100-415: An eye is an organ of vision. Eye , The Eye , EYE or 3YE may also refer to: Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system . In higher organisms, the eye is a complex optical system that collects light from
200-455: A fovea area which gives acute vision. In the acute zone, the eyes are flattened and the facets larger. The flattening allows more ommatidia to receive light from a spot and therefore higher resolution. The black spot that can be seen on the compound eyes of such insects, which always seems to look directly at the observer, is called a pseudopupil . This occurs because the ommatidia which one observes "head-on" (along their optical axes ) absorb
300-452: A 120 roll, and twice that number of a 220 film. These correspond to 6x9, 6x7, 6x6, and 6x4.5 respectively (all dimensions in cm). Notable manufacturers of large format and roll film SLR cameras include Bronica , Graflex , Hasselblad , Seagull , Mamiya and Pentax . However, the most common format of SLR cameras has been 35 mm and subsequently the migration to digital SLR cameras, using almost identical sized bodies and sometimes using
400-460: A central point. The nature of these eyes means that if one were to peer into the pupil of an eye, one would see the same image that the organism would see, reflected back out. Many small organisms such as rotifers , copepods and flatworms use such organs, but these are too small to produce usable images. Some larger organisms, such as scallops , also use reflector eyes. The scallop Pecten has up to 100 millimetre-scale reflector eyes fringing
500-417: A certain range, providing the convenience of adjusting the scene capture without moving the camera or changing the lens. A prime lens, in contrast, has a fixed focal length. While less flexible, prime lenses often provide superior image quality, are typically lighter, and perform better in low light. Focus involves adjusting the lens elements to sharpen the image of the subject at various distances. The focus
600-428: A cluster of numerous ommatidia on each side of the head, organised in a way that resembles a true compound eye. The body of Ophiocoma wendtii , a type of brittle star , is covered with ommatidia, turning its whole skin into a compound eye. The same is true of many chitons . The tube feet of sea urchins contain photoreceptor proteins, which together act as a compound eye; they lack screening pigments, but can detect
700-454: A commonplace activity. The century also marked the rise of computational photography , using algorithms and AI to enhance image quality. Features like low-light and HDR photography , optical image stabilization, and depth-sensing became common in smartphone cameras. Most cameras capture light from the visible spectrum , while specialized cameras capture other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum , such as infrared . All cameras use
800-521: A critical role as it determines how much of the scene the camera can capture and how large the objects appear. Wide-angle lenses provide a broad view of the scene, while telephoto lenses capture a narrower view but magnify the objects. The focal length also influences the ease of taking clear pictures handheld, with longer lengths making it more challenging to avoid blur from small camera movements. Two primary types of lenses include zoom and prime lenses. A zoom lens allows for changing its focal length within
900-427: A factor of 1,000 or more. Ocelli , some of the simplest eyes, are found in animals such as some of the snails . They have photosensitive cells but no lens or other means of projecting an image onto those cells. They can distinguish between light and dark but no more, enabling them to avoid direct sunlight . In organisms dwelling near deep-sea vents , compound eyes are adapted to see the infra-red light produced by
1000-641: A few facets, each with a retina capable of creating an image. With each eye producing a different image, a fused, high-resolution image is produced in the brain. The mantis shrimp has the world's most complex colour vision system. It has detailed hyperspectral colour vision. Trilobites , now extinct, had unique compound eyes. Clear calcite crystals formed the lenses of their eyes. They differ in this from most other arthropods, which have soft eyes. The number of lenses in such an eye varied widely; some trilobites had only one while others had thousands of lenses per eye. In contrast to compound eyes, simple eyes have
1100-407: A focusing lens , and often an iris . Muscles around the iris change the size of the pupil , regulating the amount of light that enters the eye and reducing aberrations when there is enough light. The eyes of most cephalopods , fish , amphibians and snakes have fixed lens shapes, and focusing is achieved by telescoping the lens in a similar manner to that of a camera . The compound eyes of
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#17327932129571200-612: A high refractive index, decreasing to the edges; this decreases the focal length and thus allows a sharp image to form on the retina. This also allows a larger aperture for a given sharpness of image, allowing more light to enter the lens; and a flatter lens, reducing spherical aberration . Such a non-homogeneous lens is necessary for the focal length to drop from about 4 times the lens radius, to 2.5 radii. So-called under-focused lens eyes, found in gastropods and polychaete worms, have eyes that are intermediate between lens-less cup eyes and real camera eyes. Also box jellyfish have eyes with
1300-403: A lens focusing light from one direction on the rhabdom, while light from other directions is absorbed by the dark wall of the ommatidium . The second type is named the superposition eye. The superposition eye is divided into three types: The refracting superposition eye has a gap between the lens and the rhabdom, and no side wall. Each lens takes light at an angle to its axis and reflects it to
1400-447: A limit on the possible resolution that can be obtained (assuming that they do not function as phased arrays ). This can only be countered by increasing lens size and number. To see with a resolution comparable to our simple eyes, humans would require very large compound eyes, around 11 metres (36 ft) in radius. Compound eyes fall into two groups: apposition eyes, which form multiple inverted images, and superposition eyes, which form
1500-400: A magnifier loupe, view finder, angle finder, and focusing rail/truck. Some professional SLRs can be provided with interchangeable finders for eye-level or waist-level focusing, focusing screens , eyecup, data backs, motor-drives for film transportation or external battery packs. In photography, the single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is provided with a mirror to redirect light from the lens to
1600-399: A mechanical or electronic shutter, the latter of which is common in smartphone cameras. Electronic shutters either record data from the entire sensor simultaneously (a global shutter) or record the data line by line across the sensor (a rolling shutter). In movie cameras, a rotary shutter opens and closes in sync with the advancement of each frame of film. The duration for which the shutter
1700-451: A parabolic mirror to focus the image; it combines features of superposition and apposition eyes. Another kind of compound eye, found in males of Order Strepsiptera , employs a series of simple eyes—eyes having one opening that provides light for an entire image-forming retina. Several of these eyelets together form the strepsipteran compound eye, which is similar to the 'schizochroal' compound eyes of some trilobites . Because each eyelet
1800-420: A pit to reduce the angles of light that enters and affects the eye-spot, to allow the organism to deduce the angle of incoming light. Found in about 85% of phyla, these basic forms were probably the precursors to more advanced types of "simple eyes". They are small, comprising up to about 100 cells covering about 100 μm. The directionality can be improved by reducing the size of the aperture, by incorporating
1900-498: A reflective layer behind the receptor cells, or by filling the pit with a refractile material. Pit vipers have developed pits that function as eyes by sensing thermal infra-red radiation, in addition to their optical wavelength eyes like those of other vertebrates (see infrared sensing in snakes ). However, pit organs are fitted with receptors rather different from photoreceptors, namely a specific transient receptor potential channel (TRP channels) called TRPV1 . The main difference
2000-466: A refractive cornea: these have a negative lens, enlarging the observed image by up to 50% over the receptor cells, thus increasing their optical resolution. In the eyes of most mammals , birds , reptiles, and most other terrestrial vertebrates (along with spiders and some insect larvae) the vitreous fluid has a higher refractive index than the air. In general, the lens is not spherical. Spherical lenses produce spherical aberration. In refractive corneas,
2100-617: A resolution better than 1°. Also, superposition eyes can achieve greater sensitivity than apposition eyes , so are better suited to dark-dwelling creatures. Eyes also fall into two groups on the basis of their photoreceptor's cellular construction, with the photoreceptor cells either being ciliated (as in the vertebrates) or rhabdomeric . These two groups are not monophyletic; the Cnidaria also possess ciliated cells, and some gastropods and annelids possess both. Some organisms have photosensitive cells that do nothing but detect whether
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#17327932129572200-405: A sharp image. Ocelli (pit-type eyes of arthropods) blur the image across the whole retina, and are consequently excellent at responding to rapid changes in light intensity across the whole visual field; this fast response is further accelerated by the large nerve bundles which rush the information to the brain. Focusing the image would also cause the sun's image to be focused on a few receptors, with
2300-409: A short burst of bright light during exposure and is a commonly used artificial light source in photography. Most modern flash systems use a battery-powered high-voltage discharge through a gas-filled tube to generate bright light for a very short time (1/1,000 of a second or less). Many flash units measure the light reflected from the flash to help determine the appropriate duration of the flash. When
2400-499: A single erect image. Compound eyes are common in arthropods, annelids and some bivalved molluscs. Compound eyes in arthropods grow at their margins by the addition of new ommatidia. Apposition eyes are the most common form of eyes and are presumably the ancestral form of compound eyes. They are found in all arthropod groups, although they may have evolved more than once within this phylum. Some annelids and bivalves also have apposition eyes. They are also possessed by Limulus ,
2500-517: A single lens and focus light onto the retina to form a single image. This type of eye is common in mammals, including humans. The simplest eyes are pit eyes. They are eye-spots which may be set into a pit to reduce the angle of light that enters and affects the eye-spot, to allow the organism to deduce the angle of incoming light. Eyes enable several photo response functions that are independent of vision. In an organism that has more complex eyes, retinal photosensitive ganglion cells send signals along
2600-454: A single lens. Jumping spiders have one pair of large simple eyes with a narrow field of view , augmented by an array of smaller eyes for peripheral vision . Some insect larvae , like caterpillars , have a type of simple eye ( stemmata ) which usually provides only a rough image, but (as in sawfly larvae) can possess resolving powers of 4 degrees of arc, be polarization-sensitive, and capable of increasing its absolute sensitivity at night by
2700-429: A small display, offering a wider range of information such as live exposure previews and histograms, albeit at the cost of potential lag and higher battery consumption. Specialized viewfinder systems exist for specific applications, like subminiature cameras for spying or underwater photography . Parallax error , resulting from misalignment between the viewfinder and lens axes, can cause inaccurate representations of
2800-405: A specialized trade in the 1850s, designs and sizes were standardized. The latter half of the century witnessed the advent of dry plates and roll-film , prompting a shift towards smaller and more cost-effective cameras, epitomized by the original Kodak camera, first produced in 1888. This period also saw significant advancements in lens technology and the emergence of color photography, leading to
2900-408: A spherical lens, cornea and retina, but the vision is blurry. Heterogeneous eyes have evolved at least nine times: four or more times in gastropods , once in the copepods , once in the annelids , once in the cephalopods , and once in the chitons , which have aragonite lenses. No extant aquatic organisms possess homogeneous lenses; presumably the evolutionary pressure for a heterogeneous lens
3000-563: A surge in camera ownership. The first half of the 20th century saw continued miniaturization and the integration of new manufacturing materials. After World War I, Germany took the lead in camera development, spearheading industry consolidation and producing precision-made cameras. The industry saw significant product launches such as the Leica camera and the Contax , which were enabled by advancements in film and lens designs. Additionally, there
3100-415: A transparent humour that optimised colour filtering, blocked harmful radiation, improved the eye's refractive index , and allowed functionality outside of water. The transparent protective cells eventually split into two layers, with circulatory fluid in between that allowed wider viewing angles and greater imaging resolution, and the thickness of the transparent layer gradually increased, in most species with
Eye (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-400: Is a combination of inputs from the numerous ommatidia (individual "eye units"), which are located on a convex surface, thus pointing in slightly different directions. Compared with simple eyes, compound eyes possess a very large view angle, and can detect fast movement and, in some cases, the polarisation of light. Because the individual lenses are so small, the effects of diffraction impose
3300-412: Is a simple eye, it produces an inverted image; those images are combined in the brain to form one unified image. Because the aperture of an eyelet is larger than the facets of a compound eye, this arrangement allows vision under low light levels. Good fliers such as flies or honey bees, or prey-catching insects such as praying mantis or dragonflies , have specialised zones of ommatidia organised into
3400-475: Is adjusted through the focus ring on the lens, which moves the lens elements closer or further from the sensor. Autofocus is a feature included in many lenses, which uses a motor within the lens to adjust the focus quickly and precisely based on the lens's detection of contrast or phase differences. This feature can be enabled or disabled using switches on the lens body. Advanced lenses may include mechanical image stabilization systems that move lens elements or
3500-416: Is adjusted, the opening expands and contracts in increments called f-stops . The smaller the f-stop, the more light is allowed to enter the lens, increasing the exposure. Typically, f-stops range from f / 1.4 to f / 32 in standard increments: 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, and 32. The light entering the camera is halved with each increasing increment. The wider opening at lower f-stops narrows
3600-404: Is advantageous to have a convex eye-spot, which gathers more light than a flat or concave one. This would have led to a somewhat different evolutionary trajectory for the vertebrate eye than for other animal eyes. The thin overgrowth of transparent cells over the eye's aperture, originally formed to prevent damage to the eyespot, allowed the segregated contents of the eye chamber to specialise into
3700-462: Is an assembly of multiple optical elements, typically made from high-quality glass. Its primary function is to focus light onto a camera's film or digital sensor, thereby producing an image. This process significantly influences image quality, the overall appearance of the photo, and which parts of the scene are brought into focus. A camera lens is constructed from a series of lens elements, small pieces of glass arranged to form an image accurately on
3800-542: Is considered a key factor in this. The majority of the advancements in early eyes are believed to have taken only a few million years to develop, since the first predator to gain true imaging would have touched off an "arms race" among all species that did not flee the photopic environment. Prey animals and competing predators alike would be at a distinct disadvantage without such capabilities and would be less likely to survive and reproduce. Hence multiple eye types and subtypes developed in parallel (except those of groups, such as
3900-433: Is correctly placed. The photographer then winds the film, either manually or automatically depending on the camera, to position a blank portion of the film in the path of the light. Each time a photo is taken, the film advance mechanism moves the exposed film out of the way, bringing a new, unexposed section of film into position for the next shot. The film must be advanced after each shot to prevent double exposure — where
4000-464: Is dictated by the sensor's size and properties, necessitating storage media such as Compact Flash , Memory Sticks , and SD (Secure Digital) cards . Modern digital cameras typically feature a built-in monitor for immediate image review and adjustments. Digital images are also more readily handled and manipulated by computers, offering a significant advantage in terms of flexibility and post-processing potential over traditional film. A flash provides
4100-401: Is great enough for this stage to be quickly "outgrown". This eye creates an image that is sharp enough that motion of the eye can cause significant blurring. To minimise the effect of eye motion while the animal moves, most such eyes have stabilising eye muscles. The ocelli of insects bear a simple lens, but their focal point usually lies behind the retina; consequently, those can not form
Eye (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-410: Is little difference in refractive index between the vitreous fluid and the surrounding water. Hence creatures that have returned to the water—penguins and seals, for example—lose their highly curved cornea and return to lens-based vision. An alternative solution, borne by some divers, is to have a very strongly focusing cornea. A unique feature of most mammal eyes is the presence of eyelids which wipe
4300-487: Is measured using a built-in light meter or exposure meter. Taken through the lens (called TTL metering ), these readings are taken using a panel of light-sensitive semiconductors . They are used to calculate optimal exposure settings. These settings are typically determined automatically as the reading is used by the camera's microprocessor . The reading from the light meter is incorporated with aperture settings, exposure times, and film or sensor sensitivity to calculate
4400-400: Is open is called the shutter speed or exposure time . Typical exposure times can range from one second to 1/1,000 of a second, though longer and shorter durations are not uncommon. In the early stages of photography, exposures were often several minutes long. These long exposure times often resulted in blurry images, as a single object is recorded in multiple places across a single image for
4500-465: Is pulled across the film plane during exposure. The focal-plane shutter is typically used in single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, since covering the film (rather than blocking the light passing through the lens) allows the photographer to view the image through the lens at all times, except during the exposure itself. Covering the film also facilitates removing the lens from a loaded camera, as many SLRs have interchangeable lenses. A digital camera may use
4600-547: Is replaced by the film to make the exposure; they are suitable for static subjects only and are slow to use. The earliest cameras produced in significant numbers were plate cameras , using sensitized glass plates. Light entered a lens mounted on a lens board which was separated from the plate by extendible bellows. There were simple box cameras for glass plates but also single-lens reflex cameras with interchangeable lenses and even for color photography ( Autochrome Lumière ). Many of these cameras had controls to raise, lower, and tilt
4700-472: Is that photoreceptors are G-protein coupled receptors but TRP are ion channels . The resolution of pit eyes can be greatly improved by incorporating a material with a higher refractive index to form a lens, which may greatly reduce the blur radius encountered—hence increasing the resolution obtainable. The most basic form, seen in some gastropods and annelids, consists of a lens of one refractive index. A far sharper image can be obtained using materials with
4800-526: The Canon Pellix and others with a small periscope such as in the Corfield Periflex series. The large-format camera, taking sheet film, is a direct successor of the early plate cameras and remained in use for high-quality photography and technical, architectural, and industrial photography. There are three common types: the view camera, with its monorail and field camera variants, and
4900-442: The arthropods are composed of many simple facets which, depending on anatomical detail, may give either a single pixelated image or multiple images per eye. Each sensor has its own lens and photosensitive cell(s). Some eyes have up to 28,000 such sensors arranged hexagonally, which can give a full 360° field of vision. Compound eyes are very sensitive to motion. Some arthropods, including many Strepsiptera , have compound eyes of only
5000-440: The copepod Pontella has three. The outer has a parabolic surface, countering the effects of spherical aberration while allowing a sharp image to be formed. Another copepod, Copilia , has two lenses in each eye, arranged like those in a telescope. Such arrangements are rare and poorly understood, but represent an alternative construction. Multiple lenses are seen in some hunters such as eagles and jumping spiders, which have
5100-420: The incident light , while those to one side reflect it. There are some exceptions from the types mentioned above. Some insects have a so-called single lens compound eye, a transitional type which is something between a superposition type of the multi-lens compound eye and the single lens eye found in animals with simple eyes. Then there is the mysid shrimp, Dioptromysis paucispinosa . The shrimp has an eye of
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#17327932129575200-412: The press camera . They have extensible bellows with the lens and shutter mounted on a lens plate at the front. Backs taking roll film and later digital backs are available in addition to the standard dark slide back. These cameras have a wide range of movements allowing very close control of focus and perspective. Composition and focusing are done on view cameras by viewing a ground-glass screen which
5300-414: The retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nuclei to effect circadian adjustment and to the pretectal area to control the pupillary light reflex . Complex eyes distinguish shapes and colours . The visual fields of many organisms, especially predators, involve large areas of binocular vision for depth perception . In other organisms, particularly prey animals, eyes are located to maximise
5400-673: The United States by 2003. In contrast, the film camera industry in the UK, Western Europe, and the USA declined during this period, while manufacturing continued in the USSR, German Democratic Republic, and China, often mimicking Western designs. The 21st century witnessed the mass adoption of digital cameras and significant improvements in sensor technology. A major revolution came with the incorporation of cameras into smartphones, making photography
5500-413: The camera dates back to the 19th century and has since evolved with advancements in technology, leading to a vast array of types and models in the 21st century. Cameras function through a combination of multiple mechanical components and principles. These include exposure control, which regulates the amount of light reaching the sensor or film; the lens, which focuses the light; the viewfinder, which allows
5600-410: The camera through an aperture, an opening adjusted by overlapping plates called the aperture ring. Typically located in the lens, this opening can be widened or narrowed to alter the amount of light that strikes the film or sensor. The size of the aperture can be set manually, by rotating the lens or adjusting a dial or automatically based on readings from an internal light meter. As the aperture
5700-399: The cells of the dilator muscle. The vitreous is the transparent, colourless, gelatinous mass that fills the space between the lens of the eye and the retina lining the back of the eye. It is produced by certain retinal cells. It is of rather similar composition to the cornea, but contains very few cells (mostly phagocytes which remove unwanted cellular debris in the visual field, as well as
5800-533: The composition, lighting, and exposure of their shots, enhancing the accuracy of the final image. Viewfinders fall into two primary categories: optical and electronic. Optical viewfinders, commonly found in Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras, use a system of mirrors or prisms to reflect light from the lens to the viewfinder, providing a clear, real-time view of the scene. Electronic viewfinders, typical in mirrorless cameras, project an electronic image onto
5900-422: The degree of magnification expected of the final image. The shutter, along with the aperture, is one of two ways to control the amount of light entering the camera. The shutter determines the duration that the light-sensitive surface is exposed to light. The shutter opens, light enters the camera and exposes the film or sensor to light, and then the shutter closes. There are two types of mechanical shutters:
6000-399: The directionality of light by the shadow cast by its opaque body. The ciliary body is triangular in horizontal section and is coated by a double layer, the ciliary epithelium. The inner layer is transparent and covers the vitreous body, and is continuous from the neural tissue of the retina. The outer layer is highly pigmented, continuous with the retinal pigment epithelium, and constitutes
6100-410: The duration of the exposure. To prevent this, shorter exposure times can be used. Very short exposure times can capture fast-moving action and eliminate motion blur. However, shorter exposure times require more light to produce a properly exposed image, so shortening the exposure time is not always possible. Like aperture settings, exposure times increment in powers of two. The two settings determine
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#17327932129576200-588: The edge of its shell. It detects moving objects as they pass successive lenses. There is at least one vertebrate, the spookfish , whose eyes include reflective optics for focusing of light. Each of the two eyes of a spookfish collects light from both above and below; the light coming from above is focused by a lens, while that coming from below, by a curved mirror composed of many layers of small reflective plates made of guanine crystals . A compound eye may consist of thousands of individual photoreceptor units or ommatidia ( ommatidium , singular). The image perceived
6300-528: The evolution of the technology in the 19th century was driven by pioneers like Thomas Wedgwood , Nicéphore Niépce , and Henry Fox Talbot . First using the camera obscura for chemical experiments, they ultimately created cameras specifically for chemical photography, and later reduced the camera's size and optimized lens configurations. The introduction of the daguerreotype process in 1839 facilitated commercial camera manufacturing, with various producers contributing diverse designs. As camera manufacturing became
6400-408: The exposure value (EV), a measure of how much light is recorded during the exposure. There is a direct relationship between the exposure times and aperture settings so that if the exposure time is lengthened one step, but the aperture opening is also narrowed one step, then the amount of light that contacts the film or sensor is the same. In most modern cameras, the amount of light entering the camera
6500-422: The eye allows light to enter and project onto a light-sensitive layer of cells known as the retina . The cone cells (for colour) and the rod cells (for low-light contrasts) in the retina detect and convert light into neural signals which are transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve to produce vision. Such eyes are typically spheroid, filled with the transparent gel-like vitreous humour , possess
6600-412: The eye and spread tears across the cornea to prevent dehydration. These eyelids are also supplemented by the presence of eyelashes , multiple rows of highly innervated and sensitive hairs which grow from the eyelid margins to protect the eye from fine particles and small irritants such as insects. An alternative to a lens is to line the inside of the eye with "mirrors", and reflect the image to focus at
6700-450: The eye. Photoreception is phylogenetically very old, with various theories of phylogenesis. The common origin ( monophyly ) of all animal eyes is now widely accepted as fact. This is based upon the shared genetic features of all eyes; that is, all modern eyes, varied as they are, have their origins in a proto-eye believed to have evolved some 650-600 million years ago, and the PAX6 gene
6800-490: The field of view, such as in rabbits and horses , which have monocular vision . The first proto-eyes evolved among animals 600 million years ago about the time of the Cambrian explosion . The last common ancestor of animals possessed the biochemical toolkit necessary for vision, and more advanced eyes have evolved in 96% of animal species in six of the ~35 main phyla . In most vertebrates and some molluscs ,
6900-543: The finger pressure was released. The Asahiflex II , released by Japanese company Asahi (Pentax) in 1954, was the world's first SLR camera with an instant return mirror. In the single-lens reflex camera, the photographer sees the scene through the camera lens. This avoids the problem of parallax which occurs when the viewfinder or viewing lens is separated from the taking lens. Single-lens reflex cameras have been made in several formats including sheet film 5x7" and 4x5", roll film 220/120 taking 8,10, 12, or 16 photographs on
7000-556: The flash is attached directly to the camera—typically in a slot at the top of the camera (the flash shoe or hot shoe) or through a cable—activating the shutter on the camera triggers the flash, and the camera's internal light meter can help determine the duration of the flash. Additional flash equipment can include a light diffuser , mount and stand, reflector, soft box , trigger and cord. Accessories for cameras are mainly used for care, protection, special effects, and functions. Large format cameras use special equipment that includes
7100-481: The geometry of cephalopod and most vertebrate eyes creates the impression that the vertebrate eye evolved from an imaging cephalopod eye , but this is not the case, as the reversed roles of their respective ciliary and rhabdomeric opsin classes and different lens crystallins show. The very earliest "eyes", called eye-spots, were simple patches of photoreceptor protein in unicellular animals. In multicellular beings, multicellular eyespots evolved, physically similar to
7200-449: The horseshoe crab, and there are suggestions that other chelicerates developed their simple eyes by reduction from a compound starting point. (Some caterpillars appear to have evolved compound eyes from simple eyes in the opposite fashion.) Apposition eyes work by gathering a number of images, one from each eye, and combining them in the brain, with each eye typically contributing a single point of information. The typical apposition eye has
7300-561: The hot vents, allowing the creatures to avoid being boiled alive. There are ten different eye layouts. Eye types can be categorised into "simple eyes", with one concave photoreceptive surface, and "compound eyes", which comprise a number of individual lenses laid out on a convex surface. "Simple" does not imply a reduced level of complexity or acuity. Indeed, any eye type can be adapted for almost any behaviour or environment. The only limitations specific to eye types are that of resolution—the physics of compound eyes prevents them from achieving
7400-425: The hyalocytes of Balazs of the surface of the vitreous, which reprocess the hyaluronic acid ), no blood vessels, and 98–99% of its volume is water (as opposed to 75% in the cornea) with salts, sugars, vitrosin (a type of collagen), a network of collagen type II fibres with the mucopolysaccharide hyaluronic acid, and also a wide array of proteins in micro amounts. Amazingly, with so little solid matter, it tautly holds
7500-438: The image sensor itself to counteract camera shake, especially beneficial in low-light conditions or at slow shutter speeds. Lens hoods, filters, and caps are accessories used alongside a lens to enhance image quality, protect the lens, or achieve specific effects. The camera's viewfinder provides a real-time approximation of what will be captured by the sensor or film. It assists photographers in aligning, focusing, and adjusting
7600-498: The introduction of the affordable Ricohflex III TLR in 1952 to the first 35mm SLR with automatic exposure, the Olympus AutoEye in 1960, new designs and features continuously emerged. Electronics became integral to camera design in the 1970s, evident in models like Polaroid's SX-70 and Canon's AE-1 . Transition to digital photography marked the late 20th century, culminating in digital camera sales surpassing film cameras in
7700-426: The late 20th and early 21st century, use electronic sensors to capture and store images. The rapid development of smartphone camera technology in the 21st century has blurred the lines between dedicated cameras and multifunctional devices, profoundly influencing how society creates, shares, and consumes visual content. Beginning with the use of the camera obscura and transitioning to complex photographic cameras,
7800-467: The leaf-type shutter and the focal-plane shutter. The leaf-type uses a circular iris diaphragm maintained under spring tension inside or just behind the lens that rapidly opens and closes when the shutter is released. More commonly, a focal-plane shutter is used. This shutter operates close to the film plane and employs metal plates or cloth curtains with an opening that passes across the light-sensitive surface. The curtains or plates have an opening that
7900-424: The lens tissue is corrected with inhomogeneous lens material (see Luneburg lens ), or with an aspheric shape. Flattening the lens has a disadvantage; the quality of vision is diminished away from the main line of focus. Thus, animals that have evolved with a wide field-of-view often have eyes that make use of an inhomogeneous lens. As mentioned above, a refractive cornea is only useful out of water. In water, there
8000-437: The light-sensitive surface. Each element is designed to reduce optical aberrations , or distortions, such as chromatic aberration (a failure of the lens to focus all colors at the same point), vignetting (darkening of image corners), and distortion (bending or warping of the image). The degree of these distortions can vary depending on the subject of the photo. The focal length of the lens, measured in millimeters, plays
8100-429: The optimal exposure. Light meters typically average the light in a scene to 18% middle gray. More advanced cameras are more nuanced in their metering—weighing the center of the frame more heavily (center-weighted metering), considering the differences in light across the image (matrix metering), or allowing the photographer to take a light reading at a specific point within the image (spot metering). A camera lens
8200-459: The parabolic superposition compound eye type, seen in arthropods such as mayflies , the parabolic surfaces of the inside of each facet focus light from a reflector to a sensor array. Long-bodied decapod crustaceans such as shrimp , prawns , crayfish and lobsters are alone in having reflecting superposition eyes, which also have a transparent gap but use corner mirrors instead of lenses. This eye type functions by refracting light, then using
8300-461: The possibility of damage under the intense light; shielding the receptors would block out some light and thus reduce their sensitivity. This fast response has led to suggestions that the ocelli of insects are used mainly in flight, because they can be used to detect sudden changes in which way is up (because light, especially UV light which is absorbed by vegetation, usually comes from above). Some marine organisms bear more than one lens; for instance
8400-407: The range of focus so the background is blurry while the foreground is in focus. This depth of field increases as the aperture closes. A narrow aperture results in a high depth of field, meaning that objects at many different distances from the camera will appear to be in focus. What is acceptably in focus is determined by the circle of confusion , the photographic technique, the equipment in use and
8500-438: The receptor patches for taste and smell. These eyespots could only sense ambient brightness: they could distinguish light and dark, but not the direction of the light source. Through gradual change, the eye-spots of species living in well-lit environments depressed into a shallow "cup" shape. The ability to slightly discriminate directional brightness was achieved by using the angle at which the light hit certain cells to identify
8600-514: The refracting superposition type, in the rear behind this in each eye there is a single large facet that is three times in diameter the others in the eye and behind this is an enlarged crystalline cone. This projects an upright image on a specialised retina. The resulting eye is a mixture of a simple eye within a compound eye. Another version is a compound eye often referred to as "pseudofaceted", as seen in Scutigera . This type of eye consists of
8700-416: The same angle on the other side. The result is an image at half the radius of the eye, which is where the tips of the rhabdoms are. This type of compound eye, for which a minimal size exists below which effective superposition cannot occur, is normally found in nocturnal insects, because it can create images up to 1000 times brighter than equivalent apposition eyes, though at the cost of reduced resolution. In
8800-408: The same basic design: light enters an enclosed box through a converging or convex lens and an image is recorded on a light-sensitive medium. A shutter mechanism controls the length of time that light enters the camera. Most cameras also have a viewfinder, which shows the scene to be recorded, along with means to adjust various combinations of focus , aperture and shutter speed . Light enters
8900-429: The same lens systems. Almost all SLR cameras use a front-surfaced mirror in the optical path to direct the light from the lens via a viewing screen and pentaprism to the eyepiece. At the time of exposure, the mirror is flipped up out of the light path before the shutter opens. Some early cameras experimented with other methods of providing through-the-lens viewing, including the use of a semi-transparent pellicle as in
9000-873: The same section of film is exposed to light twice, resulting in overlapped images. Once all frames on the film roll have been exposed, the film is rewound back into the cartridge, ready to be removed from the camera for developing. In digital cameras, sensors typically comprise Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) or Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) chips, both of which convert incoming light into electrical charges to form digital images. CCD sensors, though power-intensive, are recognized for their excellent light sensitivity and image quality. Conversely, CMOS sensors offer individual pixel readouts, leading to less power consumption and faster frame rates, with their image quality having improved significantly over time. Digital cameras convert light into electronic data that can be directly processed and stored. The volume of data generated
9100-404: The shutter is briefly opened to allow light to pass during the exposure. Loading film into a film camera is a manual process. The film, typically housed in a cartridge, is loaded into a designated slot in the camera. One end of the film strip, the film leader, is manually threaded onto a take-up spool. Once the back of the camera is closed, the film advance lever or knob is used to ensure the film
9200-404: The source. The pit deepened over time, the opening diminished in size, and the number of photoreceptor cells increased, forming an effective pinhole camera that was capable of dimly distinguishing shapes. However, the ancestors of modern hagfish , thought to be the protovertebrate, were evidently pushed to very deep, dark waters, where they were less vulnerable to sighted predators, and where it
9300-402: The subject's position. While negligible with distant subjects, this error becomes prominent with closer ones. Some viewfinders incorporate parallax-compensating devices to mitigate that issue. Image capture in a camera occurs when light strikes a light-sensitive surface: photographic film or a digital sensor . Housed within the camera body, the film or sensor records the light's pattern when
9400-627: The surrounding environment, regulates its intensity through a diaphragm , focuses it through an adjustable assembly of lenses to form an image , converts this image into a set of electrical signals, and transmits these signals to the brain through neural pathways that connect the eye via the optic nerve to the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. Eyes with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, classified into compound eyes and non-compound eyes. Compound eyes are made up of multiple small visual units, and are common on insects and crustaceans . Non-compound eyes have
9500-622: The surroundings are light or dark , which is sufficient for the entrainment of circadian rhythms . These are not considered eyes because they lack enough structure to be considered an organ, and do not produce an image. Every technological method of capturing an optical image that humans commonly use occurs in nature, with the exception of zoom and Fresnel lenses . Simple eyes are rather ubiquitous, and lens-bearing eyes have evolved at least seven times in vertebrates , cephalopods , annelids , crustaceans and Cubozoa . Pit eyes, also known as stemmata , are eye-spots which may be set into
9600-476: The transparent crystallin protein. Camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor , or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film . As a pivotal technology in the fields of photography and videography, cameras have played a significant role in the progression of visual arts, media, entertainment, surveillance, and scientific research. The invention of
9700-734: The user to preview the scene; and the film or sensor, which captures the image. Several types of cameras exist, each suited to specific uses and offering unique capabilities. Single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras provide real-time, exact imaging through the lens. Large-format and medium-format cameras offer higher image resolution and are often used in professional and artistic photography. Compact cameras, known for their portability and simplicity, are popular in consumer photography. Rangefinder cameras , with separate viewing and imaging systems, were historically widely used in photojournalism. Motion picture cameras are specialized for filming cinematic content, while digital cameras , which became prevalent in
9800-469: The vertebrates, that were only forced into the photopic environment at a late stage). Eyes in various animals show adaptation to their requirements. For example, the eye of a bird of prey has much greater visual acuity than a human eye , and in some cases can detect ultraviolet radiation. The different forms of eye in, for example, vertebrates and molluscs are examples of parallel evolution , despite their distant common ancestry. Phenotypic convergence of
9900-428: The viewfinder prior to releasing the shutter for composing and focusing an image. When the shutter is released, the mirror swings up and away, allowing the exposure of the photographic medium , and instantly returns after the exposure is finished. No SLR camera before 1954 had this feature, although the mirror on some early SLR cameras was entirely operated by the force exerted on the shutter release and only returned when
10000-455: Was a marked increase in accessibility to cinematography for amateurs with Eastman Kodak's production of the first 16-mm and 8-mm reversal safety films. The World War II era saw a focus on the development of specialized aerial reconnaissance and instrument-recording equipment, even as the overall pace of non-military camera innovation slowed. In the second half of the century, Japanese manufacturers in particular advanced camera technology. From
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