Our photography consultant writes:

This is the ubiquitous 35mm SLR, the single-lens reflex camera, the design you’re most likely to have actually seen and touched. (The Contax of the picture is a lesser-known name, but still recognizable as the same type as millions of Nikons, Yashikas, Pentaxes, etc.) With its many variations it dominated photography from the 1960s to the end of the film era. In fact, one can argue that the current master of the field is only a modification of this type, as its name implies: digital single-lens reflex, DSLR.

One could also argue that for overall flexibility, ease of use and quality of results the SLR has never really been surpassed and that (as far as such a thing is possible) in this design we see photography perfected. Of course pictures are made by photographers, the camera being only a tool, but after its invention more professional photographers chose this kind than any other.

As noted in a previous post, “reflex” in cameras denotes a mirror in the design. Here there is a mirror behind the lens, throwing its image up into a prism, which turns it around in a confusing way but in the end you see the scene right-side-up and correct right-to-left. When you press the shutter release the mirror flips up and out of the way; then the shutter opens, closes, and the mirror flips back down. The important feature is that the image you see (and compose and focus) is the same as the one that appears on the film. This has all sorts of implications: no problems with parallax, an internal light-meter measures exactly the scene you photograph, and you can use an incredible variety of lenses.

Very similar optical arrangements had been known for a long time. What made the SLR dominant in the second half of the last century was the mirror-flip feature coordinated with the shutter (and other functions we won’t go into here), and in the fully-developed form a combination of other devices like automatic exposure. For action sequences you could add a motor drive, taking a series of shots quickly (your iPhone’s “burst” feature is not new). The SLR was the outstanding tool of the photojournalist.

At the same time, the photographer could always override the automatic features whenever it was necessary, or when a certain creative idea called for it.

Of course there were limitations. For the instant you were taking the picture you couldn’t see it; for some kinds of action photography that was important. And 35mm film, especially at the beginning of the period, could be slow or grainy. [Chief consultant’s note: here we stopped our photographer from going on at length about wonderful films that are, alas, no longer available.] SLRs for larger film formats were made, and some were reasonably successful, but they tended to be much larger and heavier than this design.

In the hands of a professional photographer the 35mm SLR was a fearsomely capable instrument. In anyone’s hands, it was a flexible and reliable way of getting the shot. I suspect there are very many still out there, a bit battered (they covered wars from the time of Vietnam) but capable of soldiering on—if you want them to.

We’ve posted a sample of images from this and other cameras on our Gallery page, which we invite you to visit.