An SLR camera stands for single lens reflex camera. One of the unique factors about this type of camera is interchangeable lenses. Depending on how the camera will be used, different lenses can be attached to maximize the camera's effectiveness. Different lens qualities include prime or zoom, focal length, aperture, focus type and lens quality.
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Lenses can either be prime lenses or zoom lenses. Prime lenses are set at one focal length and cannot be adjusted, while zoom lenses offer the ability to change the focal length, or zoom in and out.
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Focal length is how close or far the camera is able to zoom in and out. For taking pictures of objects that are close, use a wide-angle lens with a focal length of less than 35mm to be able to fit more in the picture. For taking pictures of far away objects, use a lens of 100mm or more.
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Aperture represents the maximum amount of light the camera is able to let in. The larger the number, the less light the camera can let in. The smaller the number, the more light. Wide apertures, those of 2.8 or less, are considered "fast" lenses and are used to take pictures of sporting events and other fast moving objects.
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Lenses can have manual focus, automatic focus or full-time manual focus. Manual focus allows the photographer to set the focus. When set to automatic, the camera does it automatically. Those lenses with full-time manual focus allow the user to adjust the focus that the camera has automatically set without having to switch the lens to manual.
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Like most products, there are different levels of quality in lenses, with better-built lenses costing more. The better-built lenses produce higher quality images. For example, Canon designates its best lenses as "L" lenses.
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