Digital cameras glossary


Deia Z.

Deia began her Crutchfield career in 2010, as a sales advisor in the Spanish/International department. Crutchfield's hands-on sales training quickly converted her interest in photography into a full-fledged hobby. After five years in sales advising customers on choosing the best A/V and camera gear for their needs, she is happy to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for top-notch gear as an A/V writer.

More from Deia Z.

Sony ILCE5000 NEX Series Camera w/ 16-50mm Lens




16:9 widescreen photo mode

35mm equivalent
See focal length.

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A/V outputs
Some cameras come with audio/video cables to let you send an image or video with sound to a TV for easier viewing. Older models may have dedicated A/V outputs, while newer models might include a cable with RCA plugs on one end and a proprietary connector on the other. Many cameras offer HDMI connectivity for displaying high-resolution images and videos on a compatible TV.

Accessory shoe

A technology found in some digital cameras that alerts you if your subject blinks when you take a photo. Some anti-blink modes will also capture two shots in a sequence and save the one where the subject's eyes are open.

A camera's aperture works like the iris of your eye, expanding and contracting to adjust the amount of light which passes through the lens. Aperture is measured in "f-stops." A higher f-stop number corresponds to a smaller opening, which admits less light. Aperture settings are directly related to exposure, permitting you to control the amount of light that reaches your camera's image sensor. Some cameras offer manual aperture adjustment as well as an aperture priority mode, which allows you to choose the f-stop while the camera adjusts all of the other settings for optimal exposure.

Aspherical lens element
A camera lens is made up of different lens elements, most of which have a spherical profile. The more spherical elements are used in its construction, the bulkier a lens will be. Aspherical lens elements are used to create smaller, lighter lenses with clear focus across the entire field of the lens from one edge to the other.

Automatic scene selector

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Buffer memory

Burst mode
See continuous/burst mode.

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Chromatic aberration
Also known as CA, or fringing. Most of the time, a camera lens is able to direct all light waves onto the same focal plane. Sometimes, however, it magnifies a few wavelengths differently, or can't quite get them focused on the same plane. The result is a mild mismatch within the image, so that it appears blurred or objects appear to have colored edges. This effect can be pronounced in high-contrast situations and when using larger apertures. Lens manufacturers use special optical designs and lens elements to minimize chromatic aberrations, and many DSLR cameras have special processing to minimize the effect. Chromatic aberrations can also be reduced in post-processing.

CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)
See image sensor.

CompactFlash® card

Continuous autofocus mode

Continuous/burst mode

Crop factor (focal length multiplier)

So why would the equivalent focal length be different from the focal length printed on the lens barrel? Because the lens's focal length is based on the traditional 35mm film format. Since the image sensor on many DSLRs is smaller than a full frame of 35mm film, the result is a seemingly more telephoto focal length than that printed on the barrel.



Cross-type focus sensor
A type of focusing sensor found in DSLRs that detects and focuses on a subject along both vertical and horizontal lines. They provide higher-accuracy focusing than more commonly found vertical line sensors. High-end DSLRs tend to have cross-type sensors more often than entry level or midrange models.

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Depth of field

Digital zoom

Dynamic range
An indicator of your image sensor's ability to capture highlight detail and shadow detail at the same time (or, sometimes, a way to discuss an individual photograph's ability to show detailed dark areas and detailed bright areas at the same time). Because your sensor's pixels can only collect so much light, it is possible to lose detail at one or the other end of the spectrum, particularly when you're shooting a high-contrast scene. The sensors associated with DSLRs frequently boast a better dynamic range for the simple fact that each pixel is physically larger and thus able to collect more light information. Good dynamic range generally gives you photographs with more dimensionality and pop.

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Effective pixel count

EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format)
Information like focal length, aperture, shutter speed and ISO, along with many other camera settings, is recorded automatically into photographs taken with any digital camera. EXIF data can be extracted from JPEG files, and is a valuable tool for photographers who are learning and want to understand how different settings lead to different results.


Exposure compensation
A feature that lets you adjust the camera's light metering to allow for shooting conditions. A camera's built-in light meter offers a recommended exposure to help photographers set aperture and shutter speed correctly. However, sometimes your camera's best guess isn't quite right (like when your subjects are in front of a bright picture window, and the camera exposes the surrounding scene correctly but leaves your subjects too dark). With exposure compensation, you can tell the camera to increase or decrease exposure values by increments of either 1/3 or 1/2 steps. Then, you can either adjust the exposure yourself, based on that light meter reading, or, if you're in automatic, shutter priority, or aperture priority mode, let the camera set the exposure for you.

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Face detection

Film speed
See sensitivity.

Flash exposure compensation

Focal length
Focal length is a measure of the distance (in millimeters) from the optical center of the camera's lens to the image sensor. A digital camera’s focal length is measured differently from that of a 35mm film camera (see crop factor), so manufacturers usually give a "35mm equivalent" focal length in their specs to provide an accurate idea of the camera’s wide-angle or telephoto capabilities. Most digital cameras have a zoom lens, which can change focal lengths. A fixed lens has only one focal length.

Focus (auto & manual)


See aperture.

Full frame image sensor
Some advanced digital SLR cameras feature an image sensor that has the same dimensions as a frame of 35mm film found on traditional film SLRs, which is much larger in physical size than sensors found in most digital cameras. All that extra surface area on these "full frame" sensors has several benefits: superior light gathering, lower noise levels, and better resolution. You can make extra-large prints of photos shot on a full-frame DSLR and still maintain high image quality. You can also crop these photos significantly without losing detail.

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A simple graph that offers an objective view of exposure by displaying brightness and darkness values for a photograph. When you know how to read it, a histogram can tell you whether you need to use exposure compensation on your next shot with greater accuracy than the preview of the last shot on your LCD screen.

Hot shoe
See accessory shoe.

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Image sensor

Two technologies used to capture digital images are CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensors. Although both types have their unique strengths and weaknesses, neither one is inherently superior to the other. You can expect high-quality digital photographs from cameras using either technology.

Image stabilization

See sensitivity.

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An image coding system that processes picture information captured by a camera's image sensor and compresses it for storage on a memory card. Most cameras offer a selection of JPEG settings to let you adjust the amount of compression in your photos— basic JPEG settings with greater compression levels let you store more pictures on any given memory card, but with reduced image quality. Fine or high quality JPEG settings with less compression give you more detailed photos, but you won't be able to store as many of them on your memory card. If you think you will be enlarging or printing your results, it's better to use a higher quality JPEG setting, but if you're just planning on uploading your photos to a social media site, basic or normal JPEG settings will work fine.

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LCD viewscreen

Lag time
Lag time refers to the pause between when you push the shutter button and when the camera actually takes a picture. With point-and-shoot cameras, this usually happens because the camera needs to set focus and adjust settings before taking the picture. One workaround is to half-depress the shutter button to autofocus the camera on your subject in advance; then you just press down the rest of the way when you're ready to take the picture.

Digital SLRs have little to no shutter lag outside of full auto mode or Live View mode, where they perform more like point-and-shoot cameras. As a result of their mirrorless design, mirrorless cameras have little lag time in Live View mode. The increased responsiveness of these two camera types is one of their main selling points over point-and-shoot models.

Lens element
Most camera lenses are actually an assembly of multiple glass lenses, or elements, arranged in groups. Each element directs light toward the image sensor in a different way so that the final image is crisp, well-exposed, and free of distortion. The front and rear lens elements are exposed to the elements, so it is important to use a cap on each end of the lens when not in use. These front and rear elements typically have a coating to minimize lens flare and aberrations.

Live view mode
Most current point-and-shoot and DSLR models offer a live view mode that allows use of the LCD to both compose and review photos and videos.


Macro mode



Digital cameras store the photos they take to some kind of memory card. A few cameras also include a small amount of built-in memory — enough to let you capture a few extra shots if your memory card fills up, but not enough for regular everyday shooting.

Memory Stick®
Originally developed by Sony, Memory Stick is a form of memory card used in digital cameras, digital camcorders, and other devices.

Mirrorless cameras
Just like DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, also known as "micro four thirds", or "compact system" cameras, feature large image sensors for beautiful pictures, and they let you swap lenses for different shooting scenarios. Their mirrorless designs allow the camera body and lenses to be smaller and more portable than DSLR bodies and lenses.

Movie mode
Most cameras let you record video in HD resolution with audio. While the movie modes on point-and-shoot cameras cannot replace the high-quality video and versatility you get from a camcorder, they can be another fun way to capture faces or events.

Today’s DSLR cameras feature advanced movie modes. Accessories like external microphones and lenses with near-silent autofocus give you audio quality that matches the high-quality video these cameras are capable of producing. Entire movies, commercials, and TV shows have been filmed with DSLRs.

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Noise reduction
When shooting darker scenes with a higher ISO setting, you’ll find that your photos appear grainy. Noise reduction is the application of one or more algorithms to a photo in order to eliminate graininess in a photo.  With effective noise reduction, you can eliminate much of the noise without losing sharpness. Most cameras have some degree of built-in noise reduction.

Some also offer a long-exposure noise reduction mode, as long-exposure shots can accentuate the problem of noise. Photography enthusiasts may choose to disable their camera's noise reduction in order to use more sophisticated, user-adjustable noise reduction software when processing their images.

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Optical zoom
The ability to magnify a subject for close-ups, by adjusting the camera's lens assembly (thus the name "optical"). Most current digital cameras include an optical zoom lens of some kind. The amount of zoom commonly varies between 3X and 20X, 3X being less range and 20X being considerably more. Although optical zoom specifications may look low compared to digital zoom specifications, remember that optical zoom is the way to go, since it won't result in image degradation. With interchangeable DSLR and mirrorless camera lenses, optical zoom refers to the level of magnification from the shortest focal length to the longest.

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Short for "picture element." A digital camera's image sensor consists of millions of pixels, each one building up a tiny charge of electricity in response to the light it detects. The more pixels an image sensor has, the higher the camera's potential resolution.

Priority modes

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RAW image format

RAW+JPEG recording

The number of pixels used to capture an image. Resolution ranges from low (640 x 480) to high (3456 x 2592 and up). High resolution makes for sharper pictures; however, high-resolution photos take up more memory than lower-res photos. Different levels of resolution are appropriate for different purposes. If you intend to make large prints of your photos, it's best to go with the highest resolution possible, while a lower resolution will work fine for sharing your photos online.

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Scene mode

SD card
A Secure Digital® (SD) card is a flash memory card used in many digital cameras, memory players, and other portable digital devices. You'll also come across SDHC and SDXC cards —  they're higher-capacity SD card formats. Be sure to check your owner's manual to confirm compatibility before buying an SDHC or SDXC card.


Digital camera manufacturers have had to create ISO settings to approximate film sensitivity. Most digital cameras use 100 as their standard ISO setting, and offer a range of other settings to mimic the effects of using film with varying speeds. Higher ISO settings can be useful in low-light shooting conditions or when faster shutter speeds are required, but they can result in an increase of visible noise, giving your pictures a somewhat grainy look.

Shutter speed
The speed at which a digital camera's shutter exposes the image sensor to light. A shutter speed of 1/60 means that the sensor is exposed to light for 1/60th of a second. Faster shutter speeds are good for "freezing" fast-moving action; slow ones allow you to intentionally blur the movement of your subject to emphasize motion, such as water traveling over a set of falls (these types of shots work best with a tripod, since the human hand cannot hold a camera steady for very long). Simple cameras may have very little shutter speed adjustment, while more sophisticated models often have between 9 and 15 shutter speeds. Many cameras also offer shutter speed priority mode.

Single-lens reflex (SLR)

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Telephoto lens

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Using a viewfinder is the traditional method of framing photos prior to shooting. Most point-and-shoot cameras have given up the viewfinder altogether; framing photos requires you to use the LCD viewscreen. Although a viewfinder doesn't provide as big an image as a viewscreen, it may be preferable when shooting outdoors in direct sunlight, which can wash out the image on a viewscreen. Using a viewfinder can also provide greater stability because you're holding your arms in closer with the camera up to your eye. Many cameras offer an optical viewfinder, just like the ones found on film cameras. A few cameras have electronic viewfinders (EVF) that use a color LCD to show what the lens sees.

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White balance
White balance is the electronic adjustment of light levels to remove unrealistic color tones or hues, so that objects that appear white in person are rendered white in your photos. This helps with accurate color retention. All digital cameras offer automatic white balance settings, and most feature additional preset levels or even custom manual settings. These settings can provide better color accuracy than the automatic settings when shooting with different light sources like incandescent, fluorescent, and daylight.

Wide-angle lens

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