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Holography Glossary

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• Mackie line - an effect sometime found on a negative or print, in which a light line forms along the boundaries of the darkest image areas. It may also be caused during processing by the diffusion of exhausted developer, lack of agitation, or by solarization.
• Macrophotography - photography which produces an image larger than the original subject size without the use of a microscope.
• Magazine - a light-tight container holding roll film.
• Magnification - the size of the image relative to the size of the subject used to produce it. It is an expression of the ratio of the subject-lens distance to the image-lens distance. When object distance = image distance, magnification = 1.
• Mask - an opaque material used to cover the edges of the printing paper, and thus produce borders when the paper is exposed to light.
• Masking - a system of controlling negative density ranges or color saturation through the use of unsharp masks.
• Masking frame - an adjustable frame used to hold printing paper in position under the enlarger, also referred to as an enlarging easel.
• Mastic varnish - varnish used for negatives.
• Mat - an alternative term used for matte. Also describes the cardboard surround in a picture frame.
• Matte field - a granular textured surface that disperses light in order to form a clear image. Used in the viewfinder optical system.
• Matrix - a relief image, usually made from gelatin and used for processes such as dye transfer printing. Also a pretty good movie.
• Matte - a term used to describe a non reflective, non-textured surface.
• Matte box - a mask used to make images suitable for wide-screen projection.
• Mercury vapor lamp - an artificial light source produced by passing current through mercury vapor in a tube.
• Metal print - a photographic print made on a sensitized metal surface
• Microfiche - a sheet of microfilm usually forming part of a filing system.
• Microfilm - a film used to produce a microscopic record of a document and intended for projection.
• Microflash - an electronic flash of very short duration used to illuminate subjects traveling at a very high rate of speed.
• Micron (µ) - is one millionth of a meter.
• Microphotograph - a photograph produced to a very small size which can be viewed with a microfilm reader.
• Microprism collar - a grid type ring found in the center of a camera focusing screen, usually surrounding a split image screen.
• Midtone - an area in a print or scene that contains average values.
• Millimicron (mµ) - one thousandth part of a micron. (Also one nanometer)
• Mired - an abbreviation for the term micro reciprocal degrees, a scale of measurement of color temperature. The mired value of a light source is calculated by dividing 1,000,000 by its color temperature in Kelvins.
• Mirror lens - a lens system which uses mirrors within its internal construction. Most lenses of this type have a mixture of reflecting and refracting optics and are known as catadioptric lenses.
• Microfiche - a sheet of microfilm usually forming part of a filing system.
• Modeling light is a light used to create a three dimensional effect achieved through the perception of form and depth.
• Modelscope - a device employing a short rigid endoscope fitted with a right angle mirror at its tip, used to photograph scale models from a seemingly eye-level viewpoint
• Modular enlarger -an enlarger with interchangeable filtration heads and illuminations systems.
• Monobath -a single solution which combines developer and fixer for processing b&w negatives. It is a quick simple system but does not allow for development control.
• Monochromatic - light rays of a single wavelength. Monochrome is single colored. It is most frequently applied to black and white photographs, but can also describe sepia and other toned images.
• Monopack - an outdated term describing a film carrying system.
• Monorail camera - a sheet film camera, of modular construction, mounted on a rail system to give maximum camera movements.
• Montage - a composite picture made from a number of photographs.
• Mordant - a colorless dye absorbing substance used in some forms of toning. The silver image is converted into a mordant then soaked in dye.
• Mosaic - a composite made up from a patchwork of partly overlapping photographs.
• Motor drive - an automatic film wind-on mechanism which can be attached to some cameras. While the shutter remains depressed the film will keep winding on after exposure.
• Mottle - a processing fault characterized by random print density differences.
• Mount - a frame and/or backing used to support and protect prints and transparencies.
• MTF (Modulation transfer function) - A comparison of contrast between a test chart and the reproduced image. One of the measurements of lens performance used in the manufacturing process.
• Mercuric chloride - a chemical used in certain types of intensifiers.
• Methyl alcohol - a volatile, poisonous spirit commonly known as wood alcohol. Used as a substitute for pure alcohol in some photographic processes.
• Metolquinone - a combination of metol and hydroquinone, used as a developing agent (MQ developer).
• Mordant - a colorless dye absorbing substance used in some forms of toning. The silver image is converted into a mordant then soaked in dye.
• Multi-band photography - a method of aerial photography using cameras and scanners which are sensitive to different wavelengths in the spectrum to record different subject characteristics.
• Multiple exposure - the technique of making more than one exposure on the same film frame, normally so that the images are superimposed.
• Multiple flash - the use of more than one flash unit, usually operating simultaneously to light a subject. Can also be multiple modelocked lasers.
• Munsell system - a method of precise color description, based on comparison with comprehensive hue and saturation charts. Has closest application to pigments, whereas the CIE system relates directly to light.