what does SLR mean on 35 mm cameras?

Question

what does it stand for? and what does that feature do?

Answer 1

SLR stands for "single lens reflex"

Single lens means that when you compose the shot you are looking through the camera's lens and not a separate viewfinder. Only one piece of glass does the looking = single lens.

The "reflex" part refers to either a prism or a mirror which allows you to look through an optical viewfinder and see what's going on through the single lens. At the point at which the photo is taken, this prism or mirror "reflexes" or flips up out of the way to allow light to reach the film/sensor. As soon as the shot has been taken, it lowers back into place so that you can once again see through the lens.

Most SLR cameras have another feature, the ability to remove and therefore interchange lenses. This allows for much higher quality lenses to be built for them that do a specific job well such as wide angle or telephoto. This is a better approach than a fixed lens where the one lens has to do everything and if it doesn't - well tough.

Hope this helps

~~~teef~~~

Answer 2

The original camera was framed and focused by putting a ground glass where the film goes and the photographer, working under a hood could see the up-side-down formed image. when adjusted, the glass was removed and film inserted, the photographer would stand to the side of the camera because he could no longer see an image and squeeze the bulb when everyone was positioned. this worked for studio shots where everyone kept static poses, and very wide outdoor shots where focus and frame was not critical. I have not used such a camera, but they are sometimes seen in movies about the frontier days.

The next improvement was to add a mirror (reflex is photo talk for mirror). The mirror reflected the image up to a ground glass that was permanently on the top of the camera. That way the camera could be held steady at chest or waist level, the focus and frame done with a rigid hood while the film was loaded and ready. Because of the mirror, the viewing image was "upright" making framing the shot quick and easy. The mirror was raised, ususally with the same motion as cocking the shutter just before the picture was taken. This allowed for more candid (tripod free) shots, and to get closer to the action outdoors. I have used a reflex camera.

Next came the twin lens reflex. This had two lenses one for the film, the other for viewing. It still had a mirror in the viewing path to keep the image erect. It had the advantage of allowing the viewfinder to be useful through the entire phototaking process. This allowed for speed of framing to track action shots, although the frame was slightly off because of the parallax due to the twin lenses being slightly separated. My 620 kodak duoflex worked this way. A later improvement was the pentaprism. This was a prism placed just above the ground glass, which allowed viewing at eye-level yet still kept the image erect.

The SLR refined this again. Like the reflex camera, it used the principle lens for framing and focus, but added the pentaprism for eyelevel use. The viewer is still blind when the mirror raises to take the shot, but that mechanism is so quick that most people don't notice until they try taking a time exposure. The SLR allows interchanging all kinds of lenses without affecting how the body of the camera works, and the viewfinder always tracks the lens perfectly.

In a digital camera, the mirror is not needed because the CCD "film" itself can be viewed, like TV picture. The scanning of the CCD is from bottom up to correct for the inverted image.

Answer 3

Single Lense Reflex. Specifically, this means that the lens that the picture will be formed through is also the lens through which the viewfinder peeks out of. They do some fancy things with mirrors to switch where the light is going when you press the button.

This means that the picture you see when looking in the viewfinder isn't from a slightly different angle than the one you get when you snap the picture. It also allows you to focus with your own eyes instead of making the camera do the work.

Answer 4

It stands for Superpriced Lenses for Richpeople.

Answer 5

single lens reflex.when you look in the view finder a mirror moves out of the way so you see through the lens.what you see is what you will photograph.hope this helps

Answer 6

single lens reflex