ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Photography Basics – Camera Parts

Updated on September 3, 2012

Welcome to the first part of the series Photography Basics.

If you just got here, check the first page, where you can find a list of all the lessons in this guide.

Here, in Photography Basics - Camera Parts, we will take a look at the different parts of a camera and see how they work. Every camera is different, so we won't be very technical about it. We will just talk about the essential parts.

We will start by the different cameras types and end up by taking a look on the parts of each camera.

Point-and-shoot cameras are enough for casual photography.
Point-and-shoot cameras are enough for casual photography. | Source

Let's first take a look at the different types of digital cameras.

Compact cameras, also called point-and-shoot, are small sized cameras designed to be portable and easy to use. They have only one lenses system, but most come with zoom and macro capacity.

Nowadays, many of these cameras come with video mode, a full touch-screen LCD and some have a variety of special photo effects.

Bridge cameras fall in between compact cameras and DSLR. They are better than point-and-shoot, but lack most of features that DSRL cameras have.

These cameras typically give you full control over ISO, aperture and shutter speed, but they still bring a fixed lenses system, usually with a super zoom feature. They also bring, like most cameras, a video recording mode.

Bridge cameras are, in my opinion, the best choice for someone who is starting photography and can't afford expensive cameras.

DSLR (Digital single-lens reflex) cameras are high-end cameras and have an interchangeable lenses system, allowing you to change the lenses according to your needs. These cameras also give you full control over its features (ISO, aperture, shutter speed, focus, etc...). Many DSLRs don't have a live view option, but they bring an optical viewfinder, which is superior to a digital viewfinder.

Although these cameras are more expensive than compact and bridge cameras, they are of much higher quality and allow you to take, with the proper equipment, any kind of photo.

A DSLR camera body and two different lenses.
A DSLR camera body and two different lenses.

Camera parts

Body
The camera body is where are located the buttons, viewfinder, LCD screen, tripod socket, computer connection slots and, in some cases, the lenses mount.

Although the body might not have any influence over the quality of your photos, is it very important that you feel comfortable when holding your camera. Some people with bigger hands and feel more comfortable with a bigger camera, while people with smaller hands might prefer small camera bodies. Bigger cameras also weight more than smaller ones.

Lenses
The lenses work has the camera eyes. It's where the light passes before reaching the camera sensor and be recorded as an image. Compact and bridge cameras usually bring a fixed lenses system while in a DSLR you have a wide variety of lenses to choose.

The most common lenses are standard, wide-angle, telephoto and macro.

Flash
A flash is a device that allows the photographer to illuminate a dark scene. Although most cameras bring a small flash unit built directly on the body, many give you the possibility of mounting an external and more powerful flash.

Memory card
This is where the photos are stored. Most cameras only allow you to use one type of card so you should take this in consideration when buying your camera.

Memory cards can differ in speed and capacity size. If you are planning to use the video feature of your digital camera a lot, I advise you to invest in a good card, since video modes usually require fast cards with large capacity.

Battery
Essential to your camera, this is what powers it. DSLR cameras usually bring long lasting batteries, but most compact don't (some use AA batteries).

For DSLR cameras you can also buy an external grip that uses lithium or AA batteries, allowing you to power your camera for much longer.

Conclusion

I hope that you could learn a bit more about the different camera types and the structure of a digital camera. Jump to the next part of this guide to learn about your camera settings and how to use them effectively.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)