And with the change came a rise in Sony's camera fortunes. That digital imagery is shown either on the back screen of the camera or in an electronic viewfinder with a tiny screen of its own.Īs the technology matured, Sony's efforts showed the industry that the reflex mirror was a relic. Sony's real success came when it released its mirrorless cameras, which allow light from the lens to go directly to the image sensor. For camera makers, hope lies in pricey devices for the few.

Digital photography begins its next chapter with radical changes.This fixed mirror bounced a portion of the light coming through the lens to the viewfinder and let the rest go to the image sensor. Sony's next step was the debut of its DSLT models, so named for the translucent mirror that was a stepping stone on the path toward fully mirrorless cameras. Sony's first models were credible but didn't dent the dominance of rivals Canon and Nikon. Sony got its start in high-end photography through its acquisition of Konica Minolta's SLR business in 2005, when shutterbugs dumped film cameras and picked up digital point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs. The change also arrived online as camera retailers like Adorama and B&H Foto & Electronics dropped 2016's A99 Mark II. The disappearance of mirror-based models from Sony's interchangeable-lens camera website was spotted Tuesday by SonyAlphaRumors. As photography transitioned to the digital medium, the design of SLRs, or single-lens reflex cameras, was borrowed for DSLRs, cameras that swapped image sensors for film.

When you snapped a photo, the mirror flipped out of the way and the shutter opened, exposing the film. Back then, SLR cameras used an internal 'reflex' mirror to bounce light from the lens into a viewfinder so you could compose your shots. Mirrorless cameras moved photography away from a core design that dated back to the film era. Those cameras, while not perfect, bring better autofocus, rapid-fire shooting and more computing horsepower to photography. The Japanese company was a key player ushering in the era of 'mirrorless' cameras. If you don't track the internal mechanics of cameras, here's what Sony did and why the move is important.

Sony has phased out its DSLR camera models, marking the end of an era and pushing the photography industry further from its film-based roots.

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