Understanding the SLR

It never fails to amaze me how cameras capture the life of a moment converting it into an image that can live long enough to tell a story for generations to come. Together with this curiosity goes my own personal dream of becoming an excellent photo taker. In this article, I will try to define the most basic mechanisms of an SLR.

One of the most popular gadgets, especially in the world of digital cameras, is the single -lens reflex or SLR. This camera uses a type of shutter which sits before the focal-plane. Other models have a different set-up, adding extra accessories to make sure that the light does not touch the film between exposures. One example is the shutter blinds in Hasselbald models to prevent light from reaching the film after every exposure. This is very practical during scenarios where there is abundance of light. An SLR camera utilizes a movable mirror in between the film and the lens during transmission of the image to the focusing screen.

An early model of SLR was already invented during the late 1800s, but its first practical use was during the Second World War when Exakta introduced the first 35 mm SLR. These cameras captured one of the most-telling and vivid pictures of life in the frontlines during the war in Europe. The early set included a waist-level viewfinder. Jeno Dulovits developed and introduced the eye-level viewfinders in Hungary during the 1940s. This was also the introduction of first instant-return type mirror so the photographer can see what he is taking at the time of the shot.

The passage of time and fast technological growth in film industry eventually rendered SLRs smaller. But it is not the size that matters as there were other significant changes that were slowly forming how SLRs should be built. Next stop is auto-focus. The first camera that featured this technology was seen in Pentax's ME-F SLR model. Light metering innovations came next. Together with auto-focus, light metering set a new demand in SLR construction. Many companies had to scrap old models to integrate these two innovations into their SLRs. LED and LCD screens came next. LCDs eventually reigned supreme due to its crisper view. Anti-shake features were also added later on making tripods redundant, and giving enough confidence to folks with shaking hands.

Digital SLRs were invented as early as 2000 spearheaded by Samsung, Canon, and Nikon. Digital SLRs became more popular over its film SLR cousin. Today digital SLRs uses memory cards to store captured images instead of films. Other models even have built-in hard drive storage space to store images. Still, many models feature more than one type of memory cards to store images.

Today, even novice photographers can take photos that can rival those taken by pros. One of the tricks I learned in using SLRs is by maximizing the flash. I can set the flash to either send out a single burst or multiple burst depending on the amount of light I need. Many models at present can even measure the amount of light in the lens and will automatically close the shutter after full exposure has been attained. In addition, today's SLRs are easy to use and come at great prices. It is the perfect tool for any budding photographer to capture once-in-a-lifetime moments with ease of a pro. In my opinion, SLRs deserve to be in any Technology news in any tech magazine today.

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