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Module 1 · Meet Your Camera
LessonLesson 3 of 8 · 15 min · 5 reading, 10 doing
The short version
All four types make great photos. They differ in sensor size, whether you can change lenses, and how you see the scene before you shoot.
| Type | Sensor | Change lenses? | How you see the shot | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | Small | No, but has 2–3 built-in lenses | Screen | Always with you; clever processing |
| Compact or bridge | Small to 1-inch | No; often a long zoom | Screen, sometimes a viewfinder | Travel, zoom range in one body |
| DSLR | APS-C or full frame | Yes | Optical viewfinder via a mirror | Long battery life; huge used market |
| Mirrorless | MFT, APS-C, full frame or medium format | Yes | Electronic viewfinder or screen | Preview of exposure; eye-tracking focus |
The mirror is the difference
A DSLR has a mirror in front of the sensor that bounces light up into the viewfinder. When you press the shutter, the mirror flips up out of the way, the shutter opens, and light hits the sensor. That is the clack you hear.
A mirrorless camera has no mirror. Light goes straight to the sensor, and the camera shows you what the sensor sees on a tiny screen inside the viewfinder. That means you see the brightness of your photo before you take it.
Does sensor size matter?
A bigger sensor gathers more light, so it copes better in dim light and blurs backgrounds more easily. But a small sensor in good light, used well, beats a big one used badly every time. Lesson 8 shows the sizes side by side.
Optical or electronic viewfinder?
An optical viewfinder (DSLR) shows the real scene through glass: no lag, very little battery use, but it can't show you how bright your photo will be or what colour it will come out.
An electronic viewfinder (mirrorless and some compacts) is a tiny screen showing what the sensor sees. It uses more battery and can look grainy in very dim light, but it previews brightness and colour before you press the shutter.
For a beginner, an electronic viewfinder is a quiet advantage. You see your mistake before you make it. If your photo will be too dark, the viewfinder looks too dark.
What phones do that cameras usually don't
Phones lean hard on software. When you press the shutter, a modern phone has often been capturing frames before you pressed, then picks and blends the best ones. That gives you:
- HDR that keeps detail in bright skies and dark shadows in one tap.
- Night mode that blends several frames to clean up dim scenes.
- Portrait mode that blurs the background with software, not with the lens. It works well, but can blur the wrong edges, like hair or glasses.
Cameras give you bigger sensors, real lenses you can change, and full control of each setting. That's why the skills in this course make the biggest difference on a camera, but every one of them still helps on a phone.
Lens systems and mounts
If your camera takes interchangeable lenses, it belongs to a system with its own lens mount. Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds and L-Mount are the main mirrorless mounts. A lens made for one mount won't fit another without an adapter, and adapters don't always keep autofocus working well. When you buy lenses later, check the mount first.
12Myths to drop now
- "More megapixels means better photos." More megapixels lets you crop and print bigger. It doesn't fix light, focus or composition.
- "Professionals only use full frame." Many working photographers use APS-C and Micro Four Thirds for lighter kit and more reach.
- "You need a new camera to improve." You need to understand the one you have. That's what Start is for.
Finn's tip
The best camera to learn on is the one you already own. Everything in Start works on it.
Quick checkYou look through the viewfinder, turn ± to make the photo darker, and the view gets darker too. What kind of viewfinder is it?
Electronic. It's showing you the sensor's view, so it follows your settings. An optical viewfinder shows the real scene and doesn't change.
Try it now · 10 minutes
- Work out which type your camera is and which sensor size it has. The model name plus "sensor size" in a search will tell you.
- If it has a viewfinder, look through it and change the brightness with ±. If the view gets brighter too, it's electronic. If it doesn't change, it's optical.
- If you have a phone too, take the same photo of a bright window with both. Compare them at full size on a computer: look at the sky outside and the shadows inside.
- Note one thing the phone did better and one thing the camera did better. Keep the note; you'll revisit it at the end of Start.