The SLR And Digital SLR Camera Advantage
If you're somewhat new Robert Cheshire Photography camera terminology, SLR means Single Lens Reflex. The acronym SLR refers to a camera that has a single lens -- as opposed to a twin lens -- and uses a mirror to reflect light from the lens up to the eyepiece Macro Photography Techniques viewing -- as opposed to viewing the image through a rangefinder or directly from a piece of ground glass as in a view camera.
View cameras such as the Linhof, Twin lens reflex cameras such as the Roleiflex, and rangefinder models such as the Leica all had their day, but it was the SLR that most serious photographers carried from the 1960's into the digital age. The SLR's ability to take a wide range of interchangeable lenses from extreme wide-angles to powerful telephotos and to be adaptable to a variety of accessories, that Macro Photography Lighting microscopes and telescopes, made them the camera of choice among both hobbyists and professionals for decades.
As with the view camera, the SLR image is viewed on ground glass, though not directly. The mirror projects what the lens sees onto ground glass. So what you see in the eyepiece or viewfinder of an SLR is what you get, not something that's just close to what you see, as with a TLR or rangefinder, where what you see is either above or to the left of what you get. While the approximation might not matter very much for distant subjects, it does make a vast difference when working closer to your subject, and not, for example, cutting off your subject's head in the photograph.
Like the SLR the Digital SLR (DSLR) uses single, interchangeable lenses and mirror to eyepiece image transmission. In fact, the original DSLR's were simply SLR's that made a digital back available for their existing line of lenses. However, instead of capturing photographs on film, the DSLR uses light sensing chips to capture the image and a digital memory card on which to record it.
SLR's and DSLR's are better than point and shoot cameras in many ways. The high-end interchangeable lenses, made to satisfy pros, produce sharper pictures with better resolution. SLR's and DSLR's can also be focused faster and with ISO speed settings be used under low lighting conditions. With SLR's and DSLR's shutter speeds and depth of field can be more easily controlled to create a desired effect. There are some trade-offs, however, since SLR's and DSLR's are heavier and cost more.
Before buying a DSLR, you might want to consider how it will be used and if your use will warrant the additional expense. Almost any professional use might qualify, as would a variety of special uses where a typical point-and-shoot camera would not do the job.
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