How to pronounce these photography terms? (not right or wrong thread!)

• Summicron/Summilux - "Bow-Keh".
• Voigtländer - "Koh-Sign-Ah"
• Ikon (ai-con? ekon?) - "It's a company not a camera, damnit!"
• Zeiss - "Bet-tah Than Lie-Kah"
 
coelacanth said:
...
One more that's been not clear to me: Youxin Ye's first name.
I've heard several different versions (and spellings) of his name. I'm not familiar with "xi" sound.
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Its pronounced like

you = yo (as in yo dude, whats up!)
xin is similar to shin (similar, but not quite the same).
ye is yeah (like oh yeah! -- cue the koolaid guy).

So like yoshin yeah.
 
I guess I wasn't too far off with German ones, although I was just copying and using Katakana (can't really have subtle sounds that are in many other languages) written versions so I'm sure they can be quite off from actual german sounds.

Gumby,

Sug is typically pronounced (within my friends) "Sag" like "(strap) lug" but some called me "Sug" like "Sugar" which can be a bit awkward.

One time, when I was working on a multi-national project and all members were staying in a hotel about a month during the initial part of the project. One of the project managers from UK emailed me about something. I assume she wanted to type "Hey Suguru", but auto-spelling changed to "Hey Sugar" There were about 20 people Cced. :p

Now try my real name: Suguru Nishioka. :D


dfoo,
Good to know. I understand Chinese pronunciations can be super subtle and hard to nail, but at least now I can try a bit better. I was thinking it's more like "zhin" sound rather than smooth "shin." Of course many of brand names were originally named after people, but I wanna at least try my best to correctly pronounce the name of the guy who's been taking care of my Leicas today. :)
 
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I never realized being forced to learn German in school would turn out to be a secret blessing as in being able to pronounce my favorite photographic equipments. But I can actually understand being able to pronounce this would be meaningful to international users.

Suguru, way to go, for asking a question I bet a lot of people simply did not ask...!

Next maybe we can work on the American pronouncement of Munich.. :D
 
Now we can turn our mental powers to trying to understand what all those Australians are trying to say all the time (especially their PM) :D
 
ruby.monkey said:
Throat-Warbler Mangrove?
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LOL. Close.


bo_lorentzen,
I agree. You don't know when/how your educations, environment and experiences from childhood pay off. :D
We (I) learn many things online nowadays and often don't know the actual sound of the words that we use online everyday. Especially with my limited English ability, I can't even be sure of typical American English version of many words so I thought it was a good opportunity/place to ask. :)

• Munich: Hmm... Munik? But I think I grew up thinking it's "Munhen" like in Katakana.

• Cine: I first learned this word when those lenses became popular with m4/3 system. I thought it was like "Cinema" minus "ma" No?
 
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Yup, its cinema - minus ma... same pronunciation for lots of other production related hardware in and around the business, at least that is generally how it is used south of SF, but what do we know. :D

EDIT - I should say "that is how I hear it used around here."

Besides living in Hollywierd, I'm from Copenhagen (København meaning something like trade-harbor), probably named such because of horrible verbal accidents when the first American troops tried to pronounce the real name.
 
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Good to know Alpacaman & bo_lorentzen. :D

• Leitz is "Laitz," right??

• Biogon (Biogon with "e" i or Baiogon?) I thought it was Beogon.
 
tomalophicon said:
Leitz is lights. I can't get over pronouncing Leica like Leeka though, it just sounds way better in my mind.
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Leica name came from Leitz's Camera, right? That's how I remember the sound of Leica.

I think Yashima Seiki (brand name Yashica) and Fuji (series name Fujica) took that idea. :D
 
coelacanth said:
Leica name came from Leitz's Camera, right? That's how I remember the sound of Leica.

I think Yashima Seiki (brand name Yashica) and Fuji (series name Fujica) took that idea. :D
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Yea Leitz Camera. It's funny on the back of Leica it says Leica Camera.

I remember it like, Lights, Camera, ACTION!
 
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