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Elements & Groups

Reducing aberrations to make the sharpest image possible

A lens is one or more pieces of optical material (most commonly glass or plastic) designed to collect and focus all wavelengths of light at a single focal point to form a sharp image on the film.

When you look at the specifications of a camera you will notice that its lens is made of elements and groups.

The term element refers to the individual pieces of glass. The term group can refer to a single element, or two or more elements joined together. So a lens that has 5 elements in 4 groups has 5 pieces of glass with 2 joined together.

The use of multiple elements allows more optical aberrations to be corrected than is possible with a single element, but by itself the number of elements is no guarantee of quality.

Interesting note:
Up until the 1970s Minolta used a useful two letter suffix on the front of their lenses to designate the number of elements and groups. The first letter designated the number of groups: Q=4, P=5, H=6… The second letter designated the number of elements: D=4, E=5, F=6… From these letters we can tell from the PF on the lens of the Minolta AL for example, that it has 6 elements in 5 groups.

  • Rangefinder Cameras
  • Focal Plane
  • Focal Length & Aperture
  • f-stop
  • Numbers on a lens
  • Prime lens
  • Fast lens
  • Angle-of-view (AOV)
  • Elements & Groups
  • Coatings
  • Leaf shutters
  • Shutter speed
  • Film speed ASA/ISO
  • EV / Exposure Value
  • LV / Light Value
  • LV Tables
  • Priority
  • Depth-of-field
  • Bokeh
  • Apparent Subject Motion
  • Light meters
  • Be meter free
  • The Sunny 16 Rule
  • Double & half
  • Parallax
  • Rangefinder Vs. SLR
  • Filters
  • Filters: UV
  • Filters: Skylight
  • Filters: Polarizing
  • Filters: ND
  • Filters: Black & White
  • Diffraction
  • Multiple Exposures
  • Sharpest Aperture
  • C-41 B&W
  • Zone focusing
  • Half-frame
  • Vignetting
  • Guide Number
  • X & M
About Ilott Vintage

A valuable reference for anyone wanting to learn more about rangefinder cameras, manual film photography, or both, this website is intended to serve not only as a resource to discover some amazing objects but also as a place to learn more about them, to understand exactly what they are capable of, and why. Read More

See Also
  • Minolta Hi-Matic 9 Mahogany
    Minolta Hi-Matic 9 All the quality of the 7s with an improved, faster lens
  • Minoltina AL-s Nobody loves a fat camera
  • Original Canonet vintage rangefinder
    Canonet The original standard setter
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    Wednesday 22nd March 2023