Digital Slr

A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that uses a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera. DSLR stands for Single Lens Reflex which comes from the film era of cameras. DSLR cameras are preferable over the simple viewfinder camera but are more expensive. Single lens reflex cameras allow you to frame and compose the photo that you are taking with an almost exact precision as opposed to the guesswork of viewfinders. DSLR cameras are what professionals use with a huge range of cameras and features that span down to the amateur photographer.

Single lens reflex cameras tend to be feature rich that allow for great photos in practically all situations. Professional DSLR camera lines tend to duplicate the past film camera practice of using separate mountable lens to the camera body, while serious amateur photographers seem to prefer a single lens with a long zoom ratio.

Film photography never had the features and capabilities of the newer DSLR cameras. This extra ability may mean that you may need additional computer skills and software abilities to fully exploit the cameras abilities. Personal abilities, budget and future use of the camera should be pre determined before your selection and purchase.

DSLR cameras that require additional lenses mean that you must carry these items around with you. Additional weight of the items after a day of walking around can mean that you are tired. At a professional level these additional items are tools of the trade. As an amateur it is prestige and possibly a measure of quality with the ability to grow your inventory of photographic tools. Weight ,size, mobility and quantity of the camera tools required to do what you want should play a large factor in your decisionof what to buy.

Camera pixels of the image allow for larger photos to be enlarged without the image breaking down. Generally a camera with three to five megapixels is sufficient for any home album. Cameras with ten or more megapixels move themselves into a professional class. Images for the web do not need huge megapixels. The larger the images the bigger the hard drive you will need.

A camera lens is the eye on the world and should be of good quality and manufacturer experience. It is the optical quality of the zoom lens and not so much the digital zoom factor that determines your purchase. Clean clear quality optics are a must for a DSLR in order to ensure quality photos. A lens should have both long and short capabilities with a macro focus option to get in close. Ten to twelve optical zoom ratios are starting to become more common.

Long known name brands of cameras are safe to go with in purchasing a DSLR camera. However, the margin between the legendary and the lesser known cameras is diminished when it comes to the electronic features. DSLR cameras are greatly enhanced with features that can rival the pro's at a greatly reduced cost. Reading camera reviews to understand the language of digital photography helps a great deal in selecting the features. Word of mouth is still a great source of information where you can get a recommendation from a user of a particular camera.

• Canon

• Nikon

• Sony

• Olympus

• Kodak

• Panasonic

Timeline

1981 - On August 25, Sony releases a prototype of the first still video camera, the Sony Mavica.
1986 - Nikon reveals a precursor to the DSLR, the Nikon SVC.
1991 - Thanks to Kodak, the first commercially available digital SLR, Kodak DCS-100 is released.