Photography Magazine

There are different types of film cameras but primarily two types of cameras that is most commonly used by amateurs and professionals. The point and shoot camera uses films and are used mostly by amateurs and by people who treat photography as their hobby. The SLR or Single Lens Reflex is a PRO camera, which has captured the imagination of the audience for decades. From the cover of National geographic magazines to Moose Petersons captivating wildlife photography, the SLR has been a long companion of the professional photographers.

The Point and Shoot camera
The point-and-shoot camera is a compact camera, which has been designed primarily for simple and easy operation. Most of the point-and-shoot cameras use autofocus for focusing. For example: if there is a deep cloud cover then the autofocus balances itself and when you take the picture, the flash goes off judging that the subject will require light. The flash unit in a point-and-shoot camera is always in-built and unlike the SLR, they can be used effectively indoors as opposed to outdoors. They have been the best selling cameras ever.One of the most important distinguishing factors of the point-and-shoot cameras as opposed to the SLR is the fact that as a photographer the image that you will see through your cameras viewfinder is not the image that will pass through the primary lens of the point-and-shoot camera. The image that you see through the viewfinder will pass through a separate lens.On the other hand in SLRs, there is a mirror and a single lens. The mirror will divert the image from the single lens to the viewfinder and the mirror will retract when you take the picture so that it can be recorded on the camera film.

Other Camera Types
Apart from the point-and-shoot camera, there are other types of cameras too that uses films and they include the Polaroid camera, the box camera, the rangefinder camera, the TLR (Twins lens Reflex), SLR (Single Lens reflex) and disc cameras. Out of all of them, only one is in effective use and that is the SLR or the Single Lens reflex.The first SLR produced for commercial use was on May 20, 1949 and it was developed by Contax S. The primary feature of the SLR was the roof pentaprism used for eye-level viewing. The first SLR cameras ever sold were the large format SLR cameras and they were sold around 1884. One of the most popular 35 mm SLR models around that time was the Ihagee Kine-Exakta. One of the remarkable SLR cameras of the 19th century was Alpa, a Swiss made innovative camera that greatly influenced Japanese cameras. The Japanese modified their cameras and around 1952 Asahi developed the Asahiflex and later launched it in 1954 as the Asahiflex IIB. Three years later Asahi Pentax developed the fixed pentaprism as well as the right-hand thumb wind lever. They were followed by brands like Canon, Nikon, and Yashica around 1959.

The single-lens reflex (SLR) camera uses viewing pentaprism and automatic moving mirror system. This is situated right between the film plane and the lens of the SLR. Its job is to direct the reflected light from the image of the subject to the viewfinder lens. The photographer can compose the final image by adjusting the focus manually. Once the focus has been adjusted, the photographer can release the shutter to expose the film.The various optical components in an SLR camera comprises of:

• Reflex Mirror at 45 degree angle
• Front-mount Lens (4 element Tessar design)
• Focal Plane Shutter
• Condenser Lens
• 35mm Film or Sensor
• Focusing Screen
• Eyepiece (can have diopter correction ability)
• Optical Glass Pentaprism (or Pentamirror)Although the SLR has been extensively used for defining color and imagery with optimum accuracy levels, it is on the verge of replacement especially with DSLR (Digital Single Reflex Lens) cameras, which have become a hot commodity for professionals.