Basics of a camera-Part1

Nikon D7000 SLR camera

A nikon coolpix point and shoot camera

Obviously the most important thing to learn photography is a camera. Camera come in all shapes and sizes today and everyone will most likely have a camera on him or her,may it be a full fledged SLR, a  dedicated point and shoot  or the one that tags along with your phone.


I am not going on into the difference between SLR and point and shoot cameras , that deserves another article. The only important thing to remember is that if you really want to get into photography, even as a passion rather than a profession then you really need to get your hands on Digital SLR or DSLR.



 So now let us get to what we started here. Nowadays we here a lot about digital cameras,but the camera is still and  will always be an optical instrument. Basics physics of optics  is what makes every camera tick or rather click.







Any camera will have the following
1)Body: The protective outer casing, generally made of plastic or metal holds the different parts of the camera together and also provides protection to the delicate components inside.

2)Lens: A camera lens is actually an assortment of lenses all working together to provide the perfect picture.

3)Viewfinder: The small window through which you frame your picture.

4)Shutter release button: The small button on top which technically leads to all the amazing photographs. A half press activates and locks the auto focus while pressing the button all the way captures the photograph.

5) Flash: Built-in on the body of most compact and some DSLR cameras. Can be either fixed or flip-type. Illuminates a poorly lit scene by shooting a burst of bright light. 

6) Mode Dial:  The dial allows you to select a shooting mode, automatic or manual or a choice between one of the pre-defined settings. Some of the other modes may be shutter priority and aperture priority.

7)Focusing Ring: It is a ring on the lens body which moves the lens assembly so as to get a clear picture. Although all modern cameras today have auto focus feature,they will still allow manual focus to achieve just the right amount of focus to get that perfect picture. A switch is toggled to switch from Auto focus(AF)to Manual(M). Available only on DSLRs. 

8) Diopter Adjuster - Usually available in mid to high end sub-compact cameras and DSLRs .You will find it besides the viewfinder. This varies the focal length of the lens in the viewfinder such  people wearing eyeglasses to see clearly through it even without the eyeglasses. 

9)Aperture: The aperture is simply a lens opening which regulates the amount of light passing to photographic film or in case of digital cameras image sensor.

Right so these are the basics parts of any camera.

In the coming tutorials we will see all these components in more detail.

Thanks for your patience.