Understanding lens model numbers? at DVinfo.net

Andrew McMillan · February 13th, 2008, 04:31 PM

When I buy a camera I usealy get the lens the sales guy recomends, not the cheapo, but nothing fancy. But now I need a 2/3 inch lens for an old dxc camera we use for IMAG gigs. I need a lens that is just a little longer than the one we have( i think it is a 18x), but I have no idea what YJ20x8.5BKRS means. Can some one explain me what all the numbers and lettes mean so I can compare lenses?

I am thinking about these lens

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-J13X9B4-13...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fujinon-AT-2x-wi...QQcmdZViewItem

Heiko Saele · February 14th, 2008, 07:57 PM

There's a table for all the characters in the model numbers on the canon site:
http://www.canon.com/bctv/products/lens_no.html

So, the YJ20x8.5BKRS is a Pro-Video Lens for 2/3", 20x zoom, 8.5mm-170mm, with optical adjustment, no extender, zoom:servo, focus:manual, iris servo control. However I'm not sure if the "B" really stands for the optical adjustment thing because it's named YJ20x8.5B KRS (with a space between B and KRS), and I have no idea what exactly "optical adjustment" would stand for

You don't know how long your 18x lens is unless you know where it starts. If it's a 10mm then it's 180mm in full zoom and therefore it's longer than the 8.5mm 20x. Standard lenses are usually 9mm, but there are 10mm and even 8.5mm that can still be called "standard". The trend for most modern eng lenses is a wide-angled 7.5mm because eng usually needs every millimeter of wide-angle. I never used a 7.5mm, but a friend of mine has a 7mm and it's a very sweet wide angle (you can't call that "standard" anymore)

February 13th, 2008, 04:31 PM	#1
Andrew McMillan Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Colombia Posts: 153	Understanding lens model numbers? When I buy a camera I usealy get the lens the sales guy recomends, not the cheapo, but nothing fancy. But now I need a 2/3 inch lens for an old dxc camera we use for IMAG gigs. I need a lens that is just a little longer than the one we have( i think it is a 18x), but I have no idea what YJ20x8.5BKRS means. Can some one explain me what all the numbers and lettes mean so I can compare lenses? I am thinking about these lens http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-J13X9B4-13...QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Fujinon-AT-2x-wi...QQcmdZViewItem

February 14th, 2008, 07:57 PM	#2
Heiko Saele Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wurzburg, Germany Posts: 316	There's a table for all the characters in the model numbers on the canon site: http://www.canon.com/bctv/products/lens_no.html So, the YJ20x8.5BKRS is a Pro-Video Lens for 2/3", 20x zoom, 8.5mm-170mm, with optical adjustment, no extender, zoom:servo, focus:manual, iris servo control. However I'm not sure if the "B" really stands for the optical adjustment thing because it's named YJ20x8.5B KRS (with a space between B and KRS), and I have no idea what exactly "optical adjustment" would stand for You don't know how long your 18x lens is unless you know where it starts. If it's a 10mm then it's 180mm in full zoom and therefore it's longer than the 8.5mm 20x. Standard lenses are usually 9mm, but there are 10mm and even 8.5mm that can still be called "standard". The trend for most modern eng lenses is a wide-angled 7.5mm because eng usually needs every millimeter of wide-angle. I never used a 7.5mm, but a friend of mine has a 7mm and it's a very sweet wide angle (you can't call that "standard" anymore)