Camera - An Introduction

An Introduction to Camera

Camera is a light tight box used to take pictures. The name Camera is derived from camera obscura, which in Latin means “Dark Chamber”.

Functionality of a camera is very much similar to our eye. Having an opening on one side known as aperture, which is very much like the iris in our eye. Aperture controls the amount of light entering the camera. On the other side of the camera is held the light sensitive photographic film on which the photograph is captured. Just before the film is shutter, which controls the length of time for which the light hits the photographic film. Based on the lens arrangement and focus, cameras are mainly classified into three types that is Viewfinder cameras, Single lens reflex, Twin lens reflex and Digital Camera. Viewfinder cameras are general household cameras, which have fix focus. In these cameras there are two opening one from where the light enters the camera to hit the photographic film and the other being the one from where the view of the scene can be seen. These cameras are the meant for general-purpose use as they are not that sophisticated.

Single lens reflex (SLR) cameras are widely used professional cameras. In these cameras there is single opening for the light from where the light enters the camera to hit the photographic film at the same time it also reaches the viewfinder. This is made possible due to a special arrangement of the prism present in these cameras.

These cameras are widely used as professional cameras as the photographer is actually seeing the composition what he is trying to capture. This camera also gives the freedom of composing and determining the focus.

Twin lens reflex are cameras widely known for their detailed result. These cameras use large negative size i.e. (6x7cm), due to which a high quality detailed image is obtained. These cameras are basically used in portrait, fashion photography. They are expensive and mainly for professional use.

Digital camera is the new breed, which is grabbing everyone’s attention these days. These cameras work on the concept of “What You See Is What You Get”. These cameras are light and easy to handle. The reason why they are called digital is because here the photograph is stored in a memory chip in a digital way. Thus no light sensitive film roll has to be loaded in it. Digital cameras provide high quality images. They have many advantages over other types. First of all digital cameras don’t requires any film roll to store photograph thus tension of changing the roll and then further developing it is no more. Digital cameras are easy to use and simple to handle. Images can be previewed before clicking which helps in taking precise photographs. Digital camera can store large number of photographs, which mainly depends on the amount of memory the camera has. Photographs can be directly loaded to a computer and thus further can be edited or printed.

With such facilities digital camera is the first choice for everyday use.