Basic Parts of Digital Single Lens

Reflex (DSLR) Camera

Lens, Sensor, Shutter, View Finder
 BASIC BODY PARTS
• There are 10 basic camera parts to identify in
today’s digital world. Whether you have a
digital compact or a digital SLR, these parts
will inevitably be found on most cameras.
 LENS

• The lens is one of the most vital parts of a

camera. The light enters through the lens, and
this is where the photo process begins. Lenses
can be either fixed permanently to the body
or interchangeable. They can also vary in focal
length, aperture, and other details.
 Viewfinder

• The viewfinder can be found on all DSLRs and

some models of digital compacts. On DSLRs, it
will be the main visual source for image-
taking, but many of today’s digital compacts
have replaced the typical viewfinder with an
LCD screen.
 Body

• The body is the main portion of the camera,

and bodies can be a number of different
shapes and sizes. DSLRs tend to be larger
bodied and a bit heavier, while there are other
consumer cameras that are a conveniently
smaller size and even able to fit into a pocket.
 Camera Controls & Adjustment
• The controls on each camera will vary
depending on the model and type. Your basic
digital compacts may only have auto settings
that can be used for different environments,
while a DSLR will have numerous controls for
auto and manual shooting along with custom
settings.
Camera Controls & Adjustment

Exposure

Aperture Shutter ISO

 Shutter Release

• The shutter release button is the mechanism

that “releases” the shutter and therefore
enables the ability to capture the image. The
length of time the shutter is left open or
“exposed” is determined by the shutter speed.
 Shutter Speed
• Shutter speed is responsible for two particular things:
changing the brightness of your photo and creating dramatic
effects by either freezing action or blurring motion.
• Shutter speed exists because of the camera shutter – which
is a curtain in front of the camera sensor that stays closed
until the camera fires.
• When the camera fires, the shutter opens and fully exposes
the camera sensor to the light that has passed through your
lens. After the sensor is done collecting the light, the shutter
closes immediately, stopping the light from hitting the
sensor.
• The button that fires the camera is also called “shutter” or
“shutter button,” because it triggers the shutter to open and
close.
 What is Shutter Speed?
• Shutter speed is the length of time the camera shutter
is open, exposing light onto the camera sensor.
• When you use a long shutter speed (also known as a
“slow” shutter speed), you end up exposing your sensor
for a significant period of time. The first big effect of it
is motion blur. If your shutter speed is long, moving
subjects in your photo will appear blurred along the
direction of motion. This effect is used quite often in
advertisements of cars and motorbikes, where a sense
of speed and motion is communicated to the viewer by
intentionally blurring the moving wheels.
Motion Blur
 Slow Shutter Speed
• Slow shutter speeds are also used
to photograph the Milky Way or other objects
at night, or in dim environments with a tripod.
• Landscape photographers may intentionally
use long shutter speeds to create a sense of
motion on rivers and waterfalls while keeping
everything else completely sharp.
5 seconds- Long
shutter speed
Shutter Speed- For Freezing Effect
• Shutter speed can also be used to do just the
opposite of motion picture – freeze motion. If
you use an especially fast shutter speed, you
can eliminate motion even from fast-moving
objects, like birds in flight, or cars driving Fast.
• If you use a fast shutter speed while taking
pictures of water, each droplet will hang in the
air completely sharp, which might not even be
visible to our own eyes.
Freezing Motion- 1/1600th second (a fast
shutter speed)

In summary, quick shutter speeds freeze

action, while long ones create an effect of
motion when you photograph moving objects.
 How Shutter Speed is Measured

• Shutter speeds are typically measured in fractions

of a second when they are under a second. For
example, 1/4 means a quarter of a second, while
1/250 means one-two-hundred-and-fiftieth of a
second (or four milliseconds).
• Most modern DSLRs and mirror less cameras can
handle shutter speeds of 1/4000th of a second at
the fastest, while some can handle even quicker
speeds of 1/8000th of a second and faster. On the
other hand, the longest available shutter speed on
most DSLRs or mirror less cameras is typically 30
seconds.
 Shutter Speed and Exposure
• The other important effect of shutter speed is
on exposure, which relates to the brightness
of an image. If you use a long shutter speed,
your camera sensor gathers a lot of light, and
the resulting photo will be quite bright. By
using a quick shutter speed, your camera
sensor is only exposed to a small fraction of
light, resulting in a darker photo.
Shutter speed can be a vital tool to capture a photo of the proper brightness. On a
sunny day, you may need to use a fast shutter speed so that your photo isn’t
overexposed. Or, if it is dark out, a long shutter speed may be necessary to avoid a
photo that is too dark
 Fast, Slow and Long Shutter Speeds
FAST SHUTTER SPEED SLOW SHUTTER SPEED LONG SUTTER SPEED
A fast shutter speed is shutter speeds from Long shutter speeds are
typically whatever it takes 1/100th second to 1 typically above 1 second –
to freeze action. second are still considered at which point, you will
relatively slow. need to use a tripod to get
sharp images.
Photographing birds, that You may not be able to Use long shutter speeds for
may be 1/1000th second or handle them without certain types of low-light /
faster. introducing camera shake night photography, or to
from your hands, especially capture movement
close to the one-second intentionally.
mark.
Photography of slower- It requires tripod for better If anything in your scene is
moving subjects, you might and vibration less effects. moving when you use long
be able to take pictures at Although these kind of lens shutter speeds, it will
1/200th second, 1/100th are now available in market appear very blurry.
second, or even longer which are vibration
without introducing resistance.
motion blur.
 Blur picture
because
photographer
used 1/30
Second shutter
speed, which is
relatively slow
 How to Set Shutter Speed
• Most cameras handle shutter speeds automatically by
default. When the camera is set to “Auto” mode, the
shutter speed is selected by the camera without your
input.
• You can still set the shutter speed manually if necessary:

1. By setting the camera to “Shutter Priority” mode, you

choose the shutter speed, and the camera automatically
selects the aperture.
2. By setting the camera to “Manual” mode, you choose
both shutter speed and aperture manually.
Shutter speed
 Aperture
• Aperture can be defined as the opening in a lens through
which light passes to enter the camera. It is an easy concept to
understand if you just think about how your eyes work. As you
move between bright and dark environments, the iris in your
eyes either expands or shrinks, controlling the size of your
pupil.

• In photography, the “pupil” of your lens is called aperture. You

can shrink or enlarge the size of the aperture to allow more or
less light to reach your camera sensor. The image below shows
an aperture in a lens:
• The aperture affects the image’s exposure by
changing the diameter of the lens opening,
which controls the amount of light reaching
the image sensor.
• Some digital compacts will have a fixed
aperture lens, but most of today’s compact
cameras have at least a small aperture range.
This range will be expressed in f/stops.
This is the Aperture in the camera

It will give you sharp photos from the nearby foreground to the distant horizon.
On top of that, it also alters the exposure of your images by making them
brighter or darker.
Examples of Aperture
 How Aperture Affects Exposure

• Aperture has several effects on your photographs. One

of the most important is the brightness, or exposure, of
your images. As aperture changes in size, it alters the
overall amount of light that reaches your camera
sensor – and therefore the brightness of your image.
• A large aperture (a wide opening) will pass a lot of light,
resulting in a brighter photograph. A small aperture
does just the opposite, making a photo darker. Take a
look at the illustration below to see how it affects
exposure:
• On the other hand, a small aperture results in
a small amount of background blur, which is
typically ideal for some types of photography
such as landscape and architecture.
 F STOP
• Aperture range can expressed as a number known as “f-
number” or “f-stop”, with the letter “f” appearing before
the number, like f/8.
• Most likely, you have noticed this on your camera before.
On your LCD screen or viewfinder, your aperture will look
something like this: f/2, f/3.5, f/8, and so on. Some
cameras omit the slash and write f-stops like this: f2, f3.5,
f8, and so on. For example, the Nikon camera in next
slide.
• There is a Catch here. Small numbers represent large,
whereas large numbers represent small apertures. For
example, f/2.8 is larger than f/4 and much larger than
f/11.
F stop = f/8
How to Pick the Right Aperture?
How to Pick the Right Aperture at Night?
 Setting Aperture in Your Camera

• In camera, there are two modes which work:

aperture-priority mode manual mode.
• Aperture-priority mode is written as “A” or
“Av” on most cameras, while manual is written
as “M.”
• Usually, you can find these on the top dial of
your camera in the next slide:
Dial to set the
Mode
 ISO
• In very basic terms, ISO is simply a camera
setting that will brighten or darken a photo. As
you increase your ISO number, your photos
will grow progressively brighter. For that
reason, ISO can help you capture images in
darker environments, or be more flexible
about your aperture and shutter speed
settings.
 ‘Noise’ in ISO
• However, raising ISO has consequences. A photo
taken at too high of an ISO will show a lot of grain,
also known as noise, and might not be usable. So,
brightening a photo via ISO is always a trade-off.
• You should only raise your ISO when you are
unable to brighten the photo via shutter speed or
aperture instead (for example, if using a longer
shutter speed would cause your subject to be
blurry).
 What is the Meaning of ISO?

• The acronym ISO stands for “International

Organization for Standardization”.
• Ever since two film standards called ASA and
DIN were combined into ISO standards in 1974
(later revised for both film and digital
photography), they were referred to as one
word “ISO” from that point on. Although ISO
initially defined only film sensitivity, it was
later adopted by digital camera manufacturers
with the purpose of maintaining similar
brightness levels as film.
 Common ISO Values

Every camera has a different range of ISO values

(sometimes called ISO speeds) that you can use. A
common set is as follows:
• ISO 100 (low ISO)
• ISO 200
• ISO 400
• ISO 800
• ISO 1600
• ISO 3200
• ISO 6400 (high ISO)
 What is Base ISO?

• The lowest native ISO on your camera is your

“base ISO”.
• Most modern digital cameras have a base ISO
of 100.
 Low vs High ISO Noise Visibility

The difference is clear – the image at ISO 3200 has much more noise than the one at
ISO 200 . This is why you should avoid high ISOs whenever possible, unless
conditions require you to use them.
Perfect Use of
ISO
The bottom line
is that you should
increase the ISO
when there is not
enough light for
the camera to
capture a sharp,
bright photo any
other way.
 Memory Card (Storage)

• The memory card stores all of the image

information, and they range in size and speed
capacity. The main types of memory cards
available are CF and SD cards, and cameras
vary on which type that they require.
 Image Sensor

The image sensor converts the optical image to

an electronic signal, which is then sent to your
memory card. There are two main types of
image sensors that are used in most digital
cameras: CMOS and CCD. Both forms of the
sensor accomplish the same task, but each has a
different method of performance.
 LCD Screen (Viewfinder)

• The LCD screen is found on the back of the

body and can vary in size. On digital compact
cameras, the LCD has typically begun to
replace the viewfinder completely. On DSLRs,
the LCD is mainly for viewing photos after
shooting, but some cameras do have a “live
mode” as well.
 Flash

• The on-board flash will be available on all

cameras except some professional grade
DSLRs. It can sometimes be useful to provide a
bit of extra light during dim, low light
situations.