After the film has captured the moment, the shutter closes. This stops light from reaching the film, ending the photographic process.

A film camera is a complex system in which each component plays a key role in the photographic process. From mechanical precision to film chemistry, all elements work together to capture and preserve moments in physical form.

A 1"-type sensor must be an inch, right? It would make sense. However, as surely some of you know, a 1-inch sensor is considerably smaller than an inch. It's confusing and odd. If the name of a sensor includes a unit of measurement, why is the measurement not accurate? To overcome this confusion, we will change our naming system style guide to "Type 1 (sensor dimensions)." This will make it immediately clear what the actual sensor area is when discussing the smaller "1-inch type" image sensors found in many smartphones, drones, and compact cameras.

The shutter is used to control the amount of time light is exposed to the film or sensor. This time is called “exposure” or “shutter speed“. Keeping the shutter open for a long time allows a lot of light to hit the film, which is good for shooting in the dark.

When light falls on the film, or more precisely on the photosensitive layer of the film, it affects the silver ions, which in turn creates a latent image.

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But these are, of course, not all parts of the camera. It also has a bunch of other components that do not directly affect image acquisition, but somehow simplify this process. Such additional components include a photoflash, a rangefinder system, an electronic rewind mechanism, an exposure meter, etc.

While compact cameras with small sensors are becoming rarer, there are still many popular cameras with Type 1 image sensors, like the Sony RX100 Mark VII. Where we most often see small sensors are with new smartphones and drones. We hope the change to "Type 1 (sensor dimensions) sensor" will make it easier to understand the sensor size for these new products and help readers make more informed decisions about what they'd like to purchase. While there's no doubt that you can capture amazing images with small image sensors, sensor size does matter.

Light first passes through a lens, which acts like an eye or magnifying glass to focus the light. The light then hits the film. The film is very sensitive and “records” the light that hits it, creating an image.

But of course, this does not mean that you can open the back cover of the camera, because if you do this, the light will again fall on the film and destroy the previously taken photo. This film can only be viewed in light after the development process.

Until the moment you pressed the shutter button, the light fell on the curtains located inside the camera that protect the film from exposure.

Lenses come in a variety of styles – some help you photograph objects that are far away (like a telescope), while others are good for photographing wide landscapes or large groups of people.

It is in the camera body that the main components and parts for interacting with the camera are assembled, such as the shutter, ground glass, rewind mechanism, etc.

Is it an outright lie when manufacturers make claims like "our smartphone is the first to include a 1-inch sensor," or "our drone uses a large 1-inch image sensor?" Not exactly, but at the very least, it's misleading and confusing. For this reason, Sony Semiconductor, one of the world's premiere sensor makers, has already changed its naming system.

Knowing how does a film camera work and what is the basis of film photography is extremely important for any film photographer. This knowledge simplifies both the shooting process and helps to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of film photography.

In addition, we will tell you about the main components of a film camera and what affects the final result and what exactly in a film camera makes film photos special.

We want to help reduce the confusion and make it easier for prospective customers to understand what they're buying. Alongside DPReview, PetaPixel, Cameralabs, Gerald Undone, The Art of Photography and potentially more publications and YouTube channels, we will adopt a new naming system that better conveys the physical sensor size of what are often referred to as 1-inch type sensors. The physical size of an image sensor has a real, sometimes significant, effect on image quality. We want readers to better understand the sensor size of a product without needing to get into the weeds on the history of CRT broadcast cameras and hypothetical glass tubes.

Moving forward, we will refer to typical 1-inch type sensors as Type 1 (12.7 x 9.5mm). For even smaller image sensors, we'll refer to those in a similar format, writing out Type 1/X (approximate sensor dimensions). While we could refer to larger image sensors similarly – full-frame cameras would be Type 2.7, for example – there's no need, as those sensor formats are well-understood and sensible. Nothing is misleading about "full frame." There is possible confusion with medium-format cameras since medium-format sensors come in a couple of sizes (44 x 33mm and 53.4 x 40mm), but we always make a point to note sensor size when reviewing medium-format cameras, like the Fujifilm GFX 100S (44 x 33mm) and Phase One IQ4 150MP (53.4 x 40mm).

Because the flips the image from top to bottom and left to right, you end up with a negative image in terms of both color and space.

Think of the shutter as like curtains on a window that quickly open. This allows light to enter the camera. When the shutter opens, light begins to enter the camera to “paint” your image onto the film.

Keeping it open for a very short time helps to capture a photo of a very fast moving subject without blurring. So the shutter helps control how bright or dark the photo is and how much it freezes motion.

Light will fall on the film as long as the shutter is open. How long the shutter is open affects how much light enters the image.

The film in a camera is a special material that reacts to light and thus captures an image. This is a strip of plastic coated with a photosensitive layer.

The odd naming convention goes back to the dimensions of a hypothetical glass tube that could surround the 1-inch sensor. Live broadcasting cameras in the 1950s used cathode-ray tubes (CRT) to project an image line after line. The glass tube that surrounded a signal plate had a 1-inch diameter, although the photosensitive area of the tube was only about 0.63" in diameter – or around 16mm. The typical diagonal of a modern 1-inch type sensor is, you guessed it, 16mm (15.9mm, to be precise).

When light passes through the lens and aperture onto the film, it causes a chemical reaction in that light-sensitive layer. This reaction creates a latent (invisible) image, which can then be developed using special chemicals, turning it into a visible photo.

It's confusing. The image sensor "format" is not the same as its size. That inconsistency by itself isn't confusing – medium-format doesn't refer to the image sensor size – but it is confusing when the sensor format relies upon an inaccurate unit of measurement in its name. If you didn't know the origin of the term "1-inch type sensor," you'd reasonably conclude that a 1-inch-type sensor is an inch wide or an inch in diagonal.

After all this time, and despite using wildly different technology than CRT broadcasting cameras in the 1950s, the 1-inch nomenclature has remained. The photosensitive area in question wasn't an inch in diameter back then, and it still isn't now. Modern 1-inch sensors refer to a hypothetical CRT tube that would be an inch in diameter to theoretically fit around a 1-inch type image sensor.

When you press the camera’s shooting button, you begin the entire process. It’s like a starting signal. In the old days, the shutter release button was completely mechanical, and was directly connected to the shutter by mechanisms.

The shutter on a camera is like a shutter or door that opens and closes to allow light to enter the film or digital image sensor. When you press the button to shoot, the shutter opens and closes quickly.

Film comes in different light sensitivities, allowing photographers to choose the right type depending on the shooting conditions.

To understand how does a film camera work, we will start with the structure of a film camera and find out what parts it consists of. We will consider the structure of a film camera using the example of an average SLR camera. Here we will not go into deep detail so as not to confuse you, but we will go through the most important components of a film camera.

The aperture is used to control the amount of light that hits the film or digital sensor inside the camera. When the aperture is large (wide open aperture), a lot of light enters the camera, which is good for shooting in dark conditions. If the hole is small (narrow aperture), less light enters, which is suitable for very bright lighting.

A camera body is what we usually imagine when we hear the word “camera”. This part is essentially a lightproof box. The main function of the body is to hold all parts of the camera together, as well as protect the internal parts from moisture and accidental exposure of the film.

The aperture in a camera is like the pupil in the eye. It consists of several petals that can open or contract, thereby changing the size of the hole through which light passes. This hole is called an aperture.

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It consists of several lenses and works like a magnifying glass, helping to focus the light so that a clear image is formed on the film or digital sensor. Without a lens, the camera will not be able to properly “see” or “capture” what you want to photograph.

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In this article we will tell you about how does a film camera work from the moment you press the shutter button to the finished photograph.

Our database will be updated to reflect this change later down the road, but we will employ the new naming system from today.

Here we will describe the principle of operation of the camera at the moment when you decided to take a photo and pressed the button. We will not describe the process of inserting film into the camera and the process of pulling it out, as well as the developing process. We will devote separate articles to all these processes. Now, let’s find out how does a film camera work and how it takes photographs.