HOW CAMERAS WORK, SETTINGS, AND MEGAPIXELS

Learning Goal

- Students will understand how cameras work

- Students will understand main camera settings

- Students will understand what megapixels are and how many are needed

SKIP/CHANGE??

All cameras function on the same basic principles. Understanding how our camera works can make us better photographers.

How Cameras Work

Camera Obscura - This photographer talks about the earliest cameras in the beginning of the video (stop at 47 sec)

Visit a Camera Obscura (stop at 2:45)

How do digital cameras work? - This short video explains how digital cameras operate (stop at 3:02)

Camera Settings

Settings - This link shows and explains some of the main camera settings we need to know. We'll talk about numbers one, three, and eight.

Megapixels

Pixel - Definition of a pixel

Megapixel - One million pixels, used to measure resolution

You can work with a partner to complete this Megapixel Debate Research activity.

After we've had our debate, we will watch this video (stop at 4:50) about how many pixels you really need. What about sensor size? We'll look at the analogy at the top of this page together.