patrickfor Aug 27, 2015:

@Tony,

on (design / conception)

I agree with you "'design' doesn't mean 'the act of designing'". As a matter of fact I coud have used "la technologie"... they have not designed anything, they have selected a technology that is now 40 years old and bears many names depending on the manufacturer. I see the "Floating Elements Design" as a technology, and I tried to keep this idea...
"conçu avec des elements flottants" sounds in french like they picked some "éléments flottants",and put them together like "un yaourt avec des fruits dedans" if you see what I mean... and "elements flottants" sounds weird... I can "see" things floatings in my mental representation of it :-)
... the other proposal is "système" and I find it a bit vague, but that's me....

Tony M Aug 27, 2015:

@ Patrick We use both 'element' and 'lens' in EN too in exactly the same way — we do not know to whom the source text is addressed (we do not know for sure they are going to be "non-pro"), but if the original writer chose to use 'element', we can assume they thought the intended readership would understand it, and I see no reason to be any more patronizing towards our FR readers.

patrickfor Aug 27, 2015:

@Tony, thanks for your answer discussing with you is always interesting !

on (element/lens) (élément, lentille)

"element" in both french and english is the noun given to a lens (lentille) when it is included in a lens (objectif).
On the Canon web page for the Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM you can read in the description
fr:
"Les deux lentilles asphériques et la lentille UD assurent la netteté, le contraste élevé et la haute qualité de l'image, même en basse lumière"
http://www.canon.fr/for_home/product_finder/cameras/ef_lense...
en:
"Crisp, high-contrast image quality is assured even when shooting in low light thanks to two aspherical lens and one UD lens."
http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/ef_le...

the 3 lenses described here are parts of the 12 elements in 9 groups that are the construction of this Canon EF-M 11-22mm lens. They are 3 out of the 12 elements....
I believe for a non-pro reader "lens" speaks more than "element"

Tony M Aug 27, 2015:

@ Patrick 1° In all the work I have done with cameras and optics here in France, I have personally never heard 'lens elements' referred to in technical circles as anything other than 'élements' — but I'm more than willing to acknowledge that my knowledge here is purely empirical and very far from exhaustive!

However, the usage employed by the venerable Canon would seem to be fairly definitive, despite being a translation — unless you have found other examples from French lens manufacturers?

2° My quibble here is only with the way 'conception' is being used; here, 'design' doesn't mean 'the act of designing', as in "modern lens design is a highly complicated affair"; here, it is more about 'that which has been designed', and in that sense, I'm not entirely sure 'conception' is the right term to use — as in "This design of sofa is very comfortable" (cf. the difference compared to "The design of this sofa is very modern"); it seems to me that « tout se joue » in the word order: basing myself on your original suggestion, I would understand the idea more as 'objectif conçu avec élements flottants' — can you see the distinction I am trying to make?

patrickfor Aug 27, 2015:

To clarify what I just wrote to Tony...
As probably all of those answering this question know a lens (un objectif) is made of lens elements (lentilles ou élements) and these elements can be set in groups.
"Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS (20 elements and 15 groups) This lens is known for its sharpness"

A Lens (objectif) can be made of (A) fixed elements or (B) fixed elements and floating elements.
Choosing (A) or (B) is -in my eyes- a Lens's design choise
(B) gives advantages "high image performance in the focal plane"
So I understand the text is saying they picked up the (B) design because of its qualities.
That is why I have translated "Conception (d'objectifs) à lentilles flottantes"
objectif is not in the source text but I believe it helps to understand. For the same reason I used lentille and not element (it does exist in french) because I found it more "understandable"
Please feel free to correct me!