Parts of a DSLR Camera

DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera. DSLR is divided into two parts – the first one is the camera body and the other is the camera lens.

Look at the below image which shows the cross section of a Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera –

So let's see the important parts inside a DSLR one by one :

1) Lens
2) Reflex mirror
3) Shutter
4) Image sensor
5) Matte focusing screen
6) Condenser lens
7) Pentaprism
8) Eyepiece/Viewfinder

Lens –

The camera lens works by focusing incoming light onto an image sensor. It is the optical component of a digital camera and performs automatic or manual functions.

Major parts of a camera lens include:

• Aperture: The aperture controls the amount of light admitted into the lens.
• Shutter: A shutter is a mechanical device that opens and closes to control the timing of photographic exposures.

The internal parts of the lens are called as the lens element.The lens elements are a combination of glasses of different refractive indexes.

Reflex mirror –
The one thing that separates a DSLR from the remaining cameras is the centrally placed Reflex Mirror. It is centrally placed in the camera body at an angle of 45 degrees.

The reflex mirror reflects the light rays received from the lens into the pentaprism.

Pentaprism –

The pentaprism then converts the vertical light to horizontal by redirecting the light through two separate mirrors, right into the viewfinder.

Image Sensor –

In early days the DSLR used to be an SLR as it used a photographic film to capture the images, while a DSLR uses an image sensor to capture the images.

The image sensor converts light from the lens into electrical signals and passes them to an A/D (analog-to-digital) converter. The A/D converter turns the signal into binary numbers, which results in digital images that are processed and stored on a memory device.

Two common types of image sensors that work in similar ways are the charge-coupled device (CCD) and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor(CMOS).

Matte Focusing Screen –

A focusing screen is a flat translucent material, either a ground glass or fresnel lens, found in a system camera that allows the user of the camera to preview the framed image in a viewfinder.

Condenser lens –

A condenser is a lens that serves to concentrate light from the illumination source that is, in turn, focused on the object and magnified by the objective lens.

Viewfinder –
Most modern digital cameras offer one of three viewfinder types:

LCD: An LCD (liquid crystal display) is a window that provides a real time example of exactly what the lens sees as an image is composed. Most compact digital cameras feature an LCD and, depending upon the model, may also provide a separate viewfinder.

Electronic: This type of viewfinder functions similarly to an LCD in that it provides a real time “through the lens” point of view as an image is framed. The difference between it and an LCD is that an electronic viewfinder is located behind the camera lens.

Optical: An optical viewfinder is the most common type used in digital cameras. It functions in compact models by way of a basic optical system that runs parallel to the main lens. 

In the more sophisticated DSLR cameras, the optical lens works by using a mirror that slides out of the way as the shutter release is pressed.