Camera basics - types of cameras

There are many different kinds of cameras. The most ubiquitous is the point-and-shoot [PaS] camera: you point it at something and shoot. While PaS is convenient, it has its limitations. Before digital, one of the big limitations was parallax.

Parallax is when what you see through the viewfinder is not what you actually catch on film. That's because they're lined up differently, and usually it's close enough, but sometimes close doesn't count.


The SLR (single lens reflex) camera eliminated parallax by using a system of mirrors to make the viewfinder view go through the lens. Thus, SLR's are WYSIWYG. When you take a picture with an SLR, the mirror flips up and exposes the film. So, you cannot see the image while you expose the film.

Most digital cameras have LCD displays which show you a WYSIWYG real-time display. So, parallax is more academic than anything else. But just like an SLR, when you take the picture, the display cuts away, and you can't see the image while you're exposing the CCD.

SLR's are favored by professionals because they have modular systems for lenses, they are more solid constructions, they all have hotshoes for external flashes, and SLR's give the photographer complete control.

While things like camera phones and pocket cameras (like my Elph) are enticing, they are often made with inferior optics ["glass"], have poor quality CCDs, and because they are so small, are very prone to blur from hand movement. They've found a place, but will never replace conventional cameras, and certainly not SLR's.