In rec.photo.digital.slr-systems Tony Polson wrote:
Eugene wrote:

I don't think it has anything to do with the internet really. They've
been called prime lenses for as long as I can remember, and yes I do
pre-date the Internet ;-)


If only it was as simple as referring to all fixed focal length lenses
as "prime" lenses. Most subscribers to this newsgroup probably aren't
old enough to recall that some manufacturers used the term "prime" to
refer to a high quality subset of their fixed focal length lenses.

What made a particular fixed focal length lens design a "prime" lens
was not clear. Why other fixed focal length lenses were not described
as "prime" lenses was even less clear. But what is clear is that
assuming all fixed focal length lenses were referred to as "prime"
lenses is wrong. It was marketing, pure and simple.

Since there is no accepted definition of a "prime" lens we should just
drop the term, as it serves only to confuse.

I like the idea of FFL and VFL, especially as so many VFL optics are
not true zooms because they do not hold focus when zoomed. They are
often termed vari-focal lenses (also "VFL"), which term could be
extended to include the true zooms.

FFL and VFL has my vote.

;-)

I dimly recall the term "prime lens" as being the
lens whose focal length was equal (at least roughly)
to the diagonal of the film frame. That made a 50mm
(or 45mm) lens "prime" for 35mm film.

A 135mm lens was then a "telephoto" and a 35mm lens
was a "wideangle".

Zoom hadn't been invented yet.

By the way I find acronyms very hard to remember (VHR).
I much prefer a pronoucible name. Most acronym
users seem to as well, since they often make the
acronym pronouncible.

---- Paul J. Gans