Is this considered a real camera?

I was out and about taking pics with my D7100

there was a couple, a man and a woman, nearby talking

the woman pointed at me and said, "now THAT is a real camera"

i just smiled and said thanks (the guy with her was twice my size so i got outta there before he thought something was up lol)

anyway, i do not know if he or she were professional photographers, but would a pro consider that model of Nikon a "real" camera, whatever that means.

amateur / aspiring photographer.

Absolute opposite!
Only someone who knows very little would judge a camera by its appearance like that.
To a pro it is a "run of the mill" camera totally unworthy of comment.

The only time I ever attracted attention from a serious photographer was when I was shooting with my 50yr old Mamiya 35mm rangefinder.
My DSLR only attracts attention when I have a long lens attached - the last time being "Ooh! That's a nice camera! Are you taking photographs?" Bless her! But she was about 80yrs old ;-)

A pro (whatever that means) might use one, particularly as a backup camera. Someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in photography could certainly get 'professional' looking shots from it.

I think what you experienced was the ignorance of Joe Public who think that a DSLR is a professional camera and by implication, so is the person using it.

There are tons of questions on here daily from people who think that buying a DSLR will somehow make them (or their photos) more 'professhunal'. It's just another facet of that.

I'm with Briar and deep blue2…

I never judge a photographer by their kit… Only by their photos.

What i'm trying to say is… I'm more interested in what the person holding the camera can do with it… That's much more important.