Hi everybody, welcome to Episode Two of the Photography Explained Podcast. In this episode, I will explain this - how does a camera work?

I'm your host Rick and each week I'll try to explain one photographic thing to you then in less than 10 minutes.

Okay, so how does a camera actually work?
A camera works by exposing the camera sensor to light when the shutter opens. The amount of time the shutter is open, the size of the opening in the camera lens and the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light are all adjustable and set by either the camera or the photographer to create the exposure.

This is not what I said in the podcast, but is a much better answer.

What is a camera then?
Well, the word camera comes from Camera Obscura. Obscura is a Latin word that means darkened in English . Camera is also Latin, meaning vault or vaulted room. It also has Greek origins as well.

So camera obscura came into being and that means dark chamber. So there you have it next time you look at the camera, think of it as chamber!

It all makes sense doesn't it? Dark chamber can become a lightproof box.

How does light get into the box?
The lightproof box has an opening in it which is shut called the shutter. When the shutter opens light gets tiny the light proof box where the camera sensor is.

So that's the fundamental of this

Okay, let's have a look at fundamental components of a camera.
I'm talking about a conventional camera with a camera lens on a camera body.

Camera body
The camera body is the bit that has all the electronics and clever stuff in it. It also has such things on the camera body, controls and dials we can change all those many, many settings.

Camera lens
The lens to attaches the camera body by a mount. The lens is the thing that controls the light and the sharpness of the light getting in (not what my transcript says so time to correct this!

Cameras are designed so you hold them with your hand – they normally have a grip to hold on to.

Camera sensor
The camera body is where the very important sensor is. Now what's a sensor? If you think of a film camera (if you're old enough) there was a place where you put the film, in the back of the camera body. You had to the film on to the first bit to take a photo with. 

Well on a modern camera the sensor is where the film was in simple terms.

Camera shutter
The shutter is the thing that lets light each the sensor. Press the shutter release button and the shutter opens, exposing the camera sensor (or film) to the light coming in through the lens. 

Again, I don't want to get too technical here!

So the camera is the light proof box with a shutter in it.

So how does the light get onto the sensor?
Well, the next thing is what's called the camera lens which is either attached to or built into the camera body. On conventional DSLR and mirrorless cameras you can change the lenses. There is a very unhelpful acronym ILC which means interchangeable lens camera. To be perfectly honest with you I don't see the point of that.

The camera lens has all the optics in it to focus what the camera is pointing at onto the sensor (or film).

The other thing that the camera lens contains as well as the optics is the aperture.

In most cameras the aperture is adjustable, meaning you can change the size of opening in the lens which reduces or increases the amount of light getting through to the camera sensor.

Shutter and aperture – the special relationship
There is a relationship between the shutter and the aperture, and also with the sensitivity of the camera sensor.

This relationship is called the exposure triangle, and in a future episode I will explain the exposure triangle in less than 10 minutes.

All cameras are generally the same
This principle applies to any kind of camera. Think about an iPhone as the camera body with a camera lens attached to the body and an aperture which on my iPone XS is fixed at F1.8.

How was this for you?
So this is the level of explanation that works for me, which I hope works for you too? We have learned very quickly what a camera is and how it works. Now there are things in here which need much more detailed explanation? Yes, of course.

I'm trying to build myself up here from small beginnings and straightforward explanations by taking (not attacking) things at this level. Like I said I am going to explained on the exposure triangle. I'm also going to talk about some of the general camera settings - obviously they are some that are specific to each individual camera and some that are universal principles of the topic.

A universal rule
Whatever the camera the exposure triangle applies – aperture, shutter and ISO.

Strange terms
There is some very strange and confusing terminology in photography which I will try to get to the bottom of. I think it's fair to say that if photography was being invented today we wouldn't have all these things that we have now like the size of the sensor, the terminology and complications of things like the exposure triangle.

I’m rambling now
How long should a podcast episode be? The answer is as long as it needs to be – I won’t stop if I get to 10 minutes and have not finished..

So what's next on the Photography Explained Podcast?
(PE3 - How To Take A Photo? Not in the episode as I did not know).

Thanks very much for listening, I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please leave a review and rating wherever you get your podcasts from. Also, please subscribe so you don't miss the next episode and all that good stuff.

I have got one small favour. If you can think of anybody who might enjoy my podcast, please let them know as well. And if there is one thing that you want me to explain on the podcast, let me know.

Okay, thanks for listening. I'll see you on the next episode. Cheers from me.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

camera, exposure triangle, shutter, sensor, light, opens, lens, podcast, body, episode, aperture, camera obscura, film, box, explain, chamber, shutter release button, terminology, pointing, minutes