What Is a DSLR Camera?

Welcome back everyone!!  Last week I talked a little bit about what you should look for when you decide to buy a digital camera.  I used the term DSLR quite a few times without thoroughly explaining exactly what it means.  Today we'll talk about the DSLR camera in a lot more detail and what features it has to offer.

The first question you might ask yourself is: What does DSLR stand for?  According to "The Digital SLR Guide," DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.  To get a better understanding of how a DSLR camera works, you have to understand the anatomy of a camera. 

Here is a short diagram courtesy of digital-slr-guide.com that explains the anatomy of a DSLR camera:

Image from digital-slr-guide.com

1. Light passes through the lens and strikes a mirror (green)

2. The mirror reflects the light up to a focusing screen

3. Light passes through the focusing screen and enters a block of glass called a pentaprism (orange)

4. The pentaprism reflects the image so that you can see it in the viewfinder

5. When you take a photo, the mirror flips up and a shutter (blue) opens that exposes the digital sensor (red) to light.

If you look at picture above, the main difference is that red bar.  In the diagram it represents the digital sensor, whereas older cameras it would represent film.  Because there is a digital sensor that records the light into pixels, the camera now becomes interactive and editable like a computer.  So what features does a DSLR camera have?

I will use my DSLR camera as an example.   I own a Nikon D700.  It has countless features that take a long time to learn and utilize properly.  The main features that are most relatable to a computer would have to be the HDMI video capability, the LCD display screen, and the live view which would be similar to a computers web camera.  There’re a lot of other fun features. 

My favorite little feature on my personal camera is the virtual horizon feature.  Basically all it is a digital level so you don’t get cockeyed photos.  It just gives me peace of mind knowing that its level and I don’t have to change it later in Photoshop.  There are many more features, but that might be another blog.

I hope you have a better understanding of what a DSLR camera is and some of its capabilities.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at my website at: scovillephotography.com, or leave a comment.