subject: Digital SLR Cameras, are they any good? [print this page] Digital SLR Cameras, are they any good? Digital SLR Cameras, are they any good?
Digital SLR is short for single lens reflex, it uses a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera when composing a photo. The mirror swings quickly out of the way when shutter is released allowing light to travel from the lens to the sensor while blacking out the viewfinder momentarily. All of this happens automatically over a period of milliseconds, with cameras designed to do this 310 times per second. Hence, the name SLR. Professional photographers often prefer these SLRs because they allow an accurate preview of framing close to the moment of exposure and allow the user to choose from many different interchangeable lenses.
One of the major reason SLRs dominate serious photography is because it allows camera to accommodate a very wide range of lens focal lengths. Otherwise, one has to match the angle of view of the "taking" lens with that of the "viewing" lens. That becomes increasingly complex and expensive viewfinder mechanisms to cover a wider range of focal lengths. SLR technology eliminates that since taking and viewing lens are one and the same.
Most SLRs incorporate a "Live View" mode allowing the photographer to use the LCD to compose shots similar to snapshot camera. In many cases, the mirror is locked up while the prism is diverting the image to a small sensor that feeds through to the LCD rather than to the capture sensor. However, this does degrade performance.
There are different types of digital SLRs. When most people say "digital SLR", they typically refer to "Interchangeable-lens Full System Digital SLR". What sets them apart from other types is the ability to remove one lens and replace it with another, say, ultra-wide-angle to super-telephoto. Almost all of the digital SLRs available today are of this type. In addition to these, there are other types such as, "Fixed-lens Digital SLR" and "SLR-like or SLR-style".
Although there are many different vendors for SLRs, top of the line models for the digital SLRs are from Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Olympus, and Pentax. If you are in the market for new camera, look into digital SLRs, you will find them exciting!
