Technically speaking most DSLRA digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera with a digital imaging 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 the viewfinder or the image sensor. The viewfinder of a DSLR presents an image that will not differ substantially from what is captured by the camera's sensor but presents it as a direct optical view through the lens, rather than being captured by the camera's image sensor and displayed by a digital screen. DSLR is often (wrongly) used to describe cameras that are Micro Four Thirds or Bridge Camera - just because they look similar. This can bee seen when cameras are offered for sale. , point-and-shoot and smartphone cameras are mirrorless, in that they don’t have internal mirrors. However, mirrorless camera is a specific term for a camera where the sensor is directly exposed to light and the photographer has a preview of the potential image at all times to view on an electronic viewfinder. For example the OlympusOlympus introduced its first camera in 1936, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. The half-frame format, allowing 72 pictures of 18 × 24 mm format on a standard 36-exposure roll of film, made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time. Pixel More and PanasonicPanasonic K. K. (was: Matsushita Electric Industrial) is a Japanese company that uses the brand name Panasonic for its electronic devices, including digital cameras and analogue cameras in the past. Panasonic also use the brand Lumix. micro four-thirds cameras are mirrorless.
