What is DSLR?

Digital Single Lens Reflex. That is what DSLR stands for. You may have always known that, but I didn't. I recently figured that out and then I wondered why the "big" cameras were called that. With everyone buying a DSLR these days I figured I would share my new found knowledge. Here is what I have learned. The name comes from the fact that there is a mirror in the camera that reflects the image coming from the camera lens to the view finder. You can see the mirror when you take the lens off (be careful to not let ANYTHING fall into that space, because I have been told it is very hard to clean). This is why on most DSLRs you have to look through the viewfinder to see what you are taking a picture of. Most point-and-shoot cameras don't even have a viewfinder and you just look at the lcd to frame your shot. When you take a picture with a DSLR you will notice that the viewfinder goes dark for a fraction of a second (or longer depending on your shutter speed). This is because the mirror that is reflecting the image to the viewfinder drops down to expose the sensor. The sensor is the key element to any camera. The sensor is what determines the image quality (i.e. pixels, how much light is captured, video framerate) and that is what mostly determines the price. Crop factor is also determined by the sensor. Crop factor is just how much of the frame cropped. The larger the crop factor the less you will be able to fit into the frame. The Canon T2i has a 1.6x crop factor. The Canon 5D Mark II has a full frame sensor. Instead of me rambling on some more listen to the folks from Vimeo explain all this.