Types of Cameras
SLR- Single Lens Reflex
P/S- Point and Shoot-
Integrated Cameras
No doubt you've seen those big, sophisticated-looking cameras that professional photographers and hard-core enthusiasts use. Perhaps you've heard the term "SLR" and know that it refers to those big cameras. But what exactly is an SLR camera, and how is it any different (besides being so bulky) from the little digital cameras many people carry around in their pockets or the ones in your cell phones?
SLR stands for "Single Lens Reflex," DSLR stands for "Digital Single Lens Reflex" and they refer to a class of cameras. Other examples of camera classes would be "Point and Shoot" (P/S) cameras(like a GoPro), integrated cameras (like in cell phones), pinhole cameras, Polaroid(instant) cameras, etc. While there are many variations among SLR cameras, they all have a couple of important things that make them part of the SLR class.
First, unlike P/S cameras, SLR cameras have two distinct, detachable parts: a body, and a lens. The body, also called a "back" by photographers, contains the brains and the controls of the camera. If it’s a traditional SLR camera, film’s contained in the body and is exposed behind a mechanical shutter. If it’s a DSLR, the film is replaced by a sensor chip which—like the film in a traditional camera—is also exposed behind a mechanical shutter.
Along with the body, the other component of an SLR camera is the lens. The lens can be removed from the camera and swapped with other lenses.
The other distinct SLR characteristic relates to how, specifically, the picture is captured. With P/S digital cameras, the shooter lines up the shot by watching a live video image on the LCD. The key limitation to this method is that the shooter isn't seeing exactly what the camera's lens is seeing. In the case of the LCD, the shooter’s seeing a video rendering of what the lens sees.
So how is an SLR camera different? With an SLR, the photographer actually lines up the shot by looking through the lens. Take a look at the diagram below:
SLR stands for "Single Lens Reflex," DSLR stands for "Digital Single Lens Reflex" and they refer to a class of cameras. Other examples of camera classes would be "Point and Shoot" (P/S) cameras(like a GoPro), integrated cameras (like in cell phones), pinhole cameras, Polaroid(instant) cameras, etc. While there are many variations among SLR cameras, they all have a couple of important things that make them part of the SLR class.
First, unlike P/S cameras, SLR cameras have two distinct, detachable parts: a body, and a lens. The body, also called a "back" by photographers, contains the brains and the controls of the camera. If it’s a traditional SLR camera, film’s contained in the body and is exposed behind a mechanical shutter. If it’s a DSLR, the film is replaced by a sensor chip which—like the film in a traditional camera—is also exposed behind a mechanical shutter.
Along with the body, the other component of an SLR camera is the lens. The lens can be removed from the camera and swapped with other lenses.
The other distinct SLR characteristic relates to how, specifically, the picture is captured. With P/S digital cameras, the shooter lines up the shot by watching a live video image on the LCD. The key limitation to this method is that the shooter isn't seeing exactly what the camera's lens is seeing. In the case of the LCD, the shooter’s seeing a video rendering of what the lens sees.
So how is an SLR camera different? With an SLR, the photographer actually lines up the shot by looking through the lens. Take a look at the diagram below:
When the photographer is framing the shot, light is directed through the lens. It hits a mirror and is reflected up toward the viewfinder. As a result, the photographer’s looking right down the barrel of the lens and sees the exact shot that will eventually be captured. The term for this phenomenon is "WYSIWYG" (pronounced "WHIZ-EE-WIG") which stands for "What You See Is What You Get". When the photographer presses the shutter button to take the picture, the mirror flips up and out of the way of the sensor (making a mechanical "click" noise), the shutter opens, light strikes the sensor, and the picture is taken.