In optics, the f-number of an optical system such as a camera lens is the ratio of the system's focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil ("clear aperture"). It is also known as the focal ratio, f-ratio, or f-stop, and is very important in photography. It is a dimensionless number that is a quantitative measure of lens speed; increasing the f-number is referred to as "stopping down". The f-number is commonly indicated using a lower-case hooked f with the format "N", where "N" is the f-number.