A DSLR camera (Digital Single Lens Reflex) is a type of camera, where the image obtained by the viewfinder is the same as that produced by the lens. They are also known as reflex camera for the reason that they use a system of the mirrors that reflect the image of the lens towards the viewfinder and when the shutter button is pressed, the mirror rotates and passes the light towards the sensor in digital cameras.
In the reflex system, the light that crosses the lens is reflected by a mirror to the pentaprism, which is a five-sided optical device, three of which are mirrors that correct the inversion, vertical and horizontal, of the image to be captured while the other two faces of the pentaprism are polished glasses, where the image comes in and out after being corrected.
The reflex type viewfinder is the one that presents the least errors and distortions when representing the image to be photographed. It also allows that if any type of filter is placed on the lens, the effect can be displayed by the photographer from the viewfinder of the camera.
The Main Advantages of DSLR Cameras
- They allow the possibility of changing lenses. There is a very wide variety of the objectives that can be exchanged in a DSLR camera depending on the needs of the photographer.
- They allows the professional manipulation of the exposure parameters, focus, white balance and speeds better as compared with the compact cameras.
- The viewfinder with frame fidelity closes to 100%, so what you see in the viewfinder is exactly the image which will be framed in the photo.
- They are used in professional photography projects because of their high image quality and the possibility of having a thorough technical control of the exhibition.
There are different levels in the DSLR cameras, depending on their performance. They are known as low, medium and high range. Some of the most recognized and recommended brands for the DLSR cameras are Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Minolta, Mamiya and few others.
DSLR is simply the digital version of the reflex cameras and its system is very similar to the analog cameras with the difference that the film is repacked by a digital image sensor, CCD or CMOS type, which converts the image in a jpeg or raw file format.