noun \ˈkam-rə, ˈka-mər-ə\

: a device that is used for taking photographs or for making movies, television programs, etc.

Full Definition of CAMERA

:  the treasury department of the papal curia
a :  camera obscura
b :  a device that consists of a lightproof chamber with an aperture fitted with a lens and a shutter through which the image of an object is projected onto a surface for recording (as on film) or for translation into electrical impulses (as for television broadcast)
off camera
:  while not being filmed by a television or movie camera <he's a different person off camera>
:  outside the scope of a television or movie camera <sounds of gunfire taking place off camera>
on camera
:  before a live television camera <go on camera>; also :  while being filmed by a television or movie camera <looked relaxed on camera>
:  within the scope of a television or movie camera <you can hear a dog but he never appears on camera>

Origin of CAMERA

Late Latin, room — more at chamber
First Known Use: 1712

Other Pictures (on film) Terms

daguerreotype, emulsion, fill, sepia, still, stop


noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Device for recording an image of an object on a light-sensitive surface (see photography). It is essentially a light-tight box with an opening (aperture) to admit light focused onto a sensitized film or plate. All cameras have included five crucial components: (1) the camera box, which holds and protects the sensitive film from all light except that entering through the lens; (2) film, on which the image is recorded; (3) the light control, consisting of an aperture or diaphragm and a shutter, both often adjustable; (4) the lens, which focuses the light rays from the subject onto the film, creating the image; and (5) the viewing system, which may be separate from the lens system (usually above it) or may operate through it by means of a mirror. The camera was inspired by the camera obscura—a dark enclosure with an aperture (usually provided with a lens) through which light enters to form an image of outside objects on the opposite surface—and was developed by Nicephore Niepce and L.-J.-M. Daguerre in the early 19th century. See also digital camera.


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