But the crucialĭifference between a camera and your eye is that a camera makes a Light charging in through a lens at the front. Much like the human eye, a camera captures rays of

Moon) in rays that zoom into our eyes in perfectly straight lines. Light (like the Sun) or reflect it off their surface (like the (writing)-so photography effectively means 'writing with light.'īut that's just a metaphor. Developing and printing photographic filmĪrticles like this typically open by noting that the word photographyĬomes from two Greek words, photos (light) and graphos.Photo courtesy of NASA and Internet Archive. Older cameras had mechanical winding levers or knobs to advance the film after each shot. This one's made by Nikon and includes a motorized film-winding unit (on the left, where the photographer's finger is pressing). Photo: A typical 35mm SLR (single-lens reflex) film camera dating from the mid-1990s. Let's take a closer look at how they worked!

They can actually teach us quite a bit about chemistry, physics,Īnd the science of light.

Still use film cameras, most of us have long since abandoned them to history,Īlong with steam engines and the telegraph. Wasn't possible because cameras worked differently: they wereĮntirely analog, capturing pictures as patterns of light andĭark using chemically treated reels of plastic film, andĪ photograph took hours (or even days) to appear in your hand. Ways: you can instantly email it to a friend, upload it to a website, Of digital information you can use in all kinds of different Snap a photo with your camera, cellphone, or

Film camera viewfinder