Today I am told now what is camera and types of camera.
1. DSLR Cameras:
DSLR camera is the short form of Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera. This is the most popular types of cameras in the market. All professional photographers will have one DSLR camera in their kit. It is actually a combination of a digital imaging sensor with a single lens reflex camera.
DSLR cameras come with a detachable lens. So, you can change the camera lens based on the type of photography. If you are doing landscape photography, you can mount a wide angle lens and for wildlife photography a telephoto lens.
In a DSLR camera, you can get a direct view of the scene through the camera’s optical viewfinder. Both full frame and half frame camera options are available in DSLR cameras.
Canon and Nikon are the two popular manufacturers of DSLR cameras. You can also get DSLR cameras from Fuji, Pentax, and Sigma also.
You can choose one which fits in your budget and the type of photography you are doing. The wide variety of lens options is one factor which makes DSLR cameras quite popular. All the current DSLR cameras are also capable of recording videos. Some can even record 4K videos.
DSLR gives you the ability to record images in RAW format. You can later post-process image in Photoshop or Lightroom
2. Mirrorless Cameras:
If you remove the optical viewfinder from a DLSR camera, then you get the mirrorless. So, the optical viewfinder would be missing from the mirrorless camera. This removes some amount of weight from the camera body.
Image falling on the camera sensor can be seen directly on the viewfinder. This makes mirrorless cameras lightweight and easy to handle.
You can get both Crop frame camera bodies as well as full frame camera bodies in mirrorless cameras. Sony A7RIII is the current best full-frame mirrorless camera body. Nikon and Sony also have their mirrorless camera bodies.
They also come with a detachable lens feature. The lens options are comparatively less since they are new to the market. Nikon and Canon have come with adapters, to mount the existing DSLR lenses on to the mirrorless cameras.
Like DSLR cameras, mirrorless also allows you to capture the image in RAW format.
3. Point and Shoot Cameras:
Point and Shoot cameras are compact cameras, useful for people who want to capture vacation pictures or family pictures. These are for people who are not interested in photography and just wanted to capture images.
They come with a fixed lens and variable focal length. You will not be able to get the telephoto reach in a point and shoot camera. Hence, it is the best camera for documentation purpose.
Here, the image would be recorded in JPEG format. Most of the Point and Shoot Cameras use AA batteries. Only a very few cameras come with custom batteries. Among the different types of cameras for photography, point and shoot cameras are lightweight and, you can easily carry it in your small bag.
4. Smartphone Cameras:
Nowadays, we are getting good cameras in Smartphones itself. Almost, all smartphones come with dual cameras, one in the front for selfies and one at the back.
Some smartphones even have dual cameras at the back, one for portrait shots and the other for regular shots. With the help of software, they can get DSLR like blur effects on the photos.
This feature makes smartphone cameras more attractive to people who are looking for the DSLR camera features in a compact size.
The rise of smartphones with good cameras resulted in the decline of point and shoot cameras. Some smartphone even allows you to capture the image in RAW format, which you can edit later.
But, don’t expect this RAW file to have the same amount of picture details like a DSLR or a mirrorless one. These types of cameras are mostly suited for people who always want to have some camera in their pocket or for those who don’t want to carry separate cameras.
Smartphones like iPhone from Apple, Redmi Note 5 pro from Xiaomi are few examples for Smartphones with good camera features.
5. Bridge Cameras:
Bridge camera, as the name suggests lies in between point and shoot cameras and DSLR cameras. These types of cameras come with a fixed lens, and most of the Bridge cameras cover the telephoto focal range.
So, it is an excellent option to photograph wildlife and sports, if your budget is low or if you are not interested in a DSLR or a mirrorless camera.
Many of the Bridge cameras support the RAW format. It is easier to carry when compared to the DSLRs. If you are a birder, not a bird photographer, then you can invest in one to document your bird sightings.
6. Medium Format Cameras:
In early days, medium format cameras used 120mm films. In this digital age, the film got replace by the digital camera sensor with a size similar to the 120mm film. Few manufacturers still produce medium format film cameras. It comes with a bigger camera sensor and at a higher price.
So, if you are looking for extremely high-quality images with a high noise performance then you should go for the medium format cameras. So, this is the first choice of camera for fashion photographers.
Hasselblad is one of the popular Medium format camera brands. Fuji and Pentax are the other well-known brands in this types of cameras. They are little heavy and bulky when compared to the DSLR cameras. The bulkiness is mainly due to the large camera sensor.
7. Film Cameras:
Last but not least, we have the film cameras. It all started with film cameras. During the early days of photography, we use film as the medium to record images. Later, Film got replaced by the camera sensor and memory cards.
The ISO part of the image comes as the film feature. So, we need to change the film rolls according to our ISO needs.
You can control the Aperture and Shutter speed from the camera. Now, camera manufacturers have stopped producing these types of cameras for photography due to lack of demand.
8. Instant Camera/ Polaroid Cameras:
As the name suggests, Instant cameras are capable of printing photos just after capturing it. It was Polaroid Corporation who introduced this type of cameras in the market. Hence, these cameras are also known as Polaroid cameras.
The earlier generation of Instant cameras used films, and it got replaced by paper prints. There are many different models from Polaroid, and other Instant camera manufactures. Kodak and Fujifilm are the other known manufacturers of Instant cameras.
9. Digital Cine Cameras:
Digital Cine cameras are high-end types of cameras used for filming movies or documentaries. They come with interchangeable lens options. Film professionals make use of cine cameras. They are used mainly for video recording, and all the models are capable of supporting resolutions of 4k and more.
Some of the popular Digital Cine cameras include Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, Canon EOS C100 Mark II and Sony PXW-Z150 4k XDCAM.
10. Action Cameras / GoPro Cameras :
Action cameras/ GoPro Cameras are known for their miniature size, capable of fitting into many places where it is tough to mount normal cameras.
You can use an action camera to capture images, record videos and do time-lapse photography. They come with various mounting options. You can mount it on helmet, wrist, body, on vehicles or on clothing.
There are camera housings which you can use to record videos under water. Most of the action cameras support 4k resolution.
Certain action cameras allow you to connect it to your smartphone for remote triggering and live view.GoPro and YI are some of the well-known action camera brands.
11. 360-degree Cameras :
360-degree types of cameras are getting popular these days. They are capable of taking 360-degree photos. Even some smartphones are capable of doing this job in their extended panorama feature.
You can take a single 360-degree photo with a single click by using a dedicated 360-degree camera. So, you can buy one only if you are really interested in 360-degree photos.
Rico Theta 5, Nikon Keymission360, Samsung Gear 360, Rylo and GoPro Fusion are some of the popular 360-degree types of cameras.
12. Rugged Cameras:
Rugged Cameras are Shockproof and Waterproof cameras. Specification wise it is more or less similar to point and shoot digital cameras.
Here, the difference is in the build quality. Rugged cameras are all-weather and all-terrain cameras targeted towards adventurers. So, even if you drop the camera from a height or into water. It will be able to withstand the fall to an extent.
So, if you are an adventurer or an explorer, then this camera is for you. Olympus Tough TG-6, Ricoh WG-6, and Fujifilm FinePix XP140 are some of the popular models in this type of cameras.
Now, I think you are familiar with different types of cameras. So, you can buy any depending on your requirements. Remember one thing, buying a high-end camera alone will not help you to become a good photographer, you need to know how to use it too.
***********Best of luck************
