Bryan Olson wrote:
We should do away with the term "ZLR".


In language, theory follows practice. Meaning is defined by usage
and understanding, even when logic dictates otherwise.

We express aperture by F-number; unfortunately, as aperture increases,
F-number decreases. Electricity is the flow of electrons; strangely
that flow is from negative charge to positive. "Thoroughbred" is a
breed of horse, not a description of purity of breed. Compulsive
workers are "workaholics", even though there is no such thing as
"workahol".

Lamentable as the above terminology may be, any opportunity to fix it
has passed. The pioneers of optics and particle physics have won
immortal recognition, as they deserved. Those who coined and adopted
the term "workaholic" were not slapped silly -- as they deserved.

The past is fixed, and we are far too few to alter established usage.
The best we can do is to avoid making matters worse. Let's not adopt
terms that are counter-intuitive, technically wrong, and, well, stupid.
That's where "ZLR" comes in.

"ZLR" literally stands for "zoom lens reflex". Despite its literal
meaning, people use it to to mean cameras with electronic viewfinders.
(Sometimes they also assume "ZLR" means a fixed lens. It's not clear
whether they are deliberately considering only current fixed-lens
cameras, or whether they merely lack the wit to think further.)
The term is counter-intuitive, technically wrong, and stupid. It
has not yet entered common usage, so there is still time to correct
this error.

I have bought exactly two digital cameras (for within a few pennies
of the same price): A Sony F-707, and a Canon Digital Rebel with kit
lens. Both fit the "ZL" in "ZLR" by having a zoom lens. The Canon
Digital Rebel had "reflex"; the Sony F-707 did not. Thus the Canon
was a 'zoom lens reflex', while the Sony was not. So utterly stupid
is the proposed meaning of "ZLR" that my Sony F-707 would be a "ZLR",
and my Canon Digital Rebel would not. Why should we fabricate and
adopt terminology that is so contrary to fact?

So let's say what is right. When we mean "through the lens", let's
say so; "TTL" works. If we mean an electronic viewfinder, then "EVF"
is perfectly clear. A fixed lens is a non-interchangeable lens, and
let's say one of those, even if there isn't an established
abbreviation. This term "ZLR" is crap to be flushed.


--
--Bryan

Very interesting! Glad you admitted from the get-go it's a "rant". How
do you feel about the term "anal-retentive"?