Digital SLR Summary

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Digital SLR cameras are very useful and have many useful advantages, though they do have their shortcomings, they are great cameras to have!

Digital SLR is a shortened version of digital single lens reflex and they are called as such due to their use of mirror in the lens to direct the light to the viewfinder when you are taking a photograph. When the photographer releases the shutter button, the mirror moves quickly out of the way to allow the light to reach the sensor and momentarily blocking their view. Because of the use of mirrors in digital SLR cameras, the image should be upside down in the viewfinder, but the camera also has a prism, usually a prism with 5 sides called a pentaprism, so the image appears right side up. Most new digital SLR cameras have Live View mode that uses a LCD view screen similar to that of snapshot cameras but the using the LCD screen has a tendency to hurt the performance of the camera.

There are many types of digital SLR cameras and each has its advantages and disadvantages. There are Interchangeable-Lens Digital SLR cameras which allow the photographer to use different lenses depending on the subject of the photograph. This is the most common digital SLR available today. Also, there is Fixed-Lens digital SLR which does not allow the photographer to interchange the lenses on the camera but the Live View LCD screen on this type of camera is better for composing photos. Then there are some that should not even be considered SLR cameras due to not having a mirror. Most of these cameras have really large lenses commonly called megazooms.

There are also some advantages and disadvantages to using a digital SLR over another type of camera. One advantage, you have more lens versatility. There are many lenses for these cameras from extreme telephoto lenses to extreme wide-angle lenses and everything in between. But having those lenses is also a disadvantage because it makes your camera bigger and bulkier and they are much heavier because of the lenses and mirrors and pentaprisms. Digital SLR cameras almost always have better image quality that a standard digital camera as well though this makes them all the more complex and harder to learn and use.

Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras generally perform better than other cameras but they cost much more due to all the features that they typically have. Digital SLRs generally have a greater flexibility too which can be quite useful. And as with all types of digital cameras, digital SLR cameras have virtually no cost per shot unlike film SLRs but they use much more power than standard digital cameras and film SLR cameras. The more power that is needed, the more batteries are needed and digital SLR batteries are bigger, bulkier, expensive, and you have to make sure they are charged when they are needed. It can be a big hassle to remember to charge them after they have been used.
Overall, a Digital Single Lens Reflex should be an important part of every photographer’s equipment along with quite a few sets of good batteries.