TYPES OF CAMERAS

end tech, they make up for in ease of use, flexibility and adaptability. Many pro photographers will actually carry a small point-and-shoot with them alongside their big fancy equipment because of how easy it is to whip out of their pocket and grab that candid shot, or go from shooting a faraway city scape one second to a close up of a flower the next.

As with nearly all things, you get what you pay for, and given the reasonable price tags of point-and-shoot cameras, they come in at an incredibly good value.

Mirrorless

In recent years, there has been a “mirrorless revolution” in cameras. While just several years ago one could find fault in the mirrorless system, the primary issues being related to focus speed and view finder quality, mirrorless has a significant leg up on the traditional DSLR. So much so that most of the main camera manufacturers have shifted their entire production, research and development to mirrorless camera bodies and lenses.

The upsides to mirrorless are quite significant. In addition to high megapixel counts, these cameras have some of the latest technology in them to improve all facets of photography, from exposure and dynamic range to extremely versatile, customizable and accurate auto-focus technologies. The absence of a mirror allows more direct-to-sensor capture, which, although it may not mean much to the non-techie out there, allows for game-changing performance, with live views of the scene. This ability to directly capture what you’re looking at in real time has done wonders for integrating high-quality video capture alongside high-quality photography, turning these little computers into some of the most highpowered photographic machines ever to be produced.

Just as with DSLRs, mirrorless cameras now come in both crop-frame and full-frame versions (more on this in the next section).

DSLRS (DIGITAL SINGLE-LENS REFLEX)

At one point, these were the top of the game in digital photography. And in many ways they are still major players—especially the higher-end versions that are still directly competing with mirrorless cameras. Being direct descendants from the pre-digital age, DSLRs look, feel and work