Film-Based SLR Cameras

The single most important feature of the design of the single lens reflex (SLR) camera is that it allows you to view the subject through the actual picture-taking lens. This means that no matter what lens is attached to the camera - whether it is a 17mm ultra wide-angle or a 1000mm super-telephoto - the view through the viewfinder is always an accurate reflection of what will be recorded. It is this that gives the SLR its unrivalled versatility, but the cost is a far more complicated mechanical design than is found in a rangefinder-type camera, a larger, heavier body, and more operating noise.

However, the SLR is without doubt the preeminent camera design and because of this it is backed up - both by the camera makers themselves and independent manufacturers - with a very extensive range of lenses, flash lighting units, filters, and other accessories.

If the photography you are interested in calls for the use of specialist lenses, it is prudent to choose a camera with this in mind. For example, Nikon produce a first-class close-up lens with a true zooming ability. This is the 70-180mm Micro-Nikkor and it is a unique instrument capable of excellent results - but only if you use a Nikon camera. Minolta, too, has an impressive range of macro (close-focusing) lenses, and in the medical field some of the lenses from this range are commonly used to take the extreme close-ups required in the study of dentistry. But, of course, you need a Minolta camera body. At the other extreme, if you have a Canon EOS camera, a perfect landscape optic is Canon's 24mm tilt-shift lens. Wildlife and sports specialists might also bear in mind that Canon make by far the best range of image-stabilized lenses-optics with a built-in mechanism to correct for camera shake.


Steve J. Wilson is living in the United States and is a freelance writer since 2006, in digital photography related topics. If you are interested in some useful Digital Photography Classes, than you are in the right place.

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