Film Cameras

The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film; once developed this film can be projected as a motion picture. more...

Home
Bags, Cases & Straps
Binoculars & Telescopes
Camcorder Accessories
Camcorders
Digital Camera Accessories
Digital Cameras
Film
Film Camera Accessories
Film Cameras
35mm Point & Shoot
35mm Rangefinder
35mm SLR
APS
Cameras for Kids
Disposable
Instant Print, Polaroid
Large Format
Medium Format
Movie
Other Film Cameras
Parts & Repair
Submini, Disc, 110
Underwater
Film Processing & Darkroom
Flashes & Accessories
Lenses & Filters
Lighting & Studio Equipment
Manuals, Guides & Books
Photo Albums & Archive Items
Printers, Scanners &...
Professional Video Equipment
Projection Equipment
Stock Photography & Footage
Tripods, Monopods
Vintage
Wholesale Lots

In contrast to a still camera which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second) to give the illusion of motion. Human eyes and brain merge the separate pictures together to generate the illusion, a phenomenon called the "persistence of vision".

Technical details

Most of the optical and mechanical elements of a movie camera are present in the movie projector. The camera will not have an illumination source and will maintain its film stock in a light-tight enclosure. A camera will also have exposure control via an iris aperture located on the lens. Also, there is a rotating, sometimes mirrored shutter behind the lens, which alternately passes the light from the lens to the film, or reflects it into the viewfinder. Otherwise, the requirements for film tensioning, take-up, intermittent motion, loops, and rack positioning are almost identical. See the movie projector article for these details and for the various film formats used. The righthand side of the camera is often referred to by camera assistants as "the dumb side" because it usually lacks indicators or readouts and access to the film threading, as well as lens markings on many lens models. More recent equipment often has done much to minimize these shortcomings, although access to the film movement block by both sides is precluded by basic motor and electronic design necessities.

The standardized frame rate for commercial sound film is 24 frames per second. The standard commercial, i. e. movie theater film width is 35 millimeters, while many other film formats exist. The standard aspect ratios are 1.66, 1.85, and 2.39 (anamorphic). NTSC video (common in the U. S. and Japan) plays at 29.97 frames/s; PAL (common in most other countries) plays at 25 frames/s. These two television and video systems also have different resolutions and color encodings. Many of the technical difficulties involving film and video concern translation between the different formats. Video aspect ratios, always measured as whole numbers, are 4:3 for full screen and 16:9 for widescreen.

Multiple cameras

Multiple synchronised cameras may be used and the films then projected simultaneousy, either on a single three-image screen (Cinerama) or upon multiple screens forming a complete circle, with gaps between screens through which the projectors iluminate an opposite screen. (See Circle-Vision 360°.)

Read more at Wikipedia.org