How Digital Camera Works

Have you ever wondered how a digital camera works? In our remotest memory, we may be able to recall how a film camera captured picture we learnt during high-school days. We know that the magic lies in films, which are covered with light sensitive grains, and can record slight changes in light. However digital cameras don't have films. After reading the following articles, I am sure you can be a physicist now!

Less technical explanations

Written by Dennis P. Curtin's, this article focuses on two of the most import tasks of a digital camera: how to capture black and white pictures (the brightness of light), and how to recognize color, through a brief and easy-to-understand way. You can also have a glimpse of the history of color photographing.

It not only tends to solve the filmless myth, but also gives you useful tips about how to adjust your camera, such as white balance setting and resolution setting, and what is happening inside of the camera when you press the shutter.

Ten key points of difference between film and digital cameras.

Digital cameras are heavy consumers of batteries. Besides most rechargeable batteries are proprietary. Refer to this website and you will have many of your questions about batteries answered.

More technical stuff

  • How Stuff Works is always a good place to go when you have questions marks on emerging technologies. The following links are part of Karim Nice and Gerald Jay Gurevich's series How Digital Cameras Work. They have done a good job in using animation and analogies to introduce the technologies used to produce a digital photo.
  1. Introduction to How Digital Cameras Work
  2. Understanding the Basics
  3. A Filmless Camera
  4. The Difference Between CCD and CMOS
  5. How the Camera Captures Color
  6. Some Technical Details and a Word About Resolution
  7. Output, Storage and Compression
  8. Controlling the Amount of Light That Reaches the Sensor
  9. Lens and Focal Length
  10. How It Works -- Summary

  • PCTechGuide. If after reading the above article, you still have questions, this article is a good supplementary reading. It's topic include: CMOS, Picture quality, Features, Operation, Memory storage, Disk storage, Connectivity, Applications, Digital Vs film Digital, and video.