A camera is a device that records/stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it (Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many for "dark chamber"), an early mechanism for projecting images. The modern camera evolved from the camera obscura.

Cameras may work with the light of the visible spectrum The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm. In terms of frequency, this corresponds to a band in the vicinity of 400-790 or with other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object. A camera generally consists of an enclosed hollow with an opening (aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are, which is of great importance for the appearance at) at one end for light Light is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye . In physics, the term light sometimes refers to electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, whether visible or not to enter, and a recording or viewing surface for capturing the light at the other end. A majority of cameras have a lens A photographic lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically positioned in front of the camera's opening to gather the incoming light and focus all or part of the image on the recording surface. Most 20th century cameras used photographic film Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts (bonded by gelatin) with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. When the emulsion is sufficiently exposed to light (or other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays), it forms as a recording surface, while modern ones use an electronic camera sensor. The diameter of the aperture is often controlled by a diaphragm In optics, a diaphragm is a thin opaque structure with an opening at its centre. The role of the diaphragm is to stop the passage of light, except for the light passing through the aperture. Thus it is also called a stop (an aperture stop, if it limits the brightness of light reaching the focal plane, or a field stop or flare stop for other uses mechanism, but some cameras have a fixed-size aperture.

A typical still camera takes one photo each time the user presses the shutter button In photography the shutter-release button is a button found on many cameras, used to take a picture. When pressed, the shutter of the camera is "released", so that it opens to capture a picture, and then closes, allowing an exposure time as determined by the shutter speed setting (which may be automatic). Some cameras also utilize an. A typical movie camera The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, . the movie camera takes a series of images; "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a continuously takes 24 film frames A film frame, or just frame, is one of the many single photographic images in a motion picture. The individual frames are separated by frame lines. Normally, 24 frames are needed for one second of film. In ordinary filming, the frames are photographed automatically, one after the other, in a movie camera. In special effects or animation filming, per second as long as the user holds down the shutter button, or until the shutter button is pressed a second time.

Contents

History

Main article: History of the camera The first photograph was made in 1814 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using a sliding wooden box camera made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris, the photograph was not permanent though and it faded. Niépce built on a discovery by Johann Heinrich Schultz : a silver and chalk mixture darkens under exposure to light. While this was the Camera obscura The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it.

The forerunner to the camera was the camera obscura The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it.[1] It was a dark chamber (in Latin, a camera obscura, demonstrating the etymology Etymology is the study of the history of words, where they are from, and how their form and meaning have changed over time), "consist[ing] of a darkened chamber or box, into which light is admitted through a convex lens, forming an image of external objects on a surface of paper or glass, etc., placed at the focus of the lens".[2] The camera obscura was described by the Arabic Arab people or Arabs (العرب al-ʿarab) are a panethnicity of peoples of various ancestral origins, religious backgrounds and historic identities, whose members, on an individual basis, identify as such on one or more of linguistic, cultural, political, or genealogical grounds. Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so with it as scientist Ibn al-Haytham Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: ابو علي، الحسن بن الحسن بن الهيثم, Persian: ابن هیثم, Latinized: Alhacen or Alhazen) (965 in Basra - c. 1039 in Cairo) was an Arab or Persian scientist and polymath. He made significant contributions to the principles of optics, as well as to physics, (Alhazen) in his Book of Optics The Book of Optics (Arabic: Kitāb al-Manāẓir‎ ; Persian: Ketāb e Manzarehā (کتاب منظره ها); Latin: De Aspectibus or Opticae Thesaurus: Alhazeni Arabis; Italian: Deli Aspecti) was a seven-volume treatise on optics, physics, mathematics, anatomy and psychology written by the Iraqi Muslim scientist, Ibn al-Haytham (in Europe, (1015–1021).[3] The actual name of camera obscura was applied by mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution. He is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. They also provided one of the in his Ad Vitellionem paralipomena of 1604. He later added a lens and made the apparatus transportable, in the form of a tent.[4][5] English scientist Robert Boyle Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He is best known for Boyle's law. Although his research and personal philosophy clearly has its roots in the alchemical tradition, he is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the and his assistant Robert Hooke Robert Hooke FRS was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath who played an important role in the scientific revolution, through both experimental and theoretical work developed a portable camera obscura in the 1660s.[6]

The first camera obscura that was small and portable enough for practical use was built by Johann Zahn Johann Zahn was the seventeenth century German author of Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus Sive Telescopium (Würzburg, 1685). This work contains many descriptions and diagrams, illustrations and sketches of both the camera obscura and magic lantern, along with various other lanterns, slides, projection types, and peepshow boxes. As a student of in 1685. At this time there was no way to preserve the images produced by these cameras apart from manually tracing them. However, in 1724, Johann Heinrich Schultz Johann Heinrich Schulze or Schultz was a German professor and polymath from Colbitz in the Duchy of Magdeburg discovered that a silver and chalk mixture darkens under exposure to light. Early photography built on these discoveries and developments. The early photographic cameras were essentially similar to Zahn's camera obscura, though usually with the addition of sliding boxes for focusing. Before each exposure, a sensitized plate would be inserted in front of the viewing screen to record the image. The first permanent photograph A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of what the human eye would see. The process and was made in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (French pronunciation: [njɛps]) (March 7, 1765 – July 5, 1833) was a French inventor, most noted as one of the inventors of photography and a pioneer in the field. He is most notable for producing the first photographs, dating to the 1820s. As revolutionary as his invention was, Niépce is little known even today using a sliding wooden box camera made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris Paris ([paʁi] in French, pronounced /ˈpærɪs/ in English) is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris, within its administrative limits largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated and building on Johann Heinrich Schultz Johann Heinrich Schulze or Schultz was a German professor and polymath from Colbitz in the Duchy of Magdeburg's discovery about silver and chalk mixtures darkening when exposed to light. Jacques Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was a French artist and chemist, recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography's popular daguerreotype It was developed by Louis Daguerre together with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Niepce had produced the first photographic image in the camera obscura using asphaltum on a copper plate sensitised with lavender oil that required very long exposures process utilized copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable, and a freshly exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color. It is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a building material, and a plates, while the calotype Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. The term calotype comes from the Greek καλό for 'good', and τύπος for 'impression' process invented by William Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot He was born on February 11, 1800 and died on September 17, 1877. He was the inventor of calotype process, the precursor to most photographic processes of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was also a noted photographer who made major contributions to the development of photography as an artistic medium. His work in the 1840s recorded images on paper Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets.

The first permanent color photograph, taken by James Clerk Maxwell in 1861.

The development of the collodion Collodion is a flammable, syrupy solution of pyroxylin in ether and alcohol. There are two basic types; flexible and non-flexible. The flexible type is often used as a surgical dressing or to hold dressings in place. When painted on the skin, collodion dries to form a flexible cellulose film. While it is initially colorless, it discolors over time wet plate process by Frederick Scott Archer Frederick Scott Archer invented the photographic collodion process which preceded the modern gelatin emulsion. He was born in Bishop's Stortford in the UK and is remembered mainly for this single achievement which greatly increased the accessibility of photography for the general public in 1850 cut exposure times dramatically, but required photographers to prepare and develop their glass Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle, and often optically transparent. Glass is commonly used for windows, bottles, and eyewear; examples of glassy materials include soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovy-glass, and aluminium oxynitride. The term glass developed in the late Roman plates on the spot, usually in a mobile darkroom A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 1800s. Darkrooms have many various manifestations, from the elaborate space used by Ansel. Despite their complexity, the wet-plate ambrotype The ambrotype or amphitype is a photograph that creates a positive image on a sheet of glass using the wet plate collodion process. In the United States, ambrotypes first came into use in the early 1850s. The wet plate collodion process was invented just a few years before that by Frederick Scott Archer, but ambrotypes used the plate image as a and tintype Tintype, also melainotype and ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of iron metal that is blackened by painting, laquering or enamelling and is used as a support for a collodion photographic emulsion processes were in widespread use in the latter half of the 19th century. Wet plate cameras were little different from previous designs, though there were some models, such as the sophisticated Dubroni of 1864, where the sensitizing and developing of the plates could be carried out inside the camera itself rather than in a separate darkroom. Other cameras were fitted with multiple lenses for making cartes de visite The carte de visite or CDV was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris, France by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854. It was usually made of an albumen print, which was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card. The size of a carte de visite is 2⅛ × 3½ inches mounted on a card sized 2½ × 4. It was during the wet plate era that the use of bellows In photography, a bellows is the pleated expandable part of a camera, usually a large or medium format camera, to allow the lens to be moved with respect to the focal plane for focusing for focusing became widespread.

The first color photograph was made by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish theoretical physicist and mathematician. His most important achievement was classical electromagnetic theory, synthesizing all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and even optics into a consistent theory. His set of equations—Maxwell's equations—demonstrated, with the help of English inventor and photographer Thomas Sutton Thomas Sutton was an English photographer, author, and inventor. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1846 as the twenty-seventh Wrangler. He opened a photographic studio in Jersey the following year under the patronage of Prince Albert. In 1855 he set up a photographic company in Jersey with business partner Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, in 1861[7]

The electronic video camera tube was invented in the 1920s, starting a line of development that eventually resulted in digital cameras A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor, which largely supplanted film cameras after the turn of the 21st century.

Mechanics

Image capture

see also Photographic lens design The design of photographic lenses for use in still or cine cameras is intended to produce a lens that yields the most acceptable rendition of the subject being photographed within a range of constraints that include cost, weight and materials. For many other optical devices such as telescopes, microscopes and theodolite where the visual image is
19th century studio camera, with bellows for focusing

Traditional cameras capture light onto photographic film Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts (bonded by gelatin) with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. When the emulsion is sufficiently exposed to light (or other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays), it forms or photographic plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a means of photography. A light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was applied to a glass plate. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile films were introduced. However, photographic plates. Video A video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in experimental broadcasts through the 1930s. All- and digital cameras A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor use an electronic image sensor, usually a charge coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS sensor to capture images which can be transferred or stored in a memory card or other storage inside the camera for later playback or processing.

Cameras that capture many images in sequence are known as movie cameras or as ciné cameras in Europe; those designed for single images are still cameras. However these categories overlap as still cameras are often used to capture moving images in special effects work and many modern cameras can quickly switch between still and motion recording modes. A video camera is a category of movie camera that captures images electronically (either using analogue or digital technology).

Lens

Main articles: Photographic lens and Photographic lens design

The lens of a camera captures the light from the subject and brings it to a focus on the film or detector. The design and manufacture of the lens is critical to the quality of the photograph being taken. The technological revolution in camera design in the 19th century revolutionized optical glass manufacture and lens design with great benefits for modern lens manufacture in a wide range of optical instruments from reading glasses to microscopes. Pioneers included Zeiss and Leitz.

Camera lens are made in a wide range of focal lengths. They range from extreme wide angle, wide angle, standard, medium telephoto and telephoto. Each lens is best suited a certain type of photography. The extreme wide angle may be preferred for architecture because it has the capacity to capture a wide view of a building. The normal lens, because it often has a wide aperture, is often used for street and documentary photography. The telephoto is useful for sports, and wildlife but is are more susceptible to camera shake. [8]

Focus

Auto-focus systems can capture a subject a variety of ways; here, the focus is on the person's image in the mirror.

Due to the optical properties of photographic lenses, only objects within a limited range of distances from the camera will be reproduced clearly. The process of adjusting this range is known as changing the camera's focus. There are various ways of focusing a camera accurately. The simplest cameras have fixed focus and use a small aperture and wide-angle lens to ensure that everything within a certain range of distance from the lens, usually around 3 metres (10 ft) to infinity, is in reasonable focus. Fixed focus cameras are usually inexpensive types, such as single-use cameras. The camera can also have a limited focusing range or scale-focus that is indicated on the camera body. The user will guess or calculate the distance to the subject and adjust the focus accordingly. On some cameras this is indicated by symbols (head-and-shoulders; two people standing upright; one tree; mountains).

Rangefinder cameras allow the distance to objects to be measured by means of a coupled parallax unit on top of the camera, allowing the focus to be set with accuracy. Single-lens reflex cameras allow the photographer to determine the focus and composition visually using the objective lens and a moving mirror to project the image onto a ground glass or plastic micro-prism screen. Twin-lens reflex cameras use an objective lens and a focusing lens unit (usually identical to the objective lens.) in a parallel body for composition and focusing. View cameras use a ground glass screen which is removed and replaced by either a photographic plate or a reusable holder containing sheet film before exposure. Modern cameras often offer autofocus systems to focus the camera automatically by a variety of methods.[9]

Exposure control

The size of the aperture and the brightness of the scene controls the amount of light that enters the camera during a period of time, and the shutter controls the length of time that the light hits the recording surface. Equivalent exposures can be made with a larger aperture and a faster shutter speed or a corresponding smaller aperture and with the shutter speed slowed down.

Shutters

Main article: Shutter (photography)

Although a range of different shutter devices have been used during the development of the camera only two types have been widely used and remain in use today.

The Leaf shutter or more precisely the in-lens shutter is a shutter contained within the lens structure, often close to the diaphragm consisting of a number of metal leaves which are maintained under spring tension and which are opened and then closed when the shutter is released. The exposure time is determined by the interval between opening and closing. In this shutter design, the whole film frame is exposed at one time. This makes flash synchronisation much simpler as the flash only needs to fire once the shutter is fully open. Disadvantages of such shutters are their inability to reliably produce very fast shutter speeds ( faster than 1/500th second or so) and the additional cost and weight of having to include a shutter mechanism for every lens.

The focal-plane shutter operates as close to the film plane as possible and consists of cloth curtains that are pulled across the film plane with a carefully determined gap between the two curtains (typically running horizontally) or consisting of a series of metal plates (typically moving vertically) just in front of the film plan. The focal-plane shutter is primarily associated with the single lens reflex type of camera's, since covering the film rather than blocking light passing through the lens allows the photographer to view through the lens at all times except during the exposure itself. Covering the film also facilitates removing the lens from a loaded camera (many SLR's have interchangable lenses).

Complexities

Professional medium format SLR cameras (typically using 120/220 roll film) use a hybrid solution, since such a large focal-plane shutter would be difficult to make and/or may run slowly. A manually operated blade (action similarly to a focal-plane shutter) known as a dark slide, allows the film to be covered when interchanging lenses (or film backs). A blind inside the camera covers the film prior to and after the exposure, but is not designed to be able to give accurately controlled exposure times .. and then a leaf shutter that is normally open is installed in the lens. To take a picture, the leaf shutter closes, the blind opens, the leaf shutter opens, closes the blind closes and then the leaf shutter re-opens (the last step possibly only when the shutter i.e. re-cocked).

Using a focal-plane shutter, exposing the whole film plane can take much longer than the exposure time. The exposure time does not depend on the time take to make the exposure over all, only on the difference between the time a specific point on the film is uncovered and then covered up again. For example an exposure of 1/1000 second may be achieved by the shutter curtains moving across the film plane in 1/50th of a second but with the two curtains only separated by 1/20th of the frame width. In fact in practice the curtains do not run at a constant speed as they would in an ideal design, obtaining an even exposure time depends mainly on being able to make the two curtains accelerate in a similar manner.

When photographing rapidly moving objects, the use of a focal-plane shutter can produce some unexpected effects, since the film closest to the start position of the curtains is exposed earlier than the film closest to the end position. Typically this can result in a moving object leaving a slanting image. The direction of the slant depends on the direction the shutter curtains run in (noting also that as in all camera's the image is inverted and reversed by the lens, i.e. "top-left" is at the bottom right of the sensor as seen by a photographer behind the camera).

Focal-plane shutters are also difficult to synchronise with flash bulbs and electronic flash and it is often only possible to use flash at shutter speeds where the curtain that opens to reveal the film completes its run and the film is fully uncovered, before the second curtain starts to travel and cover it up again. Typically 35mm film SLR's could sync flash at only up to 1/60th second if the camera has horizontal run cloth curtains, and 1/125th if using a vertical run metal shutter.

Film formats

Main article: Film formats

A wide range of film and plate formats have been used by cameras. In the early history plate sizes were often specific for the make and model of camera although there quickly developed some standardisation for the more popular cameras. The introduction of roll film drove the standardisation process still further so that by the 1950s only a few standard roll films were in use. These included 120 film providing 8, 12 or 16 exposures, 220 film providing 16 or 24 exposures, 127 film providing 8 exposures (principally in Brownie cameras) and 35mm film providing 12, 20 or 36 exposures - or up to 72 exposures in bulk cassettes for the Leica Camera range.

For cine cameras, 35mm film was the original film format but 16mm film soon followed produced by cutting 35mm in two. An early amateur format was 9.5mm. Later formats included 8mm film and Super 8.

Camera accessories

Accessories for cameras are mainly for care, protection, special effects and functions.

Camera designs

Plate camera

The earliest cameras produced in significant numbers used sensitised glass plates and are now termed plate cameras. Light entered a lens mounted on a lens board which was separated from the plate by an extendible bellows. Many of these cameras, had controls to raise or lower the lens and to tilt it forwards or backwards to control perspective . Focussing of these plate cameras was by the use of a ground glass screen at the point of focus. Because lens design only allowed rather small aperture lenses, the image on the ground glass screen was faint and most photographers had a dark cloth to cover their heads to allow focussing and composition to be carried out more easily. When focus and composition were satisfactory, the ground glass screen was removed and a sensitised plate put in its place protected by a dark slide (photography) . To make the exposure, the dark slide was carefully slid out and the shutter opened and then closed and the dark-slide replaced. In current designs the plate camera is best represented by the view camera.

Large format camera

Main article: View camera

The large format camera is a direct successor of the early plate cameras and remain in use for high quality photography and for technical, architectural and industrial photography. There are three common types, the monorail camera, the field camera and the press camera. All use large format sheets of film, although there are backs for medium format 120-film available for most systems, and have an extensible bellows with the lens and shutter mounted on a lens plate at the front. These cameras have a wide range of movements allowing very close control of focus and perspective.

Medium format camera

Main article: Medium-format

The medium-format cameras has a film negative size somewhere in between the large format cameras and the smaller 35mm cameras. Typically these systems use 120- or 220-film. The most common sizes being 6x4.5 cm, 6x6 cm and 6x7 cm. The designs of this kind of camera shows greater variation than their larger brethren. Ranging from monorail systems, via the classic Hasselblad model with separate backs, to smaller rangefinder cameras. There are even compact amateur cameras available in this format.

Folding camera

The introduction of films enabled the existing designs for plate cameras to be made much smaller and for the base-plate to be hinged so that it could be folded up compressing the bellows. These designs were very compact and small models were dubbed Vest pocket cameras.

Box camera

Main article: Box camera

Box cameras were introduced as a budget level camera and had few if any controls. The original box Brownie models had a small reflex viewfinder mounted on the top of the camera and had no aperture or focusing controls and just a simple shutter. Later models such as the Brownie 127 had larger direct view optical viewfinders together with a curved film path to help

Rangefinder camera

Main article: Rangefinder camera

As camera and lens technology developed and wide aperture lenses became more common range-finder cameras were introduced to make focussing more precise. The range finder had two separated viewfinder windows one of which was linked to the focusing mechanisms and moved right or left as the focussing ring was turned. The two separate images were brought together on a ground glass viewing screen. When vertical lines in the object being photographed met exactly in the combined image, the object was in focus. A normal composition viewfinder was also provided.

Single-lens reflex

Main article: Single-lens reflex camera Olympus E-420 Four Thirds entry-level DSLR.

In the single-lens reflex camera the photographer sees the scene through the camera lens. This avoids the problem of parallax which occurs when the viewfinder or viewing lens is separated from the taking lens. Single-lens reflex cameras have been made in several formats including 220/120 taking 8, 12 or 16 photographs on a 120 roll and twice that number of a 220 film. These correspond to 6x9, 6x6 and 6x4.5 respectively (all dimensions in cm). Notable manufacturers of large format SLR include Hasselblad, Mamiya, Bronica and Pentax. However the most common format of SLRs has been 35 mm and subsequently the migration to digital SLRs, using almost identical sized bodies and sometimes using the same lens systems.

Almost all SLR used a front surfaced mirror in the optical path to direct the light from the lens via a viewing screen and pentaprism to the eyepiece. At the time of exposure the mirror flipped up out of the light path before the shutter opened. Some early cameras experimented other methods of providing through the lens viewing including the use of a semi transparent pellicle as in the Canon Pellix [13] and others with a small periscope such as in the Corfield Periflex series[14].

Twin-lens reflex

Main article: Twin-lens reflex camera

Twin-lens reflex cameras used a pair of nearly identical lenses, one to form the image and one as a viewfinder. The lenses were arranged with the viewing lens immediately above the taking lens. The viewing lens projects an image onto a viewing screen which can be seen from above. Some manufacturers such as Mamiya also provided a reflex head to attach to the viewing screen to all the camera to be held to the eye when in use. The advantage of a TLR was that it could be easily focussed using the viewing screen and that under most circumstances the view seen in the viewing screen was identical to that recorded on film. At close distances however, parallax errors were encountered and some cameras also included an indicator to show what part of the composition would be excluded.

Some TLR had interchangeable lenses but as these had to be paired lenses they were relatively heavy and did not provide the range of focal lengths that the SLR could support. Although most TLRs used 120 or 220 film some used 127 film.

Ciné camera

Main article: Movie camera

A ciné camera or movie camera takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the ciné camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame" through the use of an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a ciné projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and brain merge the separate pictures to create the illusion of motion. The first ciné camera was built around 1888 and by 1890 several types were being manufactured. The standard film size for ciné cameras was quickly established as 35mm film and this remains in use to this day. Other professional standard formats include 70 mm film and 16mm film whilst amateurs film makers used 9.5 mm film, 8mm film or Standard 8 and Super 8 before the move into digital format.

The size and complexity of ciné cameras varies greatly depending on the uses required of the camera. Some professional equipment is very large and too heavy to be hand held whilst some amateur cameras were designed to be very small and light for single-handed operation. In the last quarter of the 20th century camcorders supplanted film motion cameras for amateurs. Professional video cameras did the same for professional users around the turn of the century.

Image gallery

1921 Kodak

Opened up Cine Kodak, used 16mm movie film

Silvestri Flexicam

Voigtländer Brillant twin-lens reflex camera.

Contax S of 1949 — the world's first pentaprism SLR

1952 Voigtlander Vito II

Asahiflex IIa of 1955

Kodak Retina IIIC of 1957

Nikon F of 1959 — the first 35mm system camera

Voigtländer Vitoret of 1962

1988 A Soviet-era LOMO LC-A camera

2003 — Canon EOS 300D, a model that sparked the popularity of consumer-level DSLRs

See also

Types

Brands

Other

Photography portal
Film portal

References

  1. ^ Batchen, Geoffrey. "Images formed by means of a camera obscura". Burning with Desire: The Conception of Photography. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 78–85. ISBN 0-262-52259-4. "The camera obscura looms large in traditional historical accounts of photography's invention."
  2. ^ "camera, 4, a". Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 1989.
  3. ^ Nicholas J. Wade, Stanley Finger (2001), "The eye as an optical instrument: from camera obscura to Helmholtz's perspective", Perception 30 (10), p. 1157–1177.
  4. ^ Warren, Lynne (2006). "Camera Obscura". Encyclopedia of twentieth-century photography. London: Routledge. p. 224. ISBN 0415976650.
  5. ^ Stefoff, Rebecca (2007). "A Dark Chamber: Optics". The Camera. Tarrytown, NY: Mashall Cavendish. p. 23. ISBN 0761425969.
  6. ^ Explanatory Notes (section) of David Constantine's 1994 translation of Goethe's Elective Affinities, Oxford University Press.
  7. ^ Mahon, Basil (2003). The Man Who Changed Everything – the Life of James Clerk Maxwell. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN.
  8. ^ http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
  9. ^ Auto focus - How Stuff Works
  10. ^ Lens Hood
  11. ^ Accessories to Photography
  12. ^ Oxford Dictionary
  13. ^ Canon Pellix QL / FT QL Cameras (retrieved 19 April 2009)
  14. ^ The Periflex series (retrieved 19 April 2009)

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Technical terms Angle of view · Aperture · Circle of confusion · Color temperature · Depth of field · Depth of focus · Exposure · Exposure compensation · F-number · Film format · Film speed · Focal length · Hyperfocal distance · Metering mode · Perspective distortion · Photograph · Photographic printing · Photographic processes · Reciprocity · Red-eye effect · Science of photography · Shutter speed · Zone System
Genres Aerial · Black and White · Commercial · Cloudscape · Documentary · Erotic · Fashion · Fine art · Forensic · Glamour · High speed · Landscape · Nature · Nude · Photojournalism · Pornography · Portrait · Post-mortem · Senior · Social documentary · Sports · Still life · Stock · Street · Vernacular · Underwater · Wedding · Wildlife
Techniques Afocal photography · Bokeh · Contre-jour · Cross processing · Cyanotype · Film developing · Fill flash · Fireworks · Harris Shutter · Kite aerial · Long exposure · Macro · Multiple exposure · Night · Panoramic · Panning · Photogram (Kirlian) · Print toning · Rephotography · Rollout · Sabatier Effect · Stereoscopy · Stopping down · Sun printing · Infrared · Ultraviolet · Time-lapse · Tilt-shift
Composition Geometry and symmetry · Framing · Headroom · Lead room · Rule of thirds · Simplicity
Equipment Camera (Pinhole · Rangefinder · SLR · Still · TLR · Toy · View) · Darkroom (Enlarger · Safelight) · Film (Base · Format · Holder · Stock) · Filter · Flash · Manufacturers · Movie projector · Photographic lens · Slide projector · Tripod · Zone plate
History Autochrome Lumière · Calotype · Daguerreotype · Dufaycolor · Heliography · Painted photography backdrops · Timeline of photographic technology
Digital photography Digital camera (D-SLR · Digital back) · Photo sharing · Digital and film compared · Image sensor (CMOS APS · CCD · Three-CCD · Foveon X3) · Pixel · Film scanner
Color photography Color · Color management (Color space · Primary color · RGB · CMYK) · Color film (Print · Slide)
Photographic processing C-41 process · Cross processing · Developer · Dye coupler · E-6 process · Fixer · Push processing · Stop bath · K-14 process
Other topics Analog photography · Camera obscura · Digiscoping · Gelatin-silver process · Gum printing · Holography · Lomography · Photography and the law · Photography museums and galleries (category) · Print permanence · Vignetting · Visual arts
List of photographers · List of most expensive photographs · Portal · WikiProject

Categories: Cameras | Photography equipment | Optical devices

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'Camera' News
Drummond: Video trips up robbery suspects accused of killing Virginia man - San Jose Mercury News
mercurynews.com
Drummond: Video trips up robbery suspects accused of killing Virginia man - San Jose Mercury News
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:39:01 GMT+00:00
San Jose Mercury News By Tammerlin Drummond The video taken from the surveillance camera at a business in downtown Oakland was blurry. There is a woman in what appears to be a ... Oakland woman charged in killing of Google job applicant San Jose Mercury News
Google News Search: Camera,
Tue Jul 27 20:48:07 2010
'Camera' Images
Lego Digital Camera
what-camera.com
Lego Digital Camera
320px x 475px | 89.20kB

[source page]

Tags camera compact

Yahoo Images Search: Camera,
Mon Jul 26 19:35:38 2010
'Camera' Blogs
What Fisheye Lenses Would Fit This Camera ? - windows - What ...
winpie.com
What Fisheye Lenses Would Fit This Camera ? - windows - What ...

admin

ue, 27 Jul 2010 09:20:23 GM

I want this . camera. : does anyone know of a fisheye lense that could fit it?i'm open to stick-on lenses? :)x.

Google Blogs Search: Camera,
Tue Jul 27 06:46:30 2010
'Camera' Answers
What camera is good for a beginner photographer?
Q. I'm really interested in photography and I want to get a good camera. I've only used my cell phone and other peoples cameras for my photography, so yeah. I'm really new to this whole thing. I'm 13. What camera is best for beginners?
Asked by Slytherin Seeker - Thu May 6 17:31:36 2010 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments

A. What's your budget? You can get a beginners DSLR Camera, like the Nikon D40:
Answered by VanGorkum Photography - Thu May 6 19:36:54 2010

Yahoo Answers Search: Camera,
Fri Jul 23 06:11:07 2010
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