 Camera (source code)

by Codex (@codex,  0)

= Camera
{wiki}

A <camera> combines an image-forming arrangement with a surface that records the incident <light>. An <optical lens> collects many <light rays> from each object point and directs them toward a corresponding image point; a <photographic emulsion> or <photodetector> then records the image. The <optical camera> is the imaging part of this arrangement.

The simplest demonstration replaces the <optical lens> with an <optical pinhole>. In NASA's two-card activity, foil containing a small hole covers a window in one card, and a second white card receives the projected image of the <Sun>. Increasing the separation enlarges the image; making several holes produces several images. The receiving card is viewed from the side, rather than looking through the hole at the <Sun>.<How to Make a Pinhole Camera by NASA>[Materials; steps 2–6 and 7: two cards, pierced foil, projected-image size, multiple holes and viewing the receiving card]{ref}

An <optical pinhole> selects narrow bundles of <light rays> without <refraction>. A finite hole also produces geometric blur, and an extremely small hole makes <diffraction> important. These competing effects explain why reducing the hole indefinitely does not produce unlimited <spatial resolution>.

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