# When can we drop 'D' for 'Digital'



## Chapman Baxter (Mar 24, 2014)

I'm old enough to remember when cars had carburettors. When fuel injection came along, many car makers trumpeted the development by adding an 'i' to their car names. As far as I know (and I stand to be corrected), the last car that BMW made with a carburettor was in 1987, yet I can still buy a BMW 320i 27 years later. The 'i' has surely been redundant for a very long time.

How long will it be before they call our cameras SLRs instead of DSLRs? When will the 'D' become redundant?

Discuss!


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## expatinasia (Mar 24, 2014)

Is there a need to change and drop the D? The cameras are digital in format, so it does make sense.

And believe it or not, a BMW 320i still sounds sexier and faster - to me at least - than a BMW 320 -


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## tron (Mar 24, 2014)

It will not be redundant. Unless you are willing to buy a used EOS 600, EOS 650, EOS 700, EOS 100, EOS 5, EOS 1, etc... ;D ;D ;D


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## Don Haines (Mar 24, 2014)

Chapman Baxter said:


> I'm old enough to remember when cars had carburettors. When fuel injection came along, many car makers trumpeted the development by adding an 'i' to their car names. As far as I know (and I stand to be corrected), the last car that BMW made with a carburettor was in 1987, yet I can still buy a BMW 320i 27 years later. The 'i' has surely been redundant for a very long time.
> 
> How long will it be before they call our cameras SLRs instead of DSLRs? When will the 'D' become redundant?
> 
> Discuss!


Don't worry about it... mirrorless will arrive soon and we can really have a digital camera.... get rid of the moving shutter and flapping mirror...


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## Random Orbits (Mar 24, 2014)

Yeah, and then they'll call it Mirrorless DSLRs, lol. ;D That's what happens when people have been conditioned to value DSLRs more than the sub $1000 EVILs and MILCs.


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## RustyTheGeek (Mar 24, 2014)

I think the same thing every time I type DSLR.

However, I also think right after that, "Well, it _is_ a *D*SLR! I still have a _SLR_ in the closet."

IMHO, the D will never be redundant because there will always be other forms of SLR, used or otherwise.

As for mirrorless... well, that's not a SLR camera anyway so I don't think this discussion applies.

In fact, if you want to really pick nits, consider that an SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. The fact that it is a _Single Lens_ camera must mean that it should be set apart from what? _Multi_ Lens cameras? I'm guessing yes, since there were cameras made way back that did indeed have multiple lenses, esp movie cameras. So the _Single Lens_ part has been somewhat redundant for even longer, correct?


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## Old Sarge (Mar 24, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> I think the same thing every time I type DSLR.
> 
> However, I also think right after that, "Well, it _is_ a *D*SLR! I still have a _SLR_ in the closet."
> 
> ...



The SLR differentiates between them and the TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) and I still have one of those in my used camera box in the garage......which I found the other day while cleaning stuff out after not being able to locate it for the past year....talk about a messy garage.


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## stephan (Mar 24, 2014)

It's SLR since the there is a single lens for viewing and exposing the film. Before that there were only rangefinder cameras, with a second optical path for viewing.


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## Jim K (Mar 24, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> <SNIP>
> In fact, if you want to really pick nits, consider that an SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. The fact that it is a _Single Lens_ camera must mean that it should be set apart from what? _Multi_ Lens cameras? I'm guessing yes, since there were cameras made way back that did indeed have multiple lenses, esp movie cameras. So the _Single Lens_ part has been somewhat redundant for even longer, correct?



There were* TLRs*, Twin Lens Reflexes, like many of the Rolleiflex and Yashicamat cameras.


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## Don Haines (Mar 24, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> I think the same thing every time I type DSLR.
> 
> However, I also think right after that, "Well, it _is_ a *D*SLR! I still have a _SLR_ in the closet."
> 
> ...


Exactly!

We can get rid of the D because the default now is digital...
We can get rid of the SL since the default is single lens......
We can get rid of the R once we go mirrorless......

This will reduce us to shooting with cameras...


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## tron (Mar 24, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
> 
> 
> > I think the same thing every time I type DSLR.
> ...


... or phones...


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## JonAustin (Mar 24, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> Don't worry about it... mirrorless will arrive soon and we can really have a digital camera.... get rid of the moving shutter and flapping mirror...



??? But mirrorless has already arrived ...

I'm not a fan of mirrorless (particularly the EVFs), but I'm not hating on them, either. I personally hope that DSLRs survive as a product category for the foreseeable future.


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## 300D (Mar 24, 2014)

I got my first SLR in 1975. It would fire off up to 20 shots at a time, and I could get up to 2 shots a second with good accuracy, despite the crude focusing system. Even though it was not weather sealed I never had any problems using it in the rain, and if I reversed the change lever it would fire off rounds faster than a 1DX. Keeping the ‘D’ in DSLR makes modern day shooting so much safer for the subjects of our photography.  

This is a great site; I do enjoy the banter, and appreciate the help and advice freely given by members.


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## memoriaphoto (Mar 28, 2014)

Chapman Baxter said:


> yet I can still buy a BMW 320i 27 years later. The 'i' has surely been redundant for a very long time.



Yes and no, I would say. In this specific case I'm pretty sure they keep the 'i' to show it is a petrol engine (where 'd' obviously is Diesel)

As for the cameras. Canon did at least remove "Digital" when going from 1D Mk2 -> Mk3. That was a BIG step for Canon ;D


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## mackguyver (Mar 28, 2014)

Chapman Baxter said:


> How long will it be before they call our cameras SLRs instead of DSLRs? When will the 'D' become redundant?


Probably around the same time we drop "P" from PC or "Smart" from Smartphone ;D


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## tron (Mar 28, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> Chapman Baxter said:
> 
> 
> > How long will it be before they call our cameras SLRs instead of DSLRs? When will the 'D' become redundant?
> ...


+1 ;D
Plus, dropping D won't make them any better ;D ;D


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## EricFiskCGD (Mar 29, 2014)

When I did a search for a camera that I could afford with what coin I actually had, I did a search for a SLR, not a DSLR – and all of the cameras that came up in all of my searches were all Digital. I don’t know if anyone or any company is still making 35mm film cameras any more.

I have a pet-peeve with the word “film” or “filming” – like when we’re told that they’re filming the next Avengers movie but there’s no film involved. OK, so they’re “shooting” the film… but the word “film” is stuck in our vocabulary.


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## Orangutan (Mar 29, 2014)

EricFiskCGD said:


> I have a pet-peeve with the word “film” or “filming” – like when we’re told that they’re filming the next Avengers movie but there’s no film involved.



And "tin foil" is now made of aluminum, and "dialing" a phone continued well into the era of touch-tone. Language evolution lags social evolution.

Or, as Calvin (cartoon version) famously said: "verbing weirds language." http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25



> OK, so they’re “shooting” the film… but the word “film” is stuck in our vocabulary.


"Shooting?" Doesn't that require a projectile of some kind?

8)


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## privatebydesign (Mar 29, 2014)

tron said:


> It will not be redundant. Unless you are willing to buy a used EOS 600, EOS 650, EOS 700, EOS 100, EOS 5, EOS 1, etc... ;D ;D ;D



The problem with that is some of the numbers were already used for film cameras, EOS 1, for example.

What bugs the hell out of me is when people insist on putting a C/c moniker on any MkI version of anything, 5DC being a prime example, again the problem is the 1D and 1DC are both actual cameras, you can get one for $200 and the other for round $10,000, the $200 first 1D is a 1D, not a 1Dc or, though it makes a little more sense, a 1D MkI.


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