How Your Camera Works • Hacker News Board

Re: How Your Camera Works

#11

Post by martin-adams » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 10:06 PM UTC

rcthompson wrote: post #3

> Click! Your camera just turned photons into bits. Click! Your camera just made a skeuomorphic sound.

I said to a friend once that a new camera model had improved noise reduction. He thought I meant it was quieter when taking pictures, but I actually meant the image quality was clear in low light.

Re: How Your Camera Works

#12

Post by bobbles » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

Leibo32 wrote: post #10

I have been trying for years to make sense of how to use my digital camera. I usually just fumble around good article getting me going the right direction.

you should check out Tony Northrup on youtube. he does awesome guides to using certain model cameras (rather than just a review, an actual 'how to use your camera' guide)

Even if you dont have the camera in the video you learn so much about how they work

Re: How Your Camera Works

#13

Post by adamnemecek » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 10:20 PM UTC

chestervonwinch wrote: post #4

I recently started looking into computational photography. I didn't realize how much of the imaging acquisition process I was ignorant of: color theory, exposure, shutter speeds ... It's all pretty intuitive, but I feel like need to learn optics to really get it all!

There's this Stanford projects called Frankencamera [1] which is pretty jaw-dropping. They do a bunch of cool stuff but the one feature that really stood out was that you can take a photo and then focus it in post-production.

[1] https://frankencamera.wordpress.com

Re: How Your Camera Works

#14

Post by AceJohnny2 » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 12:13 AM UTC

adamnemecek wrote: post #13

chestervonwinch wrote: post #4

I recently started looking into computational photography. I didn't realize how much of the imaging acquisition process I was ignorant of: color theory, exposure, shutter speeds ... It's all pretty intuitive, but I feel like need to learn optics to really get it all!

There's this Stanford projects called Frankencamera [1] which is pretty jaw-dropping. They do a bunch of cool stuff but the one feature that really stood out was that you can take a photo and then focus it in post-production. [1] https://frankencamera.wordpress.com

Post-production focus? That sounds like Lytro, another Stanford spin-off (but based on a grid of lens): https://www.lytro.com/

Re: How Your Camera Works

#15

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 12:18 AM UTC

fennecfoxen wrote: post #7

Sharlin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My camera has a reflex mirror and a mechanical shutter.

Reflex mirror??!? Get out. Rangefinders forever, baby! http://instagram.com/p/i35NJLQAeM/

[deleted]

Re: How Your Camera Works

#16

Post by peterwwillis » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 12:26 AM UTC

Before going on a long vacation of sight-seeing I thought, I should buy a nice camera to memorialize the trip, but I don't know what to buy. Three days of research later and I figured out how the sensor type & size, shutter speed, aperture size, ISO level, and magic proprietary software combine to create a good picture in different environments. I couldn't explain it to you, but I can now find the best point-and-shoot camera for the lowest price.

I never did end up buying a camera, though.

Re: How Your Camera Works

#17

Post by adamnemecek » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 12:58 AM UTC

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #14

adamnemecek wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's this Stanford projects called Frankencamera [1] which is pretty jaw-dropping. They do a bunch of cool stuff but the one feature that really stood out was that you can take a photo and then focus it in post-production. [1] https://frankencamera.wordpress.com

Post-production focus? That sounds like Lytro, another Stanford spin-off (but based on a grid of lens): https://www.lytro.com/

interesting, thanks for the link

Re: How Your Camera Works

#18

Post by ShinyCyril » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 1:36 AM UTC

I highly recommend a read through of Barbara London's Photography book [1]. Apparently this book is still commonly used for photography classes even these days.

I have the 3rd edition which is pretty old, but all of the information is still applicable - film and digital cameras share the same basic principles.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Photography-11th-Edition-Barbara-Londo...

Re: How Your Camera Works

#19

Post by wluu » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 3:30 AM UTC

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #8

Here's a great article giving an even more indepth look at camera sensor technology: http://www.olympusmicro.com/primer/digitalimaging/cmosimages...

Though that only describes the Bayer array (which is used by most cameras except for Fujifilm and Sigma).

Fujifilm's mirrorless cameras use what they call X-Trans CMOS sensor tech - http://www.fujifilm.eu/uk/products/digital-cameras/interchan...

And Sigma uses the Foveon X3 CMOS sensor - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3_sensor

Re: How Your Camera Works

#20

Post by vedant » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 3:35 AM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #9

rcthompson wrote: post #3

> Click! Your camera just turned photons into bits. Click! Your camera just made a skeuomorphic sound.

The word you are looking for is onomatopoeia ..

Nope. Skeuomorphism is a design concept whereby things that are in some way derived from other things retain design elements that were necessary in the original but aren't in the copy. The iOS shutter sound is an audio file played out of the device speaker, whereas it was a natural byproduct of the mechanism in the system from which the iOS camera is derived---a film camera.