From Camera to Paper: The Complete Photographic Process

Camera Types...

There are 4 main types of cameras:
The rangefinder, single lens reflex, point and shoot, and digital. The rangefinder is an older, manual camera and the single lens reflex, while also manual, is an improved version of it. The point and shoot and digital cameras are not manual, and usually offer little capacity for adjustment. Below are a few advantages, disadvantages, and possible uses for the different types of cameras.

The Rangefinder has 3 Disadvantages:

It contains a [slow] mechanical leaf-shutter.
The lens barrel cannot be changed without exposing the film.
What you see through the camera viewfinder is not exactly what the camera will take a picture of. You could be cutting off people in a group shot.
The Single Lens Reflex has 3 Advantages:

It has a [fast] electronic focal plane shutter.
The lens barrel can be changed without exposing the film.
What you see through the viewfinder is exactly what the camera will take a picture of.

The Point and Shoot Camera:

Is great to use if you do not want to deal with shutter speeds and apertures.
May not allow you to adjust the lens for closeups or wide angle shots.
Will not allow you to remove the lens.
The Digital Camera:

Requires no film, therefore pictures are instantly accessable.
High quality pictures take up a lot of space, therefore requiring changeable disks or limiting the number of pictures significantly.

*Important Note:On this website, we will be using single lens reflex cameras. We will also be using film speed 400. We recommend you do the same.

The Rangefinder has 3 Disadvantages: It contains a [slow] mechanical leaf-shutter. The lens barrel cannot be changed without exposing the film. What you see through the camera viewfinder is not exactly what the camera will take a picture of. You could be cutting off people in a group shot.	The Single Lens Reflex has 3 Advantages: It has a [fast] electronic focal plane shutter. The lens barrel can be changed without exposing the film. What you see through the viewfinder is exactly what the camera will take a picture of.
The Point and Shoot Camera: Is great to use if you do not want to deal with shutter speeds and apertures. May not allow you to adjust the lens for closeups or wide angle shots. Will not allow you to remove the lens.	The Digital Camera: Requires no film, therefore pictures are instantly accessable. High quality pictures take up a lot of space, therefore requiring changeable disks or limiting the number of pictures significantly.