Used with permission from Eric Thomas, St. Teresa's Academy

1. Types of Cameras
•How are cameras different?
•What are rangefinders, SLRs and
parallax?

2. Starting Terms
Viewfinder
□ Indicates the field of view seen by the
camera lens

3. Starting Terms
Viewfinder
□ Indicates the field of view seen by the
camera lens
Lens
□ Pieces of optical glass or similar
material designed to collect and focus
rays of light to form a sharp image on the
film or paper.

4. SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
• Type of camera allowing you to see
through the lens as you look in the
viewfinder

5. SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
• Type of camera allowing you to see
through the lens as you look in the
viewfinder
• “What You See Is What You Get”

6. SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
• Type of camera allowing you to see
through the lens as you look in the
viewfinder
• “What You See Is What You Get”
• Most professional cameras are SLRs

7. Diagram of an SLR

8. An SLR:
The Nikon F5

9. An SLR:
The Pentax K1000

10. An SLR:
Nikon Underwater camera

11. An SLR:
Fujita 66

12. SLRs often have detachable lenses
that allow you to choose how close to
the action you want to be.

13. Rangefinder
• A type of camera where the viewfinder
gives a basic estimate of what the lens
is seeing
• Most point and shoot cameras are
rangefinders

14. A rangefinder:
A Leica MP

15. A rangefinder:
Voigtlander Bessa

16. Parallax
□ The difference between what the
viewfinder sees and what the camera
records, especially at close distances.
This is caused by the separation
between the viewfinder and the picture-
taking lens.

17. Parallax diagram
Film

18. Parallax diagram
Film

19. Parallax diagram
Film

20. A rangefinder:
An Olympus Point and Shoot

21. A rangefinder:
A Kodak disposable

22. So which type of camera
is the best?

23. So which type of camera
is the best?
SLRs
Advantages
– Accurate with viewfinder
– More lenses to choose from
– Good image quality

24. So which type of camera
is the best?
SLRs
Disadvantages
– Expensive
– Bulkier and more equipment/attachments

25. So which type of camera
is the best?
Rangefinders
Advantages
– Small and light
– Very quiet and unobtrusive
– Inexpensive

26. So which type of camera
is the best?
Rangefinders
Disadvantages
– Parallax
– Image quality often suffers

27. Next . . .

28. Digital Cameras
• A camera that records the information
on the image sensor rather than the
film
• More widely used than film cameras
for photojournalists

29. A digital camera:
Epson L-300

30. Combinations
• Combinations of SLRs, rangefinders
and SLRs are possible. There are
digital SLRs and digital rangefinders.

31. A digital SLR:
Olympus E10

32. A digital SLR:
Fuji FinePix

33. Other cameras

34. An 8x10 view camera:
The negatives are as large as an
8x10 inch print.

35. A camera watch

36. The camera phone

37. Camera in a can