{{Unreferenced, date=July 2021 SLR cross section

A reflex camera is a

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

that permits the photographer to view the image that will be seen through the lens, and therefore to see exactly what will be captured, contrary to

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and, in many cases, to focus the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main ...

cameras where the image could be significantly different from what will be captured.

Variations

single-lens reflex camera A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin le ...

typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex", from the mirror's reflection) to accomplish this. The

mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera A mirrorless camera is a photo camera featuring a single, removable lens and a digital display. The camera does not have a reflex mirror or optical viewfinder like a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but may have an electronic v ...

achieves the same result by providing the photographer with a digitally captured image. The

twin-lens reflex camera A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the viewfinde ...

provides both a viewfinder image by reflecting the image onto ground glass and an image through another lens to the film. The image exposing the film is not reflected.

Variations

See also