Why not call them DSLs?

[tbcass]

We would probably need to bribe someone in the photographic industry to push a proper name. The marketing departments have no standards themselves, they call something a one inch sensor because the secretary who made notes in the namegiving meeting had a second cousin who could spell the words 'equivalence' and 'video tube'.

I have never understood this negative hoopla about the size of the 1" sensor. So what if it isn't 1"? It's the results that matter. I never saw the same backlash toward Canon because their APSC sensor is smaller than all the other manufacturers.

 

[vinturius]

We would probably need to bribe someone in the photographic industry to push a proper name. The marketing departments have no standards themselves, they call something a one inch sensor because the secretary who made notes in the namegiving meeting had a second cousin who could spell the words 'equivalence' and 'video tube'.

I have never understood this negative hoopla about the size of the 1" sensor. So what if it isn't 1"? It's the results that matter. I never saw the same backlash toward Canon because their APSC sensor is smaller than all the other manufacturers.

True, although it did give that size sensor a bit of a marketing competitiveness that it did not deserve.

My point really is that a 'better' name does not win just like that.

 

[starbase218]

We just replaced the unpronounceable initialism DSLR with a pronounceable acronym MILC and an even more pronounceable word "mirrorless" and you want to take a step backwards to another initialism that has to be spelled out?

That aside...

Instead of the wacky "mirrorless"?

Mirrorless sounds like "horseless" ... "horseless carriage."

SLR stands for single lens reflex (mirror).

DSLR stands for Digital SLR.

So DSL stands for Digital Single Lens. (no reflex.)

No. DSLNR stands for "Digital Single Lens. (no reflex.)"

DSL stands for "digital single lens", which includes DSLR.

And you've still embedded the concept of it being "without" something into your definition.

Seriously, the only thing that makes sense is to incorporate the words interchangeable lens and electronic viewfinder. Whether you choose an English EVIL or a French LIVE is up to you. The swap is always implied, like the ISO is simultaneously the International Standards Organization, the International Organization for Standardization, and the Organisation internationale de normalisation.

Although I have to admit that ECCO "Electronic Composing, Changeable Objective" has a certain charm. Ecco Domani!

Or Digital Imager, Changeable Objective, DICO ? Swap the two parts and you get CODI

I got those in the more thorough thread over here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66850839

And don't forget "Digital Image Sensor Changeable Objective" because...

DISCO isn't dead!

Then go from changeable to interchangeable and you have IODI. But maybe the Institute of Directors in Ireland and the Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative will protest this one.

ECCO sounds nicer. But none of them make you think of the actual product

Yet.

Remember, SLR and TLR didn't make you think of the actual product when the terms were freshly coined. We've got a chance to coin a term that will be habitable and not have people 20 years down the road going "why would a camera have a mirror?"

Did you know that the word “footage” comes from the fact that film was measured in feet?

My point is, just because a word doesn’t make logical sense anymore, doesn’t mean that people will frown upon that word. It might be so familiar that it will simply take on the meaning of what we all mean with it already.

 

[JimKasson]

Did you know that the word “footage” comes from the fact that film was measured in feet?

My point is, just because a word doesn’t make logical sense anymore, doesn’t mean that people will frown upon that word. It might be so familiar that it will simply take on the meaning of what we all mean with it already.

We dial a number on a phone that has no dial. It rings on the other end on a phone that has no bell. When we're done with the call, we hang up on a phone that has no hook. The piece of the phone that tells the network whether the phone is stowed (on hook) or in use (off hook) is called the hookswitch, even though there's no hook. The three leads that carry analog phone signals are called tip, ring, and sleeve, which refer to the physical configurations of the 1/4 inch phone jack that operators used to use before we had automatic switching.

--
https://blog.kasson.com

 

[tbcass]

Remember, SLR and TLR didn't make you think of the actual product when the terms were freshly coined. We've got a chance to coin a term that will be habitable and not have people 20 years down the road going "why would a camera have a mirror?"

Did you know that the word “footage” comes from the fact that film was measured in feet?

My point is, just because a word doesn’t make logical sense anymore, doesn’t mean that people will frown upon that word. It might be so familiar that it will simply take on the meaning of what we all mean with it already.

People still refer to recording video onto a memory card taping.

 

[Jessica M]

Digital has become ‘normal’. We no longer say ‘digital watch’, but just ‘watch’. Likewise with other terms from the 1970s like ‘digital calculator’. We no longer say ‘flat panel LED TV’, but just ‘TV’….because they’re all flat panel LED. The marvel of things being digital has worn off.

When we buy a car, we don’t ask the salesman for a ‘horseless carriage’, right? We don’t ask if it comes with airbags, seat belts, or fuel injection (what ever that is). Those things have become the norm.

 

[JimKasson]

Digital has become ‘normal’. We no longer say ‘digital watch’, but just ‘watch’. Likewise with other terms from the 1970s like ‘digital calculator’. We no longer say ‘flat panel LED TV’, but just ‘TV’….because they’re all flat panel LED.

Not mine.

The marvel of things being digital has worn off.

True enough.

When we buy a car, we don’t ask the salesman for a ‘horseless carriage’, right? We don’t ask if it comes with airbags, seat belts, or fuel injection (what ever that is). Those things have become the norm.

We still talk about WiFi.

We buy wireless headphones.

And the Brits refer to radio as wireless. They've been doing that for well over a century.

 

[FrancoD]

People still refer to recording video onto a memory card taping.

and we filmed on tape.

 

[Jason Lynn]

Instead of the wacky "mirrorless"?

Mirrorless sounds like "horseless" ... "horseless carriage."

SLR stands for single lens reflex (mirror).

DSLR stands for Digital SLR.

So DSL stands for Digital Single Lens. (no reflex.)

DSL is already taken in the internet world. I am fine with MILC; it aptly describes the system, I know exactly what it means as opposed to the confusion created in the “why call it single lens if it is actually interchangeable?”, and it can be shortened to just ILC or camera if the DSLR disappears in some future era.

MILC is the best term, it's a proper acronym, it's sounds cool, it's adored by the people and it's easy to pronounce. If people like it and it's works - then don't change it. It's as easy as that

 

[FrancoD]

MILC is the best term, it's a proper acronym, it's sounds cool, it's adored by the people and it's easy to pronounce. If people like it and it's works - then don't change it. It's as easy as that

If so, why is it that most of the industry just call them mirrorless ?

 

[Jason Lynn]

MILC is the best term, it's a proper acronym, it's sounds cool, it's adored by the people and it's easy to pronounce. If people like it and it's works - then don't change it. It's as easy as that

If so, why is it that most of the industry just call them mirrorless ?

Industry? Who is industry? On all forums/chats I see MILC as most common acronym.

 

[FrancoD]

MILC is the best term, it's a proper acronym, it's sounds cool, it's adored by the people and it's easy to pronounce. If people like it and it's works - then don't change it. It's as easy as that

If so, why is it that most of the industry just call them mirrorless ?

Industry? Who is industry? On all forums/chats I see MILC as most common acronym.

Those people we refer to as camera manufacturers.

You know, like Nikon,Canon,Sony... names like that.

There is also a popular camera gear site called DPReview. That one calls them mirrorless too.

 

[Jason Lynn]

MILC is the best term, it's a proper acronym, it's sounds cool, it's adored by the people and it's easy to pronounce. If people like it and it's works - then don't change it. It's as easy as that

If so, why is it that most of the industry just call them mirrorless ?

Industry? Who is industry? On all forums/chats I see MILC as most common acronym.

Those people we refer to as camera manufacturers.

You know, like Nikon,Canon,Sony... names like that.

There is also a popular camera gear site called DPReview. That one calls them mirrorless too.

If people are using some phrase - then industry will adapt

 

[starbase218]

I was just thinking of the "generational jumps" that have been made. DSLRs succeeded SLRs. But then we also has SLTs, with similar autofocus to DSLRs but an electronic viewfinder. It has a mirror, but not for the same purpose as a (D)SLR does, and it doesn't move out of the way either when exposing the sensor. Then we had mirrorless cameras, and now we are getting more computational photography features in those cameras. Also, the first mirrorless cameras didn't have any deep learning autofocus capabilities either. It seems then, it's more about the electronification/computerisation of the whole camera replacing mechanical and/or optical elements. Although that last aspect isn't entirely correct either, since the micro lenses in front of the sensor are still part of what makes PDAF work (I think?)

It's also interesting that the term "DSLR" doesn't actually imply interchangeable lenses. And that actually, we have had mirrorless digital cameras for decades already. My old Canon PowerShot A610 was a mirrorless camera. It didn't have phase-detect AF or any deep learning. Nor did it have a large sensor. but I doubt any of that's considered a requirement. Up until recently, Panasonic cameras also just had contrast-based AF. And micro four thirds cameras are also considered mirrorless.

Maybe what we're after then is not something "as opposed to"a DSLR (e.g. "mirrorless"), but more something that captures the uniqueness of both a PowerShot A610 and a Sony a1: the fact that use a single sensor for light metering, AF and capturing the exposure. How does Digital Single Sensor (DSS) sound? If a1 users can bear having their camera be categorised in the same group as that 5MP 1/1.7 inch PowerShot.

 

[FrancoD]

MILC is the best term, it's a proper acronym, it's sounds cool, it's adored by the people and it's easy to pronounce. If people like it and it's works - then don't change it. It's as easy as that

If so, why is it that most of the industry just call them mirrorless ?

Industry? Who is industry? On all forums/chats I see MILC as most common acronym.

Those people we refer to as camera manufacturers.

You know, like Nikon,Canon,Sony... names like that.

There is also a popular camera gear site called DPReview. That one calls them mirrorless too.

If people are using some phrase - then industry will adapt

Well you see... the problem is that most even here do call them mirrorless.

If you or I don't like the term , it does not change the fact that it is the most common term for it.

BTW, the industry (well some) has already changed. Sony , for example, at the start called the early NEX "Interchangeable lens digital camera"

https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/support/e-mount-body-nex-3-series/nex-3n/specifications

however reviwers (inc here) already called them Mirrorless. That was in 2010.

BTW, the SLT , from Sony, stood for Single Lens Translucent, however they did not name the next step as SLM nor SLNR (SL no Reflex).

 

[Jason Lynn]

most even here do call them mirrorless

You know that this is not the only existing photogaphy forum on the planet, right?

 

[FrancoD]

most even here do call them mirrorless

You know that this is not the only existing photogaphy forum on the planet, right?

Are you trying to convince me or yourself ?

Generaly the term used by the makers is the one that is known and understood by the public.

In the end I really don't care what term is used as long as it is understood by most.

 

[Jason Lynn]

most even here do call them mirrorless

You know that this is not the only existing photogaphy forum on the planet, right?

Are you trying to convince me or yourself ?

Generaly the term used by the makers is the one that is known and understood by the public.

In the end I really don't care what term is used as long as it is understood by most.

Makers just use terms that accepted by the public

 

[FrancoD]

most even here do call them mirrorless

You know that this is not the only existing photogaphy forum on the planet, right?

Are you trying to convince me or yourself ?

Generaly the term used by the makers is the one that is known and understood by the public.

In the end I really don't care what term is used as long as it is understood by most.

Makers just use terms that accepted by the public

So, given that the makers are using the term Mirrorless, that means it is the term accepted by the public.

Did you realise that you contradicted your previous comments?

 

[Jason Lynn]

most even here do call them mirrorless

You know that this is not the only existing photogaphy forum on the planet, right?

Are you trying to convince me or yourself ?

Generaly the term used by the makers is the one that is known and understood by the public.

In the end I really don't care what term is used as long as it is understood by most.

Makers just use terms that accepted by the public

So, given that the makers are using the term Mirrorless, that means it is the term accepted by the public.

Did you realise that you contradicted your previous comments?

The term "mirrorless" appeared nearly two decades ago and was adopted by camera makers later, same with the term "MILC": it appeared about a decade ago and now begins to being slowly adopted by camera makers - Sony and Nikon already using it in different variations.

• Sony using ILCE (Interchangeable Lens Camera with E-mount) acronym
• Nikon using "Advanced Camera with Interchangeable Lens" term
• CIPA using "Mirrorless Camera with Interchangeable Lens" term

So it's all comes down to:

- Interchangeable Lens

attached to

- camera

which is

- mirrorless (as a point that they are contrary to cameras with mirror)

so we got I L C and M letters...

And, so... why not to arrange them in a most pleasant way that is sound like "MILC"? It's beautiful, short, sounds cool and similiar to "milk" which is a likeable word.

It's easy and if it ain't broke - don't fix it.