Why is an SLR-styled camera without a mirror fake, whereas a rangefinder-styled camera without a rangefinder mechanism, is not?
Even though the design of SLRs were dictated by the technology inside them, the design in and of itself is still valid, even without a mirror, to someone who likes how these cameras handle. The same goes for rangefinder-styled cameras, if you like how those cameras handle.
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.