The term system camera is being used incorrectly

Monday 20 December 2021, 20:02 by Nando Harmsen | 6,071 views | 36 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

People almost always say that the system camera is the future. The DSLR is old-fashioned and outdated. That is a strange claim, because a DSLR is also a system camera. In this article, I explain why I think the term system camera is being used incorrectly.

Camera technology has made a significant leap forward in recent years. Nobody involved in photography will have missed that. Until recently, the DSLR was the camera that gave you the most options. The reason was simple, you looked through your lens and saw exactly what you had in the frame.

An old Nikon DSLR next to a new mirrorless version. The characteristic feature is that the image you see through the camera is the image that passes through the lens.

Now there are cameras without a mirror, with an electronic viewfinder instead of an optical viewfinder. They essentially do the same as cameras with a mirror. You still look 'through the lens'. Yet cameras without a mirror are called system cameras. And that is strange.

What is a system camera?

Let's take a critical look at what a system camera should actually be. It is a camera that allows you to change lenses. This means you can, as it were, put together your camera until you have the ideal system for taking your photo. Hence the name system camera.

Whether you have a camera with or without a mirror, it is a system camera if you can change lenses.

Both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras can allow you to build your own system. Lenses as you want them, flashes, you name it. This means that both a DSLR and a mirrorless camera are system cameras. True or not?

The system camera without a mirror or with a mirror

I have already used the name throughout the article: mirrorless camera, or a camera without a mirror. And that is in fact what is always meant by a system camera, a camera without a mirror. These are the modern cameras everyone is talking about. They are of course system cameras, but a DSLR is actually one too.

A DSLR next to a mirrorless camera. The only important difference is whether or not a mirror is present.

It would therefore be much better if we used the names DSLR and mirrorless camera. That would also make sense, because one name indicates that a mirror is used, while the other indicates that no mirror is used. That would actually make things much clearer.

Are there also cameras that are not system cameras?

If both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are system cameras, this suggests that there are also other cameras that do not fall under that heading. These are compact cameras and bridge cameras, in fact anything with a lens that cannot be changed. These are also mirrorless cameras, in fact, but without the system that allows you to change lenses.

This Sony bridge camera has a non-interchangeable lens. So it is not a system camera.

The pointless fight against using the name incorrectly

Of course, it is pointless to resist the established and now common use of this incorrect name. That is not what I intend to do. Even so, I consistently use what I believe to be the correct name in this context.

A modern mirrorless camera with lenses.

What do you think of the terms system camera, mirrorless camera and DSLR? Do you agree with me or not, and why? I am very curious about your opinion on this and would love to hear it in a comment below this post.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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36 comments

RAWshooter wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 10:20 | reply
Finally someone who gets it. You are 100% right. The word system points to the flexibility in terms of lenses, flashes etc. And it has bugger all to do with little mirrors.
I have, incidentally, been convinced for decades (well, 20 years) that the digital camera will make those archaic mirrors redundant. That now also seems to be happening. About time, because mirrors were a necessary evil: Mechanical, complicated and expensive.

Anyway, in the long run they will be gone and so will the confusion over the name.
Translated from Dutch.

Mac wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 10:48 | reply
Actually, you should look much further back.
A system camera is a camera where you can change not only the lens, but also the viewfinder, etc. That was very common before the AF era. (Pentax LX, Nikon F series, and there were more). And many MF cameras could also have many things changed (LF cameras completely).
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Robert wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 11:08 | reply
Weird....people never ask me what type of camera I shoot with. The name is on it after all. And if necessary I simply change a lens. So yeah..as long as you know it yourself. Rest not so important.
Photo-shooting regards Robert
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Marijn Olislagers wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 11:16 | reply
Calling a camera mirrorless is actually strange too. It is odd to refer to a camera by something it does not have. That would be like calling an electric car a petrol-less or fuel-less car. But we don't. So what would be a good term? Anyone have an idea?
Translated from Dutch.

Wilfried wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 11:25 | reply
A clear story and I completely agree with you
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Klaas wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 11:32 | reply
Why not just SLR, compact and mirrorless? So don't give in to the marketing boys and use proper Dutch instead of English.
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Guy Ackermans wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 11:33 | reply
A mirrorless system camera? Compact and 'Bridge' cameras don't have a mirror either.
Moreover, Compact and 'Bridge' cameras are also part of a system with conversion lenses and accessories.
But good that you brought it up, Nando!
Shall we just go take photos again now
Translated from Dutch.

Esther Hereijgers wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 11:36 | reply
Absolutely agree!
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frans erwich wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 12:00 | reply
The term hybrid camera, I have come across it before, but still very rarely
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Eric wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 12:20 | reply
Totally agree , have had an SLR "system camera" myself for years, First analogue (Pentax LX ) and now digital, some systems are now built into these, such as the winder/motor drive ,
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Frits Haaze wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 12:32 | reply
It doesn't matter that much what the thing is called. I think system camera is fine. After all, we've been calling a Pelargonium a Geranium for decades, even though that's not correct. At the table, everyone will ask "pass me the butter", while we mean margarine. I myself am a professional church organist and therefore play an organ, and an organ has pipes. In the past, organ performances were broadcast on the radio "on the pipeless organ", while an electronic organ was meant by that.
By the way, I also think bridge camera is a nonsensical name, it is in fact a compact camera, albeit anything but compact. Are you still following? no? then call your camera whatever you want. Nando is of course right, but whether that is such a hot-button issue........?

Frits Haaze
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Lauran wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 12:46 | reply
I completely agree with you. People also always call lenses lenses instead of objectives. All things that at some point, out of convenience, started leading a life of their own. Some call it nitpicking, but it is all called that for a reason. And the explanation is simply logical. Good article to point people to that once again.
Translated from Dutch.

Natuurliefhebber wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 13:11 | reply
It doesn't matter at all what you call it, as long as they know what you're talking about.
If a Flemish person says to a Dutch person "I've taken a photo", you should see that Dutch person's reaction. In Flanders everyone knows what you mean.
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Dedeyne Chris wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 13:26 | reply
I completely share your opinion. Clear explanation.
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L wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 13:44 | reply
"Semantics".
According to Wikipedia, the definition of a system camera is:

A system camera is a digital camera with interchangeable lenses without a (foldable) mirror for the viewfinder system.

That makes your definition incorrect.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 14:01 | reply
@L: Then read on at Wiki under characteristics of a system camera, where it is in fact worded as I say in my article.
Not everything on Wikipedia necessarily has to be correct. That is the problem with an open knowledge page, where everyone can make their contribution.
Translated from Dutch.

Rvs wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 14:23 | reply
The difference was deliberately created by the two big brands. After all, if you were a pro, you had a DSLR and the "system camera" was nice as an entry-level option. The truth was that these two had a gigantic range of lenses for their DSLRs, and thus had to start developing all over again.
It was because Sony entered the competition that they were forced to.
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Freddy van Malderen wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 14:35 | reply
As for the name, I agree with you. But a mirrorless camera is a lot lighter in weight.

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Jan wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 15:14 | reply
clear language with all the i's dotted!
Congratulations!
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Kris Dries wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 16:13 | reply
Nando, you are simply right in my opinion
Kind regards Kris
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Nando wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 16:26 | reply
@frans: a hybrid camera actually means a camera that is used both as a film camera and a still camera.
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Jan Neefjes wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 18:29 | reply
As I understand it, you have a DSLR and a mirrorless camera.
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André Kremer wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 19:33 | reply
A slightly different angle, but perhaps related: are there illogical ergonomic aspects to current DSLR/mirrorless etc. cameras due to the history of camera development? I am referring, for example, to keyboards that still have a qwerty (or azerty) design, which was set up that way because fast typists on the first typewriters should not have the "hammers" with the letters hit each other, meaning that the design was deliberately intended to slow down typing speed, while of course this serves no purpose at all on PCs, but still leads to toto slower typing; a Dvorak keyboard that offered a solution to this did not make it, because one would then have to retrain. In other areas too, such as cars, too much innovation can sometimes be a brake on development. Back to the cameras": I sometimes get the impression that, for example, the menus of new cameras are mainly developed in such a way as not to lose current customers; so Canon remains Canon etc. And innovation could also be slowed down by innovation that comes too quickly. So a question for the people here: do you know of such innovation-limiting factors and examples of too much innovation that was actually clearly an improvement?
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E.D. Rentema wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 20:31 | reply
I don't think DSLR versus Mirrorless is a good term. At the very least, call it Spiegelloos in Dutch. But you shift the problem because, as you indicate yourself, non-system cameras are also mirrorless. So the following designations are best: system camera with and system camera without a mirror.
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martinphili wrote on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 21:02 | reply
Camera!
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Donald Willemsen wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 00:26 | reply
Sorry for the expression, but this discussion is bullshit in space. It really shouldn't be had at all. People spoke of a system camera when it had a non-interchangeable (zoom) lens. Besides that, you had the SLR and mirrorless.
With all due respect Nando, but now you're writing a story just so you can write something about something that isn't worth bothering about. What's in a name!!??
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guest wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 06:40 | reply
What a wonderful article 😍.
I’ve been wondering for years who started using that incorrect name.... 🤔

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Nando wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 09:34 | reply
@martinphili: well said. A camera. Moreover, one where I can change lenses.
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Donald Willemsen wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 09:46 | reply
@martinphili, I think 'photographic camera' is a very good one, but that actually doesn't cover it either, because you can also film with it. So 'camera' seems like a good alternative to me 😉
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Danny wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 16:15 | reply
"Get your Kodak out" used to be common parlance (and still is sometimes). Whether it had a mirror in it, nobody knew.
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Jim wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 17:35 | reply
What endless drivel about system cameras with or without little mirrors! There is only one kind of mirrorless system camera and that is the technical camera, which is already centuries old! And whether it is a folding-bed type such as the Linhof Technica, for example, or an optical-bench type such as a Sinar or the Cambo of Dutch manufacture, they have never had a built-in mirror to begin with. You do need to know more about it to be able to use it properly, unlike today's digital toys.
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Robert Blancquaert wrote on Wednesday 22 December 2021 at 17:47 | reply
Perhaps it is worth pointing out that the Dutch terms are derived from the English term.
In English, a "System Camera" is any type of camera with interchangeable lenses and/or accessories:

A system camera is a camera with interchangeable components that constitutes the core of a system. ... System cameras are often single-lens reflex (SLR) or twin-lens reflex (TLR) but can also be rangefinder cameras or, more recently, mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.

So I agree with Nando that the name "system camera" alone is actually insufficient. As far as I know, both Canon and Nikon use the name "Mirrorless system camera", so in Dutch "spiegelloze systeemcamera" would be logical until someone comes up with a better idea.
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guest wrote on Thursday 23 December 2021 at 13:25 | reply
I completely agree with you. Even when I just want to look around at camera stores, I get them all mixed up. I have always been in favour of the language being used correctly in all areas. But a question and perhaps a nice idea for a future article... What is the future then, especially of DSLR cameras? Will we still see those big names/cameras such as Hasselblad H6, Leica S3 in the future, or will they disappear completely?
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D de Leeuw wrote on Thursday 23 December 2021 at 13:40 | reply
Yes, mirrorless system camera should be a good one.

Now that we're talking about the correct terminology anyway, Nando uses the term "Objectief" in his article, This is okay.

In response to @martinphili Nando uses the term "Lenzen", I find that peculiar.

Everyone knows what is meant by it, even the profession uses this term but it is in fact not correct.

Put those two objects next to each other and you can see the differences.

It doesn't have to become a new discussion, but it may.
Translated from Dutch.

RAWshooter wrote on Thursday 23 December 2021 at 18:05 | reply
So you have mirrorless system cameras and DSLR system cameras. Just because of that long name alone, those things may disappear. Just be patient a little longer….
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Arthur Wittendorp wrote on Wednesday 29 December 2021 at 15:50 | reply
Purely technically speaking, you are absolutely right. But in practice, of course, it is about whether we understand what it is about. In common parlance, an SLR camera (DSLR) is a camera with interchangeable lenses and a mirror system, and a system camera is a camera with interchangeable lenses without a mirror system.
Translated from Dutch.

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