Technology
How does a camera work?
A camera works by focusing light through a lens onto a sensor (or film). The lens projects the scene; the sensor measures the light's brightness and color at millions of points (pixels) and records them as a digital image.
See it in motion.
Watch a 2-minute animated lesson that shows exactly how a camera works.
Step by step
- 1A lens bends incoming light to form a focused image.
- 2The aperture and shutter control how much light enters and for how long.
- 3A digital sensor turns light into electrical signals at each pixel.
- 4Those signals are processed and saved as an image file.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a digital camera capture an image?
- A lens focuses light onto a sensor that measures brightness and color per pixel, then saves it as a digital file.
- What do aperture and shutter speed do?
- Aperture sets how wide the lens opens (light + depth of field); shutter speed sets how long the sensor is exposed.
- How is a camera like the eye?
- Both focus light through a lens onto a light-sensitive surface — a sensor in a camera, the retina in an eye.