Basics of Camera-Part 3

Hey. So we covered lenses last time. Hope it was helpful. Today we are going to have a look at few other important parts of the camera. 

 

Perfect pictures require the perfect lighting. After all an image is nothing but light rays bouncing of an object.  But what if there are not enough light rays, meaning what if there is not enough light. In such cases the light rays have to be generated so as to get the picture. This has to be done very carefully, accurately and quickly. Enter camera flash.The basic idea of a camera flash is simply converting the electrical energy of an electron to the light energy of a photon. By the way, an electron is simply something responsible for the flow of current. And you can consider a photon as a part of light responsible for propagation of light.   

A discharge tube filled with xenon gas emitting light

The basic assembly of a camera flash is a discharge tube filled with xenon gas, metal trigger plate and a circuitry.  The battery powers the circuitry which in turn is responsible for  charging the metal plate. As electrical current moves through the metal plate electrons in the tube get attracted to the plate and move towards it. As they move towards the plate they collide with the xenon atoms in the tube and release light. This light is then directed using a mirror. Well there you have, that’s basically how a flash works, although there is a lot more to it. To actually power a flash a very high voltage is required. A regular pencil cell or even those lithium ion batteries are simply not enough. Hence an electrical device called a transformer and a capacitor is used.  Also a really neat device called an oscillator is used for creating the short burst of light. Let’s not go into the technicalities though shall we. No one is really going to ask you about it. The basics will be more than enough. 

So that was all about the camera flash. Now let us move onto another a really cool feature found on most DSLR cameras but nowadays sported by even some of those point and shoots. It is called the diopter adjustment knob. It’s a very small knob usually beside the viewfinder.  So how is a small knob like that going to be useful? Well if you have ever had a situation where the image appears all blurred from the viewfinder but the camera produces great results then this the little knob is what comes in handy. It is important to note that it does not affect the focus of the image but only the way the eye processes the image. It is basically very handy if you are wearing glasses. 

Diopter knob highlighted in red circle

Well we have almost come to the end of this article. Hope you are not getting bored. Just have one more thing to look at and that is the ‘mode dial’.

MODE DIAL: Well the mode dial is present mostly on all cameras today. However, the functionality offered by them may vary. Point and shoot cameras will offer relatively less functionality. The common modes are    

    1)      Auto: The camera automatically handles the settings, basically that of flash and exposure.

    Usually indicated by the word ‘Auto’.

   2)       Program: Same as Auto except that a few settings like the flash can be controlled

    Few others are portrait, landscape, sports, night etc.

A typical mode dial found a DSLR  camera

DSLRs and Bridge cameras give you the option to control aperture and shutter speeds in order to give you more control over the ‘exposure’. This is another topic in itself and deserves a complete article. In fact, books have actually been written about ‘exposure ‘ and the factors which influence it.

So anyways, if you really want to know what your camera has to offer it would be better to try it out. You could even read your camera manual. What??? No I am not joking. I am serious. Have a go at the manual. You never know there just might be something that you did not know about. 

Well that is it for now. So I hope the article was useful. Feel free to give me your feedback. I know a lot of people do not really want to know how a camera works but hey a little knowledge hurts no one.....right ?????I Hope. 

Thanks for your patience. 

Happy clicking.