Technology
How does a camera work?
A camera works by focusing light through a lens onto a sensor (or film) that records the image. The lens bends incoming light to form a sharp picture, and the sensor measures the light's brightness and color at each point to capture the scene.
See it in motion.
Watch a 2-minute animated lesson that shows exactly how a camera works.
Step by step
- 1A lens bends light to focus a sharp image onto the sensor.
- 2The aperture controls how much light enters; the shutter, for how long.
- 3A digital sensor has millions of pixels that measure light and color.
- 4The captured values are saved as a digital image file.
- 5Focus, exposure, and lens choice shape how the photo looks.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a digital camera capture an image?
- Light focused by the lens lands on a sensor whose millions of pixels measure brightness and color, and those readings become a digital photo.
- What does the aperture do?
- It's an adjustable opening controlling how much light enters and how much of the scene is in focus (depth of field).
- Why do photos blur?
- Either the focus is off, or the subject or camera moved while the shutter was open long enough to smear the light.