Point and shoot? SLR? DSLR?

[bookloveraz]

This may seem like a really silly question, but how do you tell if your camera is a point and shoot, SLR, or DSLR? I have a Canon Powershot S1 IS. Thanks!

[Eastree]

It's really easy: a point and shoot camera is typically small, and has few, or at least fewer, manual controls. The user just points it at the subject and presses the button, letting the camera do (most of) the work in deciding how the photograph is taken. In nearly every case, the lens is not interchangeable.

An SLR camera:
SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. It uses a mirror to reflect the light from the lens through the viewfinder, so that what you see is what the camera will see.
The lenses are interchangeable, and the camera has the option to be up to fully manual in its exposure settings.

A DSLR is a Digital SLR Whereas just saying "SLR" more often, especially these days, means the camera requires film.

[bookloveraz]

Thank you! I understand much better now. So my camera is an SLR? Canon U.S.A. : Support & Drivers : PowerShot S1 IS

[RichardTaylor]

It is a P&S camera.

[bookloveraz]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

It is a P&S camera.

Really? I figured it was an SLR from Eastree's disctription:

IA point and shoot camera is typically small, and has few, or at least fewer, manual controls. The user just points it at the subject and presses the button, letting the camera do (most of) the work in deciding how the photograph is taken. In nearly every case, the lens is not interchangeable.

An SLR camera:
SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. It uses a mirror to reflect the light from the lens through the viewfinder, so that what you see is what the camera will see.
The lenses are interchangeable, and the camera has the option to be up to fully manual in its exposure settings.

I know that mine has interchangeable lenses, and I can get full manual control... Why do you say it's a point and shoot?

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by bookloveraz

An SLR camera:
SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. It uses a mirror to reflect the light from the lens through the viewfinder, so that what you see is what the camera will see.
The lenses are interchangeable, and the camera has the option to be up to fully manual in its exposure settings.[/I]

I know that mine has interchangeable lenses, and I can get full manual control... Why do you say it's a point and shoot?

Your camera doesn't have INTERCHANGEABLE lenses, but optional additional lenses. And wile it does have manual controls, and some others do, it's not COMMON. It also doesn't have a mirror for the "reflex" part. It uses an electronic viewfinder which is just a TV screen inside the viewfinder that shows what the sensor is seeing. In an SLR (or dSLR) there is a mirror that directly reflects the image optically into the viewfinder.

Your S1is is, in fact, a Point-And-Shoot camera.

Do yourself a favour and go to a camera store. Doesnt matter which one. And find a dSLR. See the differences between yours and the dSLR. You'll see there's a serious difference.

[bookloveraz]

OsmosisStudios, thanks for explaining that. I understand now. One more question: What exactly is the difference between a SLR and a DSLR?

[RichardTaylor]

SLR is a film
DSLR is digital.

The Major difference is the technology used to record the image and the processing used to make that image available for viewing..

[bookloveraz]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

SLR is a film
DSLR is digital.

The only real difference is the technology used to record the image and the processing used to make that image available for viewing..

OH! I see! Thanks!