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04/04/2005 02:17:22 AM · #1 |
I aplogize if this offends anyone, but I figured that if I ask the question here in the forums, I can customize my question better. Here goes.
I've read/heard that 'SLR' stands for "Single Lens Reflex." I asked someone about what it was and all they could say was that if the camera had a "big barrel of a lens on it, then it is probably SLR." What does it mean when a camera is an SLR and what other options are there out there. What is the "ranking" of those types?
I'd be perfectly happy with a link to a good explanation on another page, but in case more questions arose out of the ones I've already posed, then I figured it would be acceptable to create a new thread.
I feel like a person who has just picked up his first camera (not too far off the mark, actually) and looks at it like a monkey--but, hey, I've got to start somewhere, right? |
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04/04/2005 02:32:06 AM · #2 |
I guess this Wikipedia explains it the best:
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-lens_reflex_camera
But SLR camera (very basicly) means that you see the same thing the film sees when you look through the hole in the back of the camera. So there's no parallax for example, but it has many other advantages which the wikipedia page explains. |
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04/04/2005 02:53:18 AM · #3 |
| Remember those old cameras that had two lenses, and the photogrpaher would look down from the top? One lens was for the view finder, and the other lens was for exposing the film. |
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04/04/2005 07:08:33 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by Pug-H:
Remember those old cameras that had two lenses, and the photogrpaher would look down from the top? One lens was for the view finder, and the other lens was for exposing the film. |
That would be a Twin Lens Reflex or a TLR
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04/04/2005 07:16:12 AM · #5 |
'Single Lens Reflex' refers to the near heart-attack (reflex) your wife has when you tell her you just purchased a single 'L' lens for your 20D.
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04/04/2005 07:24:03 AM · #6 |
| My understanding is that with an SLR the light/image that comes through the lens and eventually hits the sensor/film in a camera with it's straight projectory, is also first reflected up towards the viewfinder. When you compose the shot to your satisfaction, and are ready to take the picture, the mirror that reflects the light upwards to the viewfinder is moved out of the way and allows for the light to hit the sensor/film. As was said above, the SLR also allows you too see in the viewfinder exactly what the sensor will see. SLRs also have interchangeable lenses. |
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04/04/2005 07:54:34 AM · #7 |
So does an SLR/dSLR have to have a mirror and an interchangeable lens?
One of those fine lines I have often wondered about with the E-10.
Steve's Digicam review.
Message edited by author 2005-04-04 11:55:47. |
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04/04/2005 07:59:03 AM · #8 |
The "reflex" part refers to a mirror to redirect the light onto the viewing plane. Originally there was the "twin lens reflex" (as mentioned above) which mounted two dientical lenses one above the other and used a mirror behind the upper lens to redirect its image to a ground glass focussing screen on top of the camera. Rolleiflex was (is?) a prime example of this sort of camera. However, there was a certain amount of parallax problem with these cameras in close-up work, sometimes alleviated by physically tilting the viewing lens so its line of sight intersected with that of the shooting lens at the focal distance.
Then came the single lens reflex (SLR) which used the same lens for viewing and shooting, by utilizing a 45-degree mirror to redirect the light upwards through a ground glass screen and into a pentaprism on top of the camera which again redirected the light to a viewing window. This allowed viewing a full-frame image in the correct orientation at eye level, and precise focusing on a ground glass. Again as mentioned above, there's a linkage that moves the mirror up out of the way when the shutter is released, allowing the light to fall directly on the film/sensor plane.
In the digital world, we have many "prosumer" cameras (my Nikon 5700 is one of them) that LOOK like miniature SLRs, but they are not; they are shaped that way as a marketing ploy. The difference between these cameras and a true SLR is that there is no mirror, and the the eyepiece data is actually an electronic image, just liek the one shown on the LCD screen but smaller. Manual focusing witht hese cameras is inherently imprecise. A "true" digital SLR (dSLR) is essentially a film SLR with a densor substituted for the film; it still uses a ground glass/mirror combo for viewing/manual focusing.
Robt.
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04/04/2005 07:59:11 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by BradP:
So does an SLR/dSLR have to have a mirror and an interchangeable lens?
One of those fine lines I have often wondered about with the E-10.
Steve's Digicam review. |
My understanding: mirror=yes, removable lens=no....but I've been wrong before....
SL=single lens=one optical light-receiving aperature
R=reflex=the motion the mirror makes to get out of the way
(...but I've been wrong before.) |
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04/04/2005 08:04:10 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by BradP:
So does an SLR/dSLR have to have a mirror and an interchangeable lens?
One of those fine lines I have often wondered about with the E-10.
Steve's Digicam review. |
It is not necessary to have an interchangeable lens mount to qualify as an SLR. In the "real" world it's virtually universal, but you Olympus is an exception, being a true SLR with a non-interchangeable lens.
Robt.
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04/04/2005 08:06:18 AM · #11 |
E-10, and E-20, are true DSLRs that do not have interchangable lenses. They also do not suffer from the sensor dust syndrome that plagues all other brands of DSLR. I think Olympus also made some film SLRs with fixed lenses.
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04/04/2005 08:09:55 AM · #12 |
Had a chance to play with my late stepfathers Yashica FX-3 yesterday, and I must say I am spoiled.
Manual focus? Manual metering with an exposure check set of LED's in the viewfinder? A loud and camera-shaking mirror whacking around inside it?
Sure brought back memories not having used one in over a decade. |
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04/04/2005 08:16:32 AM · #13 |
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04/04/2005 08:19:40 AM · #14 |
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