What Shall We Call Them ?

WHAT SHALL WE CALL THEM ?

An opinion piece on naming camera types

Author  AndrewS    August 2012

Introduction    On 12 September 2008, Panasonic announced the Lumix G1.  This was the first model of a new type of camera which allowed interchangeable lenses but eliminated the reflex mirror, prism and optical viwefinder of a DSLR.

Ideal Design ILC Mockup

As I write this there have been 49 cameras of this type released or announced with all the major camera makers having one or more models.

Despite this major investment and product rollout, there has been no general agreement as to what these new style cameras should be called.

Brief history of camera types and names  In the early days of photography a camera was a large device supported by a solid tripod. The operator put a dark cloth over his (it was mosly his, the ladies presumably having more sensible things to do)  head and directly viewed a left/right, up/down inverted image of the subject on a ground glass screen. Hence the name "View Camera". Photography was democratised with Kodak's invention of the "Box Camera" thus named for obvious reasons. In due course Leica invented the "Miniature" camera which used perforated 35mm movie film. In due course the Leica acquired a "messsucher" or rangefinder and the Rangefinder Camera was born. Then came the Twin Lens Reflex  (TLR) type where you viewed the subject through one lens and exposed film with a second lens. The word "reflex" referred to the angled mirror located in the optical path of the viewing lens.  Then came the Single Lens Reflex  (SLR) camera in which a flipping mirror enabled viewing and image capture through a single, interchangeable lens. In the film era there were many small cameras with a fixed lens usually referred to as "Compact".

In the digital era we still have compact cameras in abundant numbers. Some of these have a long zoom lens and are referred to as "Travel Zoom". Some go one step further by adding an electronic fiewfinder and an even longer zoom, hence the name "Superzoom".

The SLR has become a Digital SLR (DSLR) and Leica still makes it's Messsucherkamera (M type), albeit with a digital sensor.

The new camera type  So now we come to the new camera type, and review some of the names it has been called, in no particular order.

EVIL  Electronic Viewfinder  Interchangeable Lens:  Apart from the obvious problem that no maker is going to refer to it's product as "evil" most of these cameras do not have an electronic viewfinder, at least not one you can put to the eye. 

MILC  Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera:  This terminology is frequently used by dpreview.com  but written out in full and not abbreviated to MILC.  Maybe they think the image of "Milk" does not fit well with an electronic device. The name seeks to describe a device by reference to a feature which it does not posess, namely a reflex mirror. This has probably been useful in the early days of the new type, to distinguish it from the DSLR which was the dominant interchangeable lens camera type in 2008 and still is in 2012, but that is changing.   I see two problems with this name as time goes on and the electronic camera market matures.  First, cameras which do have a reflex mirror are already identified (TLR, SLR, DSLR , SLT) so it is redundant to keep on referring to those without a mirror as "Mirrorless". Nobody today refers to the motor vehicle as  "Horseless".  Second, I believe (and if their new product rollout is any guide, so do the camera makers) that in a few years the interchangeable lens camera domain will be dominated numerically by mirrorless devices, which will become the new standard configuration for consumer level cameras.

CSC  Compact System Camera:  The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has been promoting this name with some success and Canon has described it's new EOS-M camera as a CSC.  However there are difficulties with the CSC name. First, the term "compact" is already in general use to describe cameras with a fixed, non interchangeable lens. Second, "compactness" is an undefinable concept dependent on individual expectations about camera size. Third, the size of the new style camera is a consequential  benefit (or curse, if you don't like very small cameras) of the technology inside the camera, not a fundamental attribute of the concept.  Fourth, the idea of  a camera "system" is also undefined and subject to differing interpretation.

MSC  Mirrorless System Camera:  The New York photo vendor B&H uses this terminology, presumably for practical reasons as it helps customers find their way through the extensive catalogue on offer.  I can see how this makes sense for the time being but in the longer run MSC has the same problems as MILC and CSC.

DSLM   Digital Single Lens Mirrorless:  Panasonic has started promoting this name with the introduction of it's Lumix G5 camera in August 2012. To my mind it is the least useful name which I have yet encountered.  In a world where 98% (I don't know the exact percentage) of cameras are digital it is pointless referring to this attribute. The "Single Lens" designation was invented over 50 years ago to distinguish the SLR from the TLR, a pointless reference given the absence of TLR's in today's  market. My objections to the term "mirrorless" have already been made.

So what name is best ?   I think that right now now and anticipating the evolution of camera types, the name which makes most sense to me is, simply, Interchangeable Lens Camera.  (ILC).

This acknowleges that there are two main camera types, those with fixed lenses and those with interchangeable lenses. It anticipates continued  growth of "mirrorless" types as a percentage of the interchangeable lens category. It incorporates the value of looking forward rather than backwards. It acknowleges that cameras with some type of reflex mirror are already clearly identified.   It does not burden the name with redundant, outdated  or unecessary descriptors.

Footnote  I was looking at the Panasonic USA website recently and noted that Panasonic appears to be having a three way bet on the naming question. As the company was in the process of promoting the DSLM name in Europe, the USA website listed  Lumix G cameras as both Compact System Cameras (CSC) and also Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILC).

Appendix: ILC's released or announced as at 10 August 2012

In alphabetical order:

Canon EOS-M; Fuji X-Pro 1; Leica M8, M9 and variants; NikonJ1, J2, V1; Olympus EP1, EP2, EP3, EPL1, EPL2, EPL3, EPM1, OMD-EM5; PanasonicG1, G2, G3, G10, G5, GH1, GH2, GF1, GF2, GF3, GF5, GX1; Pentax Q, K-01; RicohGXR with 5 lensor units and one lens mount module; Samsung NX 10, 5, 11, 20, 200, 210, 1000; Sony NEX  3, C3, F3, 5, 5N, 7.