digital slr and lenses

I know dslr's can be backwards compatible with old lenses, and that there is ~1.5 magnification factor for certain sensors, but why are new digital only lenses still using the 'old' nomenclature?

For instance, I have a the 18-55 kit and 50-200 kit lenses, but they are not really these sizes are they? They are 27-82.5 and 75-300.

I'm thinking, maybe I'll get a wider angle lens for landscape, I've read that something like a 14mm lens is good, except it won't be a 14mm lens when it's on the front of my camera, it'll be a .... (wait a mo).... 21mm.

So to get a proper 14mm lens I actually need to buy a 9mm?

Can't I sue someone under the trades description act or are new lenses 'corrected' for the sensor?

BTW, I'm just joshin' about the trades description act.

kinda makes me want to goto a photo tradeshow, approach some company rep from my favorite lensmaker, grab the waistband of his tighty whities, yank them up over his head and ask him if the waist size says thirty-six, why did they stretch over his head?.....why not a new standard called Field Of View or Angle Of View?

The focal length is still correct. Take any 50mm lens as an example. In the days of film photography such a lens would be a telephoto on 110 format, a standard lens on 35mm, a wide angle on 6x6cm, and ultra wide on large formats....all well understood and correct, as the focal length is the same.

So I'm afraid your litigation will fail.....

Having said that, some manufacturers do put the "35mm equivalent" on the lenses, usually on bridge cameras. This is to give an idea of the span of the lens in terms that everyone understands. Or at least that's the theory, but it won't be long before what things looked like on 35mm is but a distant memory.

Ultimately the correct focal length may be less confusing.

Hi John, yes the focal length hasn't changed, but now I have to do sums, (in my head!), to get an idea if the stated length will do the job i have in mind.

I should have stuck to my fuji S5000!

Get used to it. Users of medium format and large format have dealt with this angle of view nonsense for years.

A 127mm lens is a normal lens on my RB67, it would be a short telephoto on a 645, a longer telephoto on a 35mm camera, and an even longer telephoto on the AOS-C sensor.

It's just that 35mm shooters have been dealing with only format for ages. Now we get to join the real world of photography, where focal length and angle of view are related to focal length in a more complex way.