How does a digital camera work? One of the most important basics in learning basic photography from scratch lies, in part, in how a camera works internally.

Obviously, and since there are different types of digital cameras, I am going to emphasize the mirrorless and the reflex, which are the best known and currently used.

I’m not going to go into great detail with this either, but I am going to explain, quickly and easily, how a digital camera works and what parts it has.

How does a digital photo camera work?

The knowledge of this basic mechanism will allow you to acquire a series of knowledge (followed by skills) that will help you become a photographer to be able to take all those photos that you see out there and you like so much.

In other words, we are going to solve the great unknown: how does a digital camera review work?

Hey, this is all very well, but I want to learn photography and I don’t have a digital camera.

What are the parts of a camera? | Reflex and mirrorless

A digital camera has different parts:

Trigger: is the button that, when pressed, starts the mechanism to take the picture.

Lens or objective: it is the glass (in the case of many smartphone) or a set of them (in the case of interchangeable lenses) through which the light passes and is concentrated. It has many more features that I will not explain here, since it is not the objective of this post.

Diaphragm: It is made up of a number of sheets and is located inside the lens. The more open it is, the more light it lets through.

Mirror and pentaprism: it is a part that not all cameras have anymore. Although the reflexes of a lifetime do have it. From my point of view, in a few years, most cameras will not incorporate internal mirrors.

Shutter : This is a “curtain” that is in front of the sensor and when it is raised and lowered again, it allows a certain amount of light to enter and stimulates the sensor.

Sensor: is the part that is stimulated by light and creates the image.

Processor: Since we are in the digital age, it is obvious that cameras are devices that have a processor, in charge of all electronic functions. Among them, that of transmitting the information received by the sensor to the memory card, thus creating a digital photograph.

Memory card: this is where the photo is finally saved.

What is the mechanism of a digital reflex camera when taking a photo?

I am going to explain to you step by step what is the mechanism that makes a reflex photo camera work.

The light is passing through the lens and its diaphragm all the time, but without the mechanism of taking a capture being activated.

When you press the shutter, the mirror is raised and, during that time, the photograph is no longer visible in the viewfinder.

Just after the mirror is raised, the shutter opens, which is just in front of the sensor. This opens for a period of time equal to the shutter speed you have selected. Read camera comparison

During the time that the shutter is open, the light will fall on the sensor, stimulating it.

The processor is responsible for generating the photo through what the sensor has captured and creates this file on the memory card.

What is the mechanism of a digital reflex camera when it is not taking a picture?

First of all, you have to know that when you are not taking photos with a reflex camera, the light falls on the mirror all the time and it bounces it up, where the pentaprism is located, which makes the image look through.