A bridge camera is a compact camera that resembles an SLR camera when it comes to appearance and use. Many of the buttons on SLR cameras can also be found on bridge cameras. This allows you to configure the camera the way you like it. There are two key differences between SLR cameras and bridge cameras. A bridge camera doesn't have a mirror, which makes the camera smaller and lighter. Bridge cameras also don't have a replaceable lens. Instead, they've often got a zoom lens that you can use to zoom in far.