CAMERA

A camera is an optical instrument for recording or capturing images, which may be stored locally.
Transmitted to another location, or both. The images may be individual still photographs or sequences of
image constituting videos or movies. The camera is a remote sensing device as it senses subjects without
physical contact. The word camera comes from camera obscura, which means “dark chamber” and is the
Latin name of the original device for projecting an image of external reality into a flat surface.

ESSENTIAL PARTS OF CAMERA

BODY – A light-tight box that serves as an unbending structure on which every single other part is mounted
furthermore serve tg shield the fil form introduction to light, aside from during the time spent taking the
photo. The body is the for the most part made out of hard plastic and light metal.

LENS – It is a type of a plastic or glass and in more expound camera, its lens is comprised of a few bits of
glass mounted in a chamber called the lens barrel. The lens has its light assembling force and it is shown
by the f-numbers or relative opening, which is typically stamped on the lens barrel. Lenses with low f-
numbers have generally high light-assembling power and are known as the quick lenses, while lens with
high f-numbers have low light assembling power and called the moderate lenses. The light assembling
force of most camera lenses is controlled by method for stomach. The stomach looks like the iris of an
eye. At the point when the stomach is broadly open, it permits a greatest light to go int it. At the point
when somewhat shut, it diminishes the measure of light that go into it. Since shutting the stomach
decreases the light assembling force of the lens, it has the impact of abating the lens and in this manner
expanding tis f-number.

2.1 Types of Lenses According to the Type of Image they Produce:

2.1.1 Convex Lens – sometimes called a positive lens; the glass or plastic surfaces bulge outwards
in the center giving the classic lentil-like shape. A convex lens is also called a converging lens
because it makes parallel light rays passing through it bend inward and meet at a spot just beyond
the lens known as focal point

2.1.2 Concave Lens – Also known as negative lens. Is exactly the opposite with the outer surfaces
curving inward, so it makes parallel light rays curve outward or diverge. That’s why concave lenses
are sometimes called diverging lens.

LENS ABERRATIONS

Nothing is perfect is a content free statement. It’s an excuse used over and over again to explain
why things don’t work out as intended. It’s explanation that explains nothing, there’s no room in
science for palliative blanket statements like this. Science is not the pursuit of perfection.
Perfection is a dumb concept to begin with. In optics. The deviation from perfection is called
aberration. More precisely, an aberration is a deviation of a ray from the behavior predicted by
the simplified rules of geometric optics. The primary rule referred to here is the one that states
that rays of light parallel to the principal axis of a lens or curved mirror meet at a point called the
focus. Lenses do not form perfect images, and a lens always introduces some degree of distortion
or aberration that makes the image an imperfect replica of the object. Careful design of the lens
system for a particular application minimizes the aberration.
Types of Lens Aberrations:

1. Astigmatism – is one where rays that propagate in two perpendicular planes have
different foci. If an optical system with astigmatism is used t form an image of a cross, the
vertical and horizontal lines will be in sharp focus at two different distances. the term
comes from the Greek a- (a-) meaning “without” and stigma, “a mark, spot, puncture”.
There are two distinct form of astigmatism. The first is a third-order aberration, which
occurs for objects away from the optical axis. This form of aberration occurs even when
the optical system is perfectly symmetrical. This is often referred to as a “monochromatic
aberration”, because it occurs even for light of a single wavelength. The second form of
astigmatism occurs when the optical system is not symmetric about the optical axis. This
may be by design or due to manufacturing error in the surfaces of the components or
misalignment of the components. In this case, astigmatism is observed even for rays from
on-axis object points. This form of astigmatism is extremely important in vison science
and eye care, since the human eye often exhibits this aberration dure to imperfections in
the shape of the cornea of or the lens.
2. Chromatic Aberration – also called achromatism, chromatic distortion and
spherochromatism is an effect resulting from dispersion in which there is a failure of a
lens to focus all colors t eh same convergence point. It occurs because lenses have
different refractive indices for different wavelength of light. The refractive index of
transparent materials decreases with increasing wavelength in degrees unique to each.
Chromatic aberration manifests itself as “fringes” of color along boundaries that separate
dark and bright parts of eh image, because each color in the optical spectrum cannot be
focused at a single common point. Since the focal f of a lens is dependent n the refractive
index n, different wavelength of light will be focused on different positions.
3. Coma – also known as comatic aberration derives its name from the comet-like
appearance of eh aberrated image. Coma occurs when an object off the optical axis of the
lens is imaged, where ray pass through the center of a lens of focal length f are focused
at a point with distance f tan θ from the axis. Rays passing through the outer margins of
the lens are focused at different points, either further form the axis (positive coma) or
closer to the axis (negative coma). In general, a bundle of parallel rays passing through
the lens at a fixed distance from the center of the lens are focused to a ring-shaped image
in the focal plane, known as comatic circle. The sum of all these circles results in a V-
shaped or comet-like flare. As with spherical aberration, coma can be minimized (and in
some cases eliminated) by choosing the curvature of the two lens surfaces to match the
application. Lenses in which both spherical aberration and coma are minimized are called
best form lenses.
4. Field Curvature – also known as ”curvature of field” or “Petzval field curvature”, is a
common optical problem that causes a flat object to appear sharp only in a certain part(s)
of the frame, instead of being uniformly sharp across the frame. This happens due to the
curved nature of optical elements, which project the image in a curved manner, rather
than a flat.
5. Distortion – is a deviation from rectilinear projection, a projection in which straight lines
in a scene remain straight in an image. It is a form of optical aberration. Although
distortion can be irregular of follow many patterns, the most commonly encountered
 distortion is radially symmetric, or approximately so, arising from the symmetry of a
photographic lens.

Classification of Distortion
1.1 Barrel Distortion – In barrel distortion, image magnification decreases with distance
from the optical axis. The apparent effect is that of an image which has been mapped
around asphere (or barrel). Fisheye lenses, which take hemispherical views, utilize
this type of distortion as a way to map an infinitely wide object plane into a finite
image area. In a zoom lens barrel distortion appears in the middle of the lens’ focal
length range and is worst at the wide-angle end of the range.
1.2 Pincushion Distortion – Image magnification increases with the distance from the
optical axis. The visible effect is that lines that do not go through the center of the
image are bowed inwards, towards the center of the image, like a pincushion.
1.3 Mustache Distortion – A mixture of barrel and pincushion distortion, sometimes
referred to as mustache distortion or complex distortion, is less common but not rare.
It starts out as barrel distortion close to the image center and gradually turns into
pincushion distortion towards the image periphery, making horizontal lines in the top
half of the frame look like a handlebar mustache.
6. Spherical Aberration – Is an optical effect observed in an optical device that occurs due
to the increased refraction of light rays when they strike a lens or a reflection of light rays
when they strike a mirror near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the
center. It signifies a deviation of the device from the norm.

2.2 Types of Lenses According to their degree of Correction for Lens Aberrations:

2.2.1. Simple Meniscus Lens – It is almost universally used in inexpensive cameras. To get
a image of good quality it must be used with a separate aperture stop, reducing the
aperture of the lens and the aberrations and their effects. The stop also selects the pencil
of off-axis rays that passes through the lens; this controls astigmatism and eliminates
coma. Spherical and chromatic aberrations and field curvature are totally uncorrected,
but are rendered tolerable by the low speed about f/10 to f/15. Distortion is uncorrected.
The stop may be before or behind the lens, although it is always on the concave side. If
the meniscus lens is compounded, chromatic aberration can be corrected and spherical
reduced slightly, but this is not an economical solution.

2.2.2. Rapid Rectilinear Lens – Also known as RR lens, is a symmetrical pair of cemented
achromatic doublets. It was introduced by Dallmayer in 1866. At the same time Steinheil
invented a similar construction, the Aplanat lens. The outer lens elements of the two lens
groups are concave meniscus lens elements, the inner les elements are convex meniscus
lens elements, made of another glass sort. This lens construction reduces effectively
radial distortion.

2.2.3. Anastigmatic Lens – Also known as anastigmat lens is a photographic lens

2.2.4. Achromatic Lens – Also known as achromat lens, is a lens that is designed to limit
the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to
bring two wavelength into focus in the same plane. The most common type of achromat
is the achromatic doublet, which is composed of two individual lenses made from glasses
with different amounts of dispersion. Typically, one element is a negative (concave)
element made of crown glass such as BK7, which has lower dispersion. The lens elements
are mounted next to each other, often cemented together, and shaped so that the
chromatic aberration of one is counterbalance by that of the other.

FOCAL LENGTH – Is the distance between the center of the lens and the film when an in-
focus image is formed of an object very far away. The focal length of a camera lens is
displayed on the barrel of the lens along with measurement of the largest aperture and
the maker. It is measured in millimeters. The focal length of a lens establishes the field of
view of the camera. The shorter the focal length is, the larger the field of view. The
magnification factor of the picture of an object and the object’s actual size can be found
by dividing the focal length of the camera lens used by the focal length of a standard lens.

2.3 Types of Lenses According to Focal Length

2.3.1. Wide Angle Lens – Refers to a lens whose focal length is substantially smaller than
the focal length of a normal lens for a given film plane. This type of lens allows more of
the scene to be included in the photograph, which is useful in architectural, interior and
landscape photography where the photographer wishes to emphasize the difference in
size or distance between objects in the foreground and the background; nearby objects
appear very large and objects at a moderate distance appear small and far away. This
exaggeration of relative size can be used to make foreground objects more prominent
and striking, while capturing expansive backgrounds. The focal length of a wide-angle lens
is any measurement less than 50 mm, but typically 28 mm.

2.3.2. Standard Lens – Also known as a normal lens, is one which produces an image that
roughly matches what the human eye sees, and which looks natural to the viewer.
Standard lenses have an angle of view of around 50 to 55 degrees diagonally. This is
roughly the same as the angle that the human eye can comfortably view, which is why it
gives a natural looking perspective. Normal lens makes a great general purpose lens, and
can be used to photograph everything from close-up portraits to landscapes, they tend to
be very fast lenses, making them great for indoor and low-light photography. The focal
length of a normal lens is approximately 50 mm.

2.3.3. Telephoto Lens – Is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length
of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens
group known as telephoto group that extends the light path to create a long focus lens in
a much shorter overall design. It’s essential function is to bring distant objects closer to
bigger.
 2.3.4. Zoom Lens – Is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length
can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length (FFL) lens. A true zoom lens, also called
a parfocal lens, is one that maintains focus when its focal length changes. A lens that loses
focus during zooming is more properly called a varifocal lens.

3. FILM HOLDER – It holds the film set up at the camera’s back, it is configuration to hold the film so that
the picture delivered by the lens will be sharp over the entire picture territory, in most move film cameras
the film compartment is spot into the camera’s back and a spring mounted weight plate in the back front
of the camera this weight plate keeps the film level over the photo region opening.

3.1. Rewind Fork – This is connected on the film rewind knob and crank. It holds the long spool
core inside the film cartridge and fixed will the film inside the film cartridge chamber.

3.2. Film Cartridge Chamber – This component of film holder is necessary to load the film firmly.
It is the canal area located at left side at the back of the camera wherein a the top portion the
rewind fork comes out when the film cartridge is already loaded on it.

3.3. Film Guide Rails – This is a tiny protrude fragmentary metal found at the top and bottom area
of the focal plane shutter window, both edges of the film lied on it this its size is accurate with the
width of film. This is necessary for guiding the film during advancing and rewinding to fix its
respective frame.

3.4 Film Sprockets – This another component of the film holder, situated at the right side inside
the camera back before the film take up spool.

3.5 Film Take up Spool – This is located usually on the right side of the focal plane of the camera
after the film sprocket. The film tongue of leader is inserted on it during loading.

3.6. Film Pressure Plates – After loading of the film and then the camera back will be close to
protect the film against unnecessary quantity of light which might destroyed.

4. SHUTTER – Is a device that allows light to pass for a determine period, exposing photographic film or a
light sensitive electronic sensor to light in order to capture a permanent image of a scene.

Several Types of Camera Shutter;

4.1. Leaf Shutter – Also called between the lens shutter or lens-plane shutters, operate
between the elements of the lens, or the materials that make up the lens, these camera shutters
are composed of a round metal casing that hold a set of blades in its center, the blades remain
closed tightly to block out light until a release is pressed, causing the blades to spring back over
the metal casing.

4.2. Focal Plane Shutter – Are situated toward the back of the camera directly in front of
the film, or the focal plane of the camera. These mechanisms are typically composed of a set of
curtains that open to reveal a slot through light can travel, and then close to block out light.
 NOMENCLATURE OF PARTS OF FILM-BASED CAMERA

FRONT VIEW

REAR VIEW
TYPES OF CAMERAS

1. Viewfinder Camera – Light enters the viewfinder directly to allow the photographer to frame and
compose the picture. The photograph is taken through the main lens however the view forms the
lens and the viewfinder is slightly different, this difference is called parallax error.
2. Single Lens Reflex Camera – the mirror in a single lens reflex camera (SLR) reflects light upwards
through a pentaprism to be viewed. The pentaprism turns the image the right way round for the
eye to see. When a picture is taken the mirror flips up to allow light to hit the film at the back of
the camera.
3. Twin Lens Reflex Camera – It has a separate viewing and taking lens, one over the other. Light
entering the top lens is reflected up by a fixed mirror to a viewing screen.
4. View Camera – With a view camera light comes directly from the subject through the main lens
and is viewed via a focusing screen at the back of the camera. Before a picture is taken the viewing
screens is replaced by a film holder.
5. Digital Camera – Are becoming more popular and a number of designs are on the market. As
digital cameras use electronics to capture and store the image, they are not restricted to the
traditional camera designs incorporating film transport mechanisms. In simplest form, digital
camera uses the principle of lens, shutter and film as found in traditional cameras. However,
instead of silver halide-based film, the image is usually captured by a block-array Charged Coupled
Device (CCD) or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. A block array image
sensor is a matrix of light sensitive receptors, these receptors produce a continuous analogue
electrical signal which is passed through an Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC). The ADC
translated the fluctuations of the sensor into digital signals. After adjustment and compression,
the image is usually stored on a removal storage device.

ACCESSORIES OF THE CAMERA

1. Tripod – It is used to stabilize and elevate a camera, a flash unit or other photographic
equipment. All photographic tripods have three legs and a mounting head to couple with a
camera. The mounting head usually includes a thumbscrew that mates to a female threaded
receptacle on the camera, as well as a mechanism to be able to rotate and tilt the camera
when it is mounted.
2. Cable Release – Is an attachment that screws into a shutter release, allowing you to trip the
shutter mechanically while being isolated from the camera to reduce camera shake or to
operate the camera from a distance.
3. Flash Units – It is a device in photography producing a flash of artificial light to help illuminate
a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene.
4. Light Meter – Also known as exposure meter. A light meter is a device used to measure the
amount of light. In photography, a light meter is often used to determine the proper exposure
for a photograph.
5. Extension Tube - Also known as extension ring. Is a deceptively simple looking apparatus; it is
nothing more than a hollow cylinder that is placed between the camera body and a lens in
order to create more distance between the camera sensor and the lens.
6. Filter – Are transparent or translucent glass or gelatin elements that attach to the front of a
lens. They protect the camera lens, after the characteristics of light passing through the lens
or add special effects and colors to an image.
 Classification of Filters;
6.1 Clear Filter – Also known as window glass filter or optical flats are transparent and ideally
perform no filtering of incoming light. It only use is lens protection.
6.2 UV/ Ultraviolet Filter – Are used to block invisible ultraviolet light to which most
photographic sensors and film are at least slightly sensitive.
6.3 Color Conversion Filter – Are used to compensate the effects of lighting not balanced for
the film stocks rated color temperature.
6.4 Color Subtraction Filter – Work by absorbing certain color of lights, letting the remaining
colors through. They can be used to demonstrate the primary colors that make up an
image.
6.5 Contrast Enhancement Filter – Also known as colored filter are commonly used in black
and white photography to alter the effect of different colors in the scene, changing
contrast recorded in black and white of the different colors.
6.6 Polarizing Filter – Used for both color and black and white photography, is colorless and
does not affect color balance, but filters out light with a particular direction of
polarization.
6.7 Neutral Density Filter – Is a filter of uniform density which attenuates light of all color
equally. It is used to allow a longer exposure or lagger aperture than otherwise required
for correct exposure in the prevailing light conditions.
6.8 Cross Screen Filter – Also known as a star filter creates a star pattern, in which lines radiate
outward from bright objects. The star pattern is generated by a very fine diffraction
granting embedded in the filer as does the number of point each star has.
6.9 Diffusion Filter – Also called a softening filter. Soften the subjects and generates a dreamy
haze. This is most often used for portraits, it also has the effect of reducing contrast, and
the filters are designed, labeled, sold and used for the purpose too.
7. Lens hood – Also known as lens shade. Is a device used on the front end of a lens to block the
sun or other light source to prevent glare and lens flare. It can be also used to protect the lens
form scratches and the elements without having to put on a lens cover.

CONTROL ON A CAMERA

1. FOCUSING CONTROL – This is the most important control in a camera. Focus is the means by which
the object distance is estimated or calculated to form sharp or clear images.
Three Types of Focusing Devices:
1.1 Rangefinder Type – Is a mechanism used to measure the angle of convergence of light as seen
from two apertures or opening but viewed as the same time. In modern cameras, the range
finder is coupled with viewfinders.
Two types of Rangefinders
1.1.1Coincidence Type – With this type, the objects being photographed
appeared double when the focusing control is not on its proper distance, any by
moving this control, one of the object will move and coincide with other object
that will show of the single object formed and focusing control is therefore
accurate.

1.1.2. Split Type – With this type of focusing control. The object is split
into two parts when the lens is out of focused, while moving he focusing control,
 the split image will move and unite to form undivided images of the object, and
then the focusing control is set properly.

1.2 Ground Glass Type – The ground glass focusing control can be seen on the viewing screen of
the camera. During the photographing, the image of the objects being photographed will
appear blurred when the focusing control is not accurately set. By adjusting the focusing
mechanism of the camera, the objects being photographed will become clearer and clearer
until the clearest of the object appeared itne the viewing screen which will indicate that the
focusing control is properly set.
1.3 Scale Bed type – In the scale bed of focusing control, the focusing mechanism of the camera
can be adjusted by means of estimation or calculation of the objects distance and the camera.
Here the photographer will estimate the distance of the object to be photographed and then,
he will stet focusing control of he camera based on his estimation.