What is a slr and how does it work

What is a SLR and How Does it Work?

What is a SLR camera?

SLR is a commonly used abbreviation meaning single lens reflex camera. SLR cameras have been around now for several decades and are hugely popular with amateur and professional photographers alike.

One of the great things about SLR cameras is that the lens can be changed enabling the photographer to create a variety of different looking shots from one camera. For some of the main brands of camera such as Nikon and Canon there are over 800 different lens which will mount on to these bodies, this makes then very versatile cameras.

How does a SLR camera work? The mirror, prism and viewfinder SLR cameras use a prism and mirror based system which allows the photographer to see exactly what they are photographing.

The mirror and prism is what makes DSLR camera unique, they reflect light from the lens up into the viewfinder allowing the photographer to see the image through the lens whilst taking pictures. When the photographer decides to take a picture and fully depresses the shutter, this causes the mirror in the camera body to raise. This allows the light which has been refined and focused by the elements within the lens to travel straight towards the shutter. The shutter then opens for the required amount of time, exposing the sensor to light allowing it to capture the image

How does a SLR camera work? SLR Sensors The sensors in most DSLR cameras are made of tiny devices that measure the intensity and colour of light falling onto them. These devices are called sensor sites and are composed of a tiny lens, a signal amplifier and a digital signal convertor. The technology within the sensor and the quality of light refracted by the lens will directly affect the quality of the final image.

How does a SLR camera work? Light Signals converted to digital Once an image has been captured by the camera’s sensor it will be converted into a digital signal by the camera’s processor chip. The fancier your camera is the faster and more effective this process will be, such as removing noise (visual distortion that means grainy images) and adjusting colour tones. In most modern DSLR camera’s you can adjust these settings depending on your photo needs.

Buffering to memory card After the analogue light signal is converted into a digital signal and processed by the camera’s chip it is then buffered onto the memory card, where is it stored as either a jpeg or RAW image file ready for you to edit.