light falling on the subject from the main light and other lights. A ratio of about 3:1 is normal for color photography.

Line image

A high contrast image

Linear perspective

Apparent convergence of parallel lines with increasing distance in a two dimensional image.

Lith film

High contrast film that produces negatives with intense black & whites and very minimal mid tones.

Lossless compression

A type of file compression that reduces file size without losing image date. PNGs and GIFs are common lossless file formats.

Lossy compression

A type of file compression that results in the loss of image data every time the image is saved. JPEG is a lossy file format.

Low Key

A photograph that comprises predominantly of dark or monotone colours and there are few highlights.

LPI

Lines per inch. LPI measures the frequency of lines a printer can create while halftoning.

Luminance

An amount of light which is emits by or reflects from a source.

Luminous flux

Intensity of a light source.

LZW

Lempel-Ziv-Welch. A lossless form of compression used to create TIFF files.