Different types of camera

A camera is a device that is used to transfer an image onto either a sheet of film or a space on a digital memory card. It does this by collecting light that is reflected off an object and then creating a copy of the image on whatever storage device the particular camera uses. There are a number of different types of camera, some of which capture still images while others focus on moving images.

A digital camera is a camera that encodes digital images and videos digitally and stores them for later reproduction. Most cameras sold today are digital, and digital cameras are incorporated into many devices ranging from mobile phones to game devices.  

A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens and with a single small aperture, a pinhole. It's effectively a light proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes trough this single point and projects an inverted image in the opposite side of the box. It's completely dark on all the other sides of the box including the side where the point is created. This part is usually black, but black out boxes are also used for this purpose. 

A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs. Most camera phones also record video. Most mobile phones now days are camera phones and are simpler than digital cameras. Their usual fixed focus lenses and smaller sensors limit their performance in poor lighting.

A film camera is a camera that exposes photographic film to light in order to take a picture. Used since the later 1800's the film used in the cameras is a thin flexible strip of plastic coated with light sensitive emulsion for exposure in camera, used to produce photographs. 

A range finder camera is similar to a view finder type camera, this camera does not use lens to view the subject but instead relies on a separate viewing system in the camera for aiming and focus. The range finder allows for some accurate focus, but by using two views of the same subject the viewer area is usually a yellowish colour. The photographer adjusts the focus rind on the lens and as they do the two images move, once they are directly on top of each other they blend together signalling that the camera is in focus. These cameras can be easily identified by their double view windows in the front.

A point and shoot camera is a viewfinder type camera with added focus abilities that make it an ideal camera for vacation and travel snapshots. These cameras will often have an infrared focus system that bounces infrared light out of the camera like a radar and determines the distance to the subject; point and shoot cameras usually have a fairly wide angle lens. This type if camera would work well for assignments that do not require using special exposure or shutter techniques as these cameras are usually fully automatic. 

An instant camera is a camera that will produce a finished print in a space of time ranging from 30 seconds to 4 minuets. The film after exposure is passed between two stainless steal rollers inside the camera. These rupture a chemical pod on the film and spread developing agent evenly over the films surface. In the original polaroid system it was necessary for the user to peel the finished print from the base material. But later a new model was made, where the polaroid instant cameras eject the developing picture from the camera, and that the film would finish developing in daylight. This process would take around 4/5 minuets.