Why slr so big

When you look at the photos an iPhone can take with its tiny set of lenses, why do our DSLR lenses need to be so big?

I get the flange needs to be large enough to cover the sensor. Seems a bit overkill unless I'm missing something. Don't worry Dana, if there was a way… it would be done! Given rules, laws in optics may require elaborate construction designs and I have not mentioned the aperture size yet. Light is free… capturing it is not!

Top Poster. Photo Comments. Piechura Newbie. I mean the simple answer is that the photos an iPhone takes with its tiny lenses is nowhere near as good although the clever software trickery gets them somewhere close in a lot of situations.

I remember watching an interesting video about this a while back that pointed out that lenses that get the same results are usually roughly the same size regardless of the sensor size. So an APS-C f2.

For example, the Fujifilm f2. Similarly Panasonic did a constant f1. G'day Dana A very good question - especially from a beginner In very rough terms, the diameter of the glass bits need to be big enough to cover the diagonal size of the sensor. Surrounding the glass bits is the electronics for focussing and zooming, and surrounding this is the metal or plastic casing Again in very rough terms, the front-to-back size of the lens is the focal length of the lens The -but- is that the sensor must be very small to fit inside the phone, therefore the pixels are truely microscopic in size, and while the image looks beaut on the phone or tablet, if one was to print a phone image to say, 8" x 12" or larger, its sharpness and overall quality is questionable.

Hope this helps Phil from the great land Downunder www. G'day Dana Just for you TCav Snapobsessed Nikon D Sony A77 II. Pentax KP. Followers: 65 Posts: Points: Larger image sensors require larger optics for equivalent apertures and focal lengths. Their job is to bend and refract light so it goes toward an image plane — your sensor. Light is a stubborn thing. It travels at a specific speed.

What about size? Instead, they have wavelength. The wavelength of a green photon is different than the wavelength of a red photon.

What this means is that we cannot assume all photons are equal, and therefore come up with an exposure that works in every situation. It also means that larger apertures allow more light to arrive simultaneously than smaller apertures. We can do many incredible things by miniaturizing electronics, but we cannot miniaturize light itself.

Light takes a specific amount of time to arrive, and it varies in size depending upon your subject. This, of course, is a very simplified view of how physics affect photography and the size of your camera.

Basically, iPhones advance through a variety of software and electronic trickery. They cannot escape the physics of light and how to swing it. Is that all, William? Have you tried any of the mirrorless cameras? My attractive, feminine bag cotains normal purse stuff and camera with and a macro lens at all times. The little camera I gave my grandson is smaller than a smart phone, has a zoom lens, is waterproof and shock proof.

Shoots high res raw files and Hd video. In order to cover the sensor it has to be a certain size - this dictates the minimum size - along with the battery, screw drive one capable of driving large lenses , viewfinder etc of the camera.. The APS-C compact system cameras show what can be done if the traditional camera components are removed. It's a similar size, but has the smaller micro four thirds sensor.

MartinP 1, posts months. For a full frame camera the distance from the sensor to the lens is going to be the same as for a 35mm film camera, so generally everything around the optics will be of similar dimension. The big difference comes at the rear, instead of the film you have the sensor and then behind that will be the LCD display, rear controls and associated interconnections, making for a deeper body.

There is then a load more electronics required as well as memory card slot s , interfaces for connecting to USB, monitor, microphone etc which you'd never have had on a film camera. If you take a DSLR to bits you won't find much spare room in there. Simpo Two 76, posts months. And the batteries in an OM are how big? GetCarter 27, posts months. They seem to be getting smaller to me. Way back in the dark ages I didn't buy a Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR because, despite it being ideal for me in every other respect, it was just too small and cramped to operate.

The same, to a degree, holds true of DSLRs, there's a point at which they're just small for the sake of it! A bit like the utterly pointless format SLR Pentax used to make!