CHAPTER 4

CAMERA
Camera – an instrument used to capture and store images and
videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or
chemically via light sensitive material such as photographic film.

Essentials Parts of a Camera

1. Light Tight Box – a box designed to keep light out and serve
as a frame to hold
other parts.

2. Lens –
designed to
collect or to focus
the reflected light
from an object to
form an image on
the film.

3. Shutter – designed to control the passage of light reaching the

sensitized material

4. Sensitized material – Refers to the film and photographic

paper that basically composed of emulsion containing Silver

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Halides suspended in gelatin and coated on a transparent or
reflective support.

5. View finder – designed to determine the field of view of the

camera or the extent of the coverage of the given lens.

Methods of Image Formation

1. Pinhole – is a small or tiny hole

which produces an image
entirely free from distortion but
its image is so dim that it is
impractically long even if the
fastest film is used. It is also not practical to enlarge the
hole for more light because the larger the hole, the more
blurred is the image.
2. Shadow method - image formed by this method is simply
the shadow of an object. The chief of application of this
method is in X-ray photography and in making
photograms.
3. Lens method – this is the best method of image formation
because it is capable of forming a sharp image even with a
large opening so it is suited for a camera.

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Lens

A transparent medium which either converge or diverge

light rays passing through it to form an image. Generally, there
are two types of lenses:

1. Convergence/positive/convex lens
This lens is always thicker at the center and thinner
at the sides. Light passing through it are bended
toward each other side of the lens meeting at a
point. It produces a real image on the opposite side
of the lens or where light is coming from. It also
capable of enlarging image.
2. Divergence/negative/concave lens
This lens is always thinner at the center and thicker
at the sides. Light passing through it are bended
away from each other as if coming from a point. It
produces a virtual image on the same side of the
lens or where light is coming from. It also capable of
reducing image.

Inherent Lens Defects or Aberrations

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 The ideal lens for forensic photography would be capable
of producing critically sharp and distortion-free image. Some
other lenses are unfit for the preparation of photographic
evidence because they have optical defects known as
aberrations. They are the following:

Spherical Aberration

Inability of the lens to

focus light passing the side of
the lens producing an image
that is sharp in the center and
blurred at the side.

Coma

Inability of the lens to focus light that travels straight or

lateral, thus making it blurred while the light reaching the lens
oblique is the one of this is transmitted
sharp.

Curvature of field

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 this is a kind of defect where the image formed by a lens
comes to a sharper focus in a curved surface than a flat surface.

Distortion

Is a defect in shape not in sharpness. It can be either be

Pincushion distortion if the diaphragm is placed behind of the
lens, straight lines near the edges tends to bend inward (curving
inward) or Barrel distortion if the diaphragm is place in front of the
lens, straight lines near the edges of the object tends to bulge
outside (curving/bulge outward).

Chromatic Aberration

Inability of the lens to focus light of varying wavelength.

The lens refracts rays of short

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wavelength more strongly than those of longer wavelength and
therefore bringing blue rays to a shorter focus than the red.

Astigmatism

Is a form of lens defects in which the horizontal and

vertical axis is not equally magnified. Inability of the lens to focus
both horizontal and vertical lines.

Flares

Condition of the lens producing multiple

images

Corrected Lens

• Meniscus Lens = lens that has no correction

• Rapid Rectilinear Lens = lens corrected of distortion
• Anastigmat Lens = correcting astigmatism
• Achromatic Lens = correcting chromatic aberration
• Apochromatic = correcting both astigmatism and
chromatic aberration
LENS CHARACTERISTICS

Focal length

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 – a fundamental characteristics of a lens is its optical
length. This will determine the size of an image of an object at a
given distance, and the area of coverage of the lens

– is the distance measured from the optical center of the

lens to film plane once the lens is focus in an infinite position.

Focal Distance –distance from the camera lens to the nearest

object.

Note: LONGER Focal Length = NARROWER angle of view

SHORTER Focal Length = WIDER angle of view

Types of Lenses According to Focal Length

1. Wide angle lens – a lens with a focal length of less than

the diagonal of its negative material. This lens will have a
wide area of coverage but produces a small image size.

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 This is usually used in taking picture indoor or inside a
small room. It is also used to get a panoramic view of a
scene.
2. Normal lens – is a lens with a focal length approximately
equal or more but not more than twice the diagonal of its
negative material. It is referred to as normal because its
coverage corresponds to nearly the coverage of the
human eye.
3. Telephoto lens – is a lens with a focal length of more than
twice the diagonal of its negative material. This lens
produces a bigger image of object at far distance but its
area of coverage is smaller.
4. Zoom lens – is a lens with variable focal length.

Lens Diaphragm

In between the lens component of a camera is a metal

diaphragm which can be expanded or constricted by moving a
turning ring on the lens mount or barrel. The size of the opening
is indicated by marking of f-numbers. Each f-number represents
the ratio of the focal length of the lens and the diameter of the

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 opening. The common series of f-numbers are 1.8, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6,
8, 11 and 22. There are
some cameras whose f-
numbers starts at 1.4 or 1.2,
or 1.1 and the lowest
numerical f-number was the
1.09 fitted on a Canon 7 camera.

These f-numbers indicate in succession decrease by one-

half in light intensity as the number increases. This means that an
aperture of f1.4 will admit twice more light than f2 and so on.
Conversely, light intensity will decrease by one-half as the
numerical value increases. This also means that f8 will admit
twice less light than f5.6.

The diaphragm serves as controller of speed, depth of field

and definitions.

1. Diaphragm as controller of speed.

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 By expanding or constricting the diaphragm, it is possible
to regulate the amount of light passing through the lens. The
diaphragm serves as a speed throttle. In the series of f-numbers,
the lowest number is the widest opening or the one the give
the most amount of light and conversely, the highest number

is the smallest opening or the one that give the least amount
of light.

2. Diaphragm as controller of depth of field

In theory, it is not possible to focus a lens in more than one
distance at the same time. In actual practice, however, in any
given lens objects that are nearer or farther then the object
focused upon will reasonably sharp.

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 Depth of field is defined as the distance between the
nearest and farthest object in apparent sharp focus when the lens

is set or focused on a given distance.

There are influencing factors of depth of field.

a. The size of the diaphragm opening.

The general rule governing this factor: The smaller

the opening, the longer is the depth of field.
Conversely, the wider is the opening, the shorter is the
depth of field.

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 The exemption to this rule is the presence or the
effect of diffraction when a small opening is used.

b. The focal
length of the lens

The
general rule
is: the
shorter the
focal length,
the wider or
longer is the depth of field and vice versa, the longer
is the focal length the shorter is the depth of field.

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 c. Hyperfocal distance

This is the nearest distance at which a lens is

focused with a given particular diaphragm opening which

will give the maximum depth of field.

3. Diaphragm as controller of definition

The term definition is the ability of the lens to form a clear

image of fine details. Not even a theoretically perfect lens would
be capable of imaging a point source of light as a geometrical
point. All practical lenses images such a point as a small blur
which changes in character with the change of lens aperture.
Decreasing the lens aperture improves definition as it removes
the small amount of haze caused by residual aberrations.

Focusing

When light passes through a convergent lens, these light

rays are bended toward each other meeting at a point which is

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the point of focus. When the subject distance to the lens is short
or near the converging point of the light rays behind the lens
increases and vice-versa. Since the light bending power of the
lens is fixed, it is necessary to adjust the lens so the point of
focus will be on the film plane.

Focusing is defined as the setting of the proper distance in

order to form a sharp image. Focusing is the main factor that will
determine the sharpness of the images on a photograph. Of
course, there are other factors to be considered, like camera
movement or motion of the subject when the photograph is
actually being taken. Through the focus is accurate, yet these
factors will blur image of the subject being photographed.

Methods of Focusing

1. Scale Bed

 Estimating the distance of the object and adjusting

the camera control based on his estimation.

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Guide number-determine the amount of light in flash unit that will
yield at a given distance

Light meter = an accessory of camera

which measures the amount of reflected
light.

Flash unit –use to compensate light for the lack of

brightness when shooting in dimly lit situations like
indoor or night scenes.

2. Ground Glass

 This is observed from the viewing system of the

camera, once the object is not in focused the object will be

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 viewed to be blurred and will turn sharp and clear once
adjusted.

3. Range finder

 a mechanism used to measure the angle of

convergence of light as seen from two apertures or
opening but viewed at the same time.

a. Coincidence otherwise known as superimposed image

focusing.

In this type of focusing a single object

will appear double once the object is not
focus, but moving the focusing adjustment
this double image will coincide or
superimposed to form a single object.

b. Split Image Focusing will show an

image in split or two parts once the object is
not in focus once the two parts of the image
has been united then the object is already
focused.

Shutter

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What is shutter?
 designed to control the time during which the light reaches
the film.
 is a device that opens to uncover the film to make an
exposure for an accurately timed intervals then close
automatically.
The different shutter speeds are:

B -for bulb or brief

1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 1000
B- “Bulb” , keeps the shutter open as long as the shutter release button
is held.
T- “Time”, keeps the shutter opens once the shutter release
button had been depressed until the shutter release button is
pressed again. It admits light inside the camera reaching on the
emulsion of film at a desire length of time until the shutter release
button had been pressed again.
The B setting is an exposure setting for more than one
second. 1 – is for one second, 2 – is for one half second, 4 – is
for one-fourth second, and all succeeding numbers are also
fractions of a second. Since except for B, and no.1, all numbers
are fractions of second, the higher the number, the faster the
shutter speed and will admit less light and the lower the number,

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the slower is the shutter speed and will admit more light. The
series of the shutter speeds will show that one shutter speed is
twice faster or slower than the next shutter speed.

Shutter Release Button when pressed, the shutter of the

camera is "released", so that it opens to capture a picture, and
then closes, allowing an exposure time as determined by the
shutter speed setting.

Shutter speed means timing and duration of opening and closing

of the shutter curtain at the back of the camera.
Shutter speed dial provide the selection of shutter
speeds, and indicates the timing of the shutter open
and closes.
Example:

1/30 will admit twice more light than 1/60

1/60 will admit less light than 1/30.

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