How a Camera Works

How a Camera Works

A camera is an optical instrument for recording images, which may be stored locally and also be transmitted to another location. The word camera comes from the word camera obscura which means ‘Dark Chamber’ and is the Latin name of the original device for projecting an image.

 Film camera

At the back of the camera is the film, a thin strip of plastic that is coated with light sensitive chemicals. When you press the shutter release button, a brief flash of light passes into the camera and an image is transferred onto the film. For the picture to be in the correct lighting, the flash of light must not be too bright or too dark. It must also be focused on the thing that is being captured.

                                                     Digital Camera

Digital cameras work differently compared to film cameras although they look similar. When the button is pressed, an aperture opens and let the light into the lens. This light detector is called a charged-couple device (CCD).

Light from the object or thing you are taking a picture of zooms into the lens and eventually breaks down into pixels.

These pictures can be transmitted anywhere you want to move it to.

eyepiece

shutter release button

lens