Question about DSLRs

[tinafaecarroll]

Okay, so it was probably dumb of me not to know before I bought it, but I recently bought a Canon Powershot sx-10 IS and want to know what KIND of camera it is. Is it DSLR? I've found one site that has it listed under DSLRS, but have also heard that it is not. Can you tell me what kind it is?

Sorry if this is a really stupid question. :blushing:

Thanks.

 

[dxqcanada]

As Wikipedia says:

The single-lens reflex (SLR) camera uses an automatic moving mirror system which permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to non-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly different from what was captured on film.


The Canon Powershot sx-10 IS does not have a mirror.

 

[Samanax]

Okay, so it was probably dumb of me not to know before I bought it, but I recently bought a Canon Powershot sx-10 IS and want to know what KIND of camera it is. Is it DSLR?

The Canon PowerShot SX-10IS is a advanced super-zoom bridge camera...it's basically a very sophisticated P&S camera. It's not a DSLR.

 

[tinafaecarroll]

The Canon PowerShot SX-10IS is a advanced super-zoom bridge camera...it's basically a very sophisticated P&S camera. It's not a DSLR.

Thank you. I was starting to figure that was the case.

 

[Flash Harry]

SLR = SINGLE LENS REFLEX, basically you look through the viewfinder into a prism onto a mirror and out through the lens, when you press the shutter the mirror lifts out of the way and the sensor is exposed to light, your picture. Lens are also removable/interchangeable, if yours doesn't do all of this then it isnt a DSLR. H

 

[tinafaecarroll]

Thanks guys!

 

[TheOtherBob]

For some reason Adorama.com classifies it as a "fixed lens SLR." (Go to cameras, and search for "fixed lens SLR," and it comes up.) However, I believe that rather than an internal mirror, it uses an electronic viewfinder that projects the image. As such, I don't think it could rightly be classified as an SLR -- I'd agree with everyone else that it could be called a "point and shoot," a "bridge camera," or a "superzoom."

However, there is such a thing as a fixed lens SLR -- I understand Mayima used to make one, and I'm sure there were others. I don't know that there are any fixed lens DSLR's, but it's not impossible -- SLR's are defined by the mirror, rather than by having interchangeable lenses. (It's also possible to have interchangeable lenses, and not be a DSLR -- see, e.g., rangefinders.)