I was just thinking of the "generational jumps" that have been made. DSLRs succeeded SLRs.
Yes, but then DSLRs ruled, and we’re stuck with a modifier that became redundant.
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.
No, "we" didn’t have those. The last of the Konica/Minolta culture screwing up Sony had them, and they were soon purged, nothing but a minor footnote in the history of digital photography.
Then we had mirrorless cameras,
And now mirrors are essentially dead, and noting that cameras are "mirrorless" is confusing to newer photographers.
and now we are getting more computational photography features in those cameras.
Which is just a normal part of photography now, whether the camera has interchangeable lenses or fixed lenses, a rangefinder or not, etc. It's not a difference that identifies the type of camera that people use.
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?)
Yes. The offsetting of a certain number of microlenses.
It's also interesting that the term "DSLR" doesn't actually imply interchangeable lenses.
So, your logic for not having a descriptive, habitable term is that old terms weren’t accurate?
Life is about improvement.
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.
I don’t see what any of those disconnected facts have to do with, well, anything.
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.
The "uniqueness" of a Sony A1 is that it belongs to a class of cameras where you can change the lens to suit your mission, all the way from a 220° fisheye to a 2.5° long telephoto. Wide range zooms, fast zooms, even faster primes, macro lenses. You can couple it directly to a microscope or telescope.
The uniqueness of a PowerShot A610 is that it can’t.
How does Digital Single Sensor (DSS) sound?
Silly. Most large cameras are "single sensor", whether they're rangefinders, DSLRs, or "mirrorless".
Most phones aren’t. My current phone has four "conventional" rear cameras and an additional infrared time-of-flight 3D imager, and two front cameras. It does a certain amount of "sensor fusion" between the multiple cameras.
If a1 users can bear having their camera be categorised in the same group as that 5MP 1/1.7 inch PowerShot.
It's not what one can "bear": the best fixed-lens camera is still a fixed-lens camera and cannot do what an interchangeable lens camera can.
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The term "mirrorless" is totally obsolete. It's time we call out EVIL for what it is. (Or, if you can't handle "Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens" then Frenchify it and call it "LIVE" for "Lens Interchangeable, Viewfinder Electronic" or "Viseur électronique").
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Stanley Joseph Wisniewski 1932-2019.
Dad, so much of you is in me.
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Christine Fleischer 1947-2014.
My soulmate. There are no other words.
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Rahon Klavanian 1912-2008.
Armenian genocide survivor, amazing cook, scrabble master, and loving grandmother. You will be missed.
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Ciao! Joseph
www.swissarmyfork.com
