camera, in photography, device for recording an image of an object on a light-sensitive surface; it is essentially a light-tight box with an aperture to admit light focused onto a sensitized film or plate.
Though there are many types of cameras, all include five indispensable components: (1) the camera box, which holds and protects the sensitive film from all light except that entering through the lens; (2) film, on which the image is recorded, a light-sensitive strip usually wound on a spool, either manually or automatically, as successive pictures are taken; (3) the light control, consisting of an aperture or diaphragm and a shutter, both often adjustable; (4) the lens, which focuses the light rays from the subject onto the film, creating the image, and which is usually adjustable by moving forward or back, changing the focus; and (5) the viewing system, which may be separate from the lens system (usually above it) or may operate through it by means of a mirror.
The earliest camera was the camera obscura, which was adapted to making a permanent image by Joseph Nicéphore Niepce and Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of France in the 1820s and 1830s. Many improvements followed in the 19th century, notably flexible film, developed and printed outside the camera. In the 20th century a variety of cameras was developed for many different purposes, including aerial photography, document copying, and scientific research.