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Camera Components Clarified


Gianni Perez



When using a camera, you may not realize just how much science and math goes into taking a picture. There are different components of a camera that work together to capture an image, but how exactly do these parts work together?

Before snapping a photo, it is important to make sure that your subject—what you are taking a photo of—is in the camera frame the way you want it to be. To ensure this, you would take a look through your camera's viewfinder. The viewfinder on a camera is the small hole you look through to view what image the camera will capture. The viewfinder allows the photographer to perfect their photo by seeing exactly what is in the shot before they take the photo.

Once you see the ideal photo in your viewfinder, you hit the shutter release button to take your picture. When pressed, the shutter release button opens the shutter of the camera to take the photo. Once you click this button, the camera processes and takes your photo.

From here, the development of the image begins with the lenses of the camera. Camera lenses are made of optical glass, which is used for its clarity and precision. The lens refracts the light and directs it to a single point to form the photo. There are various types of camera lenses with unique purposes—for example, there are lenses specifically designed for dark lighting.

An aperture is the opening of the lens that allows light to enter and flow into the camera. Using the aperture, the photographer can change the amount of light in a photo, thus adjusting the brightness. Aperture also affects the focus of a photo, as the opening of the lens can blur out certain parts of the image. A larger aperture results in a blurred background, while a smaller aperture results in little to no blur.

After the lens focuses the light, the image sensor does its job. An image sensor is located inside the body of the camera and is a metal bundle of wires and a sensor chip. The image sensor changes the focused light into an electrical signal that the camera can transform into an image that appears on your LCD screen.

The LCD (liquid crystal display) screen displays the photo. This is the same type of screen that your cell phone has. An LCD screen uses a backlight to provide brightness to an image. Liquid crystals separate different color pixels and blend them together by illuminating the backlight.

The body of a camera is the rectangular shaped part that contains all of the camera's controls. The body holds the circuitry of the camera and bonds all of the above-mentioned parts together. The picture-taking process takes a single second, and before you know it, voilà! You have your image! One of many scientific feats, cameras allow us to capture a single moment in time and hold onto it forever.


Sources:

https://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography


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