DSLR Camera Reviews FAQ

What exactly is a Digital SLR camera?

Does an SLR really take better photos?

What does the DSLR camera do?

What are the different types of Digital SLR cameras?

Q: What exactly is a Digital SLR?
A: The term Digital SLR means digital single lens reflex and is named this because these cameras all use a mirror positioned behind the DSLR camera lens to direct the light towards the viewfinder when you are composing a photograph. What exactly does this mean? The picture you take will be higher quality, and it will be the same as the image you view through the lens. The SLR design allows a single camera to use  a very wide range of lens focal lengths. This is arguably the primary reason that SLRs dominate quality photography. Back to top.

Q: Does a SLR camera really take better photos?
A: Reviews of any DSLR will show that across the board, the answer is yes. With a DSLR camera you can easily capture high quality photos. However, the camera is more expensive. Entry level SLR camera prices are more expensive than point-and-shoot camera prices, but the prices continue to drop. Also, SLR cameras do have a learning curve, but the cameras are becoming much easier to use Back to top.

Q: What does the DSLR camera do?
A: With a DSLR camera, you see through the lens what the lens sees. So a photographer will know what exactly the finished picture will look like before it is viewed. Maybe best of all, you can change the lens on a digital SLR. DSLRs have large image sensors that will produce very high quality pictures. An SLR has a almost zero lag time, and because of the speed and such low lag time, DSLR camera reviews will show that they are ideal for action photography. Back to top.

Q: What are the different types of Digital SLR cameras?
A: There are three primary types, which we review and are:

• Interchangeable-lens full system digital SLR
  This is what the majority of people mean when they say DSLR, or Digital SLR. As the name does imply, it is the ability to remove one lens and replace it with another and to go from a supertelephoto to an  ultra-wide-angle.
• Fixed-lens digital SLR
  The lenses on these cameras can't be removed, which does partly limit their versatility.
• SLR-like, sometimes called SLR-style
  These are standard digital cameras and they use an electronic viewfinder (EVF)-which is just a small LCD-in place of an DSLR pentaprism. They can't truly be considered SLRs, so not really fit for this discussion, because they have no mirror. Back to top.