A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photography and videography, cameras have played a significant role in the progression of visual arts, media, entertainment, surveillance, and scientific research. The invention of the camera dates back to the 19th century and has since evolved with advancements in technology, leading to a vast array of types and models in the 21st century.
Leica Camera (1950s)
Hasselblad 500 C/M with Zeiss lens
Different apertures of a lens
The distance range in which objects appear clear and sharp, called depth of field, can be adjusted by many cameras. This allows a photographer to control which objects appear in focus, and which do not.
Single-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin lens reflex and rangefinder cameras, the viewed image could be significantly different from the final image. When the shutter button is pressed on most SLRs, the mirror flips out of the light path, allowing light to pass through to the light receptor and the image to be captured.
Ihagee Exa Single lens reflex
The Zeiss Ikon VEB Contax S, manufactured in Dresden, one of the two original pentaprism SLRs for eye-level viewing that went into production in 1949. The Italian Rectaflex offered its first production SLR, the series 1000, the same year.
Cross section of SLR camera.
Focusing screen on Praktica Super TL1000