If you’re new to an online photo forum, you may find some of the initials used in posts confusing. Here are some of the most common initialisms and the photography terms they represent:
Forum Abbreviations
- 100% crop
- A section of a full sized image cropped at an 1:1 ratio
- AE
- Auto Exposure
- AF
- Auto Focus
- AP
- Aperture Priority
- AS
- Antishake - often understood to be the same as Image Stabilization, but may only refer to a camera automatically increasing ISO
- CAF
- Continuous Auto Focus
- DOF
- Depth of Field
- DZ
- Digital Zoom
- EC
- Exposure Compensation
- EV
- Exposure Value
- FOV
- Field of View
- IQ
- Image Quality
- IS
- Image Stabilization - usually refers to optical IS
- ISO
- Number indicating a digital camera sensors sensitivity to light
- MF
- Manual Focus
- NI
- Neat Image - noise reduction software
- NN
- Noise Ninja – noise reduction software
- NR
- Noise Reduction
- NT or (NT)
- comments written only in a subject line of a post, indicating no reply in the main subject area
- OIS
- Optical Image Stabilization
- OOF
- Out of Focus
- OP
- Original Poster – person who starts a new forum topic
- OZ
- Optical Zoom
- PIC
- Picture
- PICS, PIX
- Pictures
- PP
- Post Processing - editing digital images
- PS
- Photoshop - photo editing program considered by many to be the "gold standard"
- PSE
- Photoshop Elements - "little brother" of Photoshop
- PSP
- Paintshop Pro - similar to Photoshop but less expensive
- SP
- Shutter Priority
- TCon
- Telephoto converters for increasing focal length.
- USM
- Unsharp Mask - sharpening tool found in many photo editing programs
- WB
- White Balance
- WCon
- Wide Angle Converters
