SLR Cameras

As you look through the camera section of your local electronics store, you probably notice that the highest priced models are SLR cameras. You’d like to think that they are either priced this way because they are the best technology or that they are simply overpriced, but since you don’t know anything about SLR technology, you can’t make a judgment.

Large format SLR cameras date back to the late 1800s, while the first commercial SLRs were not introduced for general use until after World War II. Over time, various modifications and improvements were made to these units, and they have become recognized as top of the line cameras. They have the ability to send out several short bursts of flash to determine the amount that comes back from a scene in order to determine the amount of energy required to produce the perfectly exposed photo, making them the choice of most professionals.

An SLR camera (single-lens reflex) uses a movable mirror between the lens and the film to project the image that you see through the lens or viewfinder onto matte focusing screen. The eyepiece usually incorporates a pentamirror or pentaprism that allows you to observe the image, though a waist-level finder or porro prism may also be used. In most SLR cameras, the shutter is right in front of the focal plane, and in models where this is not the case, something else must be in place to make sure light does not seep in to the film between exposures.

SLR camera reviews constantly remind consumers of the advantage of viewing the scene through the taking lens, which is not an option on most other types of cameras. The best SLR camera will provide perfect precision and increase the level of confidence that the shot is perfect because the photographer is seeing the exact shot that will be exposed. Also, even the least expensive lenses to be used with SLR cameras have a wider aperture range so that pictures can be taken in lower light with no flash and field of depth narrowed (this blurs background and makes the subject come into focus more clearly).

The only real disadvantage of an SLR is that you will need a larger SLR camera bag, partly for all the accessories and partly because the superior design and all the internal components make it impossible for SLR cameras to be made as small and light as most other camera types.