Sony Corporation has a long and interesting history. Founded in 1946, in the wake of World War II, by Masaru Ibuka, Sony started out as a small electronics shop that was part of a larger departmental store in Tokyo. The company was started with a capital of $530 and a complement of eight employees. It was only in 1960 that the co-founder of the company, Akio Marito, founded Sony Corporation of America. The company has not only played a lead role in helping Japan become a powerful exporter during the 1960s to the 1980s, it also did a lot to help improve America's perception of products that were "made in Japan."

A play on the latin word for sound, "sonus," Sony has built its reputation on the quality of its products, despite the fact that most of its electronics are priced at above-market rates. Today, the company is known for much more than its audio-based electronics. The company offers a wide range of Sony digital cameras, from the point-and-shoot Cybershot cameras to the DSLR Alpha line. Today, the company is the world's third largest manufacturers of cameras.

If you are looking for a high quality camera, Sony's digital slr cameras are a great pick. You can browse through the various options for Sony digital cameras on Rediff Shopping to find one that best suits your needs and budget. However, before you place an order, you should decide whether you want a DSLR or a mirrorless one.

Mirrorless versus DSLR Cameras

Sony entered the mirrorless camera market in July 2010, with the release of its Alpha NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras that were armed with the new, propriety Sony E-mount lens mount. Within a short span of time since that first launch, the company has made huge strides in improving the technology and its market share for this product. So, how does this type of device differ from the usual Sony digital SLR cameras?

DSLR Cameras: The most popular devices for the avid photographers today is the digital single-lens reflex camera. The technology that this device uses is a mirror that reflects an image from the lens to the screen so that you can see the image in real time and focus or compose it through a prism. When you click on the button to take the picture, the mirror moves out of the way to enable light exposure to the image sensor. The Sony digital SLR camera offers great performance with high speed shooting and autofocus. It also has a good battery life. The only drawback, if one was to look for any, would be that these devices are larger and bulkier than their mirrorless counterparts.

Mirrorless cameras: Given the fact that these devices do not have reflex mirrors, they tend to be lighter and smaller than the DSLR ones. They usually have the same sized image sensors as the DSLR, as well as interchangeable lenses. As the name suggests, this device does not use a mirror to reflect the image. On the contrary, light passes through the lens directly on to the image sensor, similar to phone and point-and-shoot cameras. So, there are no glass screens, prisms or Fresnel lenses either. You can preview the image by pressing the shutter button and looking at the screen on the reverse of the camera or an electronic viewfinder. Unfortunately, all this takes up battery power, which also means that there could be a slight delay in taking an image, as compared to the DSLR.

At Rediff Shopping, there is a wide range of both mirrorless and Sony digital SLR cameras to choose from. With all the features mentioned with each product, making an informed decision becomes easy.