In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period, exposing photographic film or a photosensitive digital sensor to light in order to capture a permanent image of a scene. A shutter can also be used to allow pulses of light to pass outwards, as seen in a movie projector or a signal lamp. A shutter of variable speed is used to control exposure time of the film. The shutter is constructed so that it automatically closes after a certain required time interval. The speed of the shutter is controlled either automatically by the camera based on the overall settings of the camera, manually through digital settings, or manually by a ring outside the camera on which various timings are marked.
An early (1875) rapid acting shutter by A. A. Pearson of Leeds
A focal-plane shutter. The plastic curtains travel vertically.
One diaphragm shutter opening over another in an Akarex camera
Dial-set three-leaf Compur shutter, partially open.
An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves into signals, small bursts of current that convey the information. The waves can be light or other electromagnetic radiation. Image sensors are used in electronic imaging devices of both analog and digital types, which include digital cameras, camera modules, camera phones, optical mouse devices, medical imaging equipment, night vision equipment such as thermal imaging devices, radar, sonar, and others. As technology changes, electronic and digital imaging tends to replace chemical and analog imaging.
A CCD image sensor on a flexible circuit board
An American Microsystems, Inc., (AMI) 1-kilobit DRAM chip (center chip with glass window) used as an image sensor by the Cromemco Cyclops
A micrograph of the corner of the photosensor array of a webcam digital camera
Image sensor (upper left) on the motherboard of a Nikon Coolpix L2 6 MP