Pictures are an integral part in keeping memories. Before the days of digital photography, there was film. Although film has started to disappear from the general public view in the last few years, it’s where we begin our discussion.
SLR or Single Lens Reflex camera are a class of cameras that allowed for much better photographs due to an innovative solution to an old problem. Most cameras have two light paths from the target, one leading to the lens itself while the other to the viewfinder. This leads to the final photo being slightly different from what you saw on the viewfinder. SLR cameras fixed this by using a certain mechanism that lets you see through the lens. After you push the button to take the picture, the mechanism then moves to let the light hit the film behind it.
Most SLR’s are used in professional photography, where the need for utmost quality is very high. It would not be surprising that most of the advanced features also appear on SLRs and not on the common camera.
At the early stages of photography, the LCD viewfinder grew in popularity. Since the LCD viewfinder usually takes its image on the image sensor, it should already be considered as an SLR; but it isn’t. SLRs have begun to become a class of high end cameras with more advanced features, like manual controls, interchangeable lenses, among others. It was no longer just about the path of light.
DSLR or the Digital version of SLR is basically an SLR that has been converted from saving the image in film to saving an image in a memory card. It still shares a lot of the advanced features of the SLR along with a few more improvements that makes it a lot more superior.
The nature of memory cards and the high capacities that are available today means that a professional photographer would not need to change the storage medium as often. The use of very high quality sensors coupled with the capability to instantly review the image you took also gives modern day photographers an undeniable edge.
Despite being a few folds more expensive compared to their counterparts, the SLR and the DSLR were an indispensable tool in professional photography. Even hobbyists who have the money can enjoy and enhance their talents on photography. As most technologies evolve, so does the technology in photography. The DSLR is just the next evolutionary step from the SLR.