Digital cameras combining the parts of a single-lens reflex camera and a digital camera back

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital single-lens reflex camera</span>

Digital single-lens reflex camera

<p>A <b>digital single-lens reflex camera</b> (<b>digital SLR</b> or <b>DSLR</b>) is a <a href="/en/Digital_camera" title="Digital camera" class="wl">digital camera</a> that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a <a href="/en/Single-lens_reflex_camera" title="Single-lens reflex camera" class="wl">single-lens reflex camera</a> with a solid-state <a href="/en/Image_sensor" title="Image sensor" class="wl">image sensor</a> and digitally records the images from the sensor.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Digital cameras combining the parts of a single-lens reflex camera and a digital camera back</div>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:SLR_cross_section.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:SLR_cross_section.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/SLR_cross_section.svg/260px-SLR_cross_section.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="300" data-file-type="drawing" height="217" width="260" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/SLR_cross_section.svg/390px-SLR_cross_section.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/SLR_cross_section.svg/520px-SLR_cross_section.svg.png 2x" alt="SLR_cross_section.svg"></a><figcaption>The photographer can see the subject in the mirror before taking an image. When taking an image the mirror will swing up and light will go to the sensor instead.
<div about="#mwt2"><ol><li><a href="/en/Camera_lens" title="Camera lens" class="wl">Camera lens</a></li><li>Reflex mirror</li><li><a href="/en/Focal-plane_shutter" title="Focal-plane shutter" class="wl">Focal-plane shutter</a></li><li><a href="/en/Image_sensor" title="Image sensor" class="wl">Image sensor</a></li><li>Matte focusing screen</li><li>Condenser lens</li><li><a href="/en/Pentaprism" title="Pentaprism" class="wl">Pentaprism</a>/<a href="/en/Pentamirror" title="Pentamirror" class="wl">pentamirror</a></li><li><a href="/en/Viewfinder" title="Viewfinder" class="wl">Viewfinder</a> eyepiece</li></ol></div></figcaption></figure>

<p>The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a DSLR and other digital cameras. In the reflex design, light travels through the lens and then to a mirror that alternates to send the image to either a prism, which shows the image in the optical <a href="/en/Viewfinder" title="Viewfinder" class="wl">viewfinder</a>, or the image sensor when the shutter release button is pressed. The viewfinder of a DSLR presents an image that will not differ substantially from what is captured by the <a href="/en/Image_sensor" title="Image sensor" class="wl">camera's sensor</a> as it presents it as a direct optical view through the main camera lens, rather than showing an image through a separate secondary lens.</p>

<p>DSLRs largely replaced film-based SLRs during the 2000s. Major camera manufacturers began to transition their product lines away from DSLR cameras to <a href="/en/Mirrorless_camera" title="Mirrorless camera" class="wl">mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras (MILC)</a> beginning in the 2010s.</p>



A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a DSLR and other digital cameras. In the reflex design, light travels through the lens and then to a mirror that alternates to send the image to either a prism, which shows the image in the optical viewfinder, or the image sensor when the shutter release button is pressed. The viewfinder of a DSLR presents an image that will not differ substantially from what is captured by the camera's sensor as it presents it as a direct optical view through the main camera lens, rather than showing an image through a separate secondary lens. DSLRs largely replaced film-based SLRs during the 2000s. Major camera manufacturers began to transition their product lines away from DSLR cameras to mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras beginning in the 2010s. 