The size of the opening is set at standard increments, typically called f-stops (but also f-numbers, stop numbers, or simply steps or stops), that usually range from f/1.4 to f/32 in standard increments: 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, and 32. The diameter of the aperture can be set manually, typically by adjusting a dial on the camera body or lens, or automatically based on calculations influenced by an internal light meter. The aperture is controlled by the movements of overlapping plates or blades that rotate together or apart to shrink or expand the hole (aperture) at the center. Typically located in the lens, this opening can be widened or narrowed to control the amount of light that strikes the film. The aperture, sometimes called the diaphragm or iris, is the opening through which light enters the camera. The first permanent photograph was made in 1825 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The modern photographic camera evolved from the camera obscura. The word camera comes from camera obscura, which means 'dark chamber.' It is the Latin name of the original device for projecting an image of external reality onto a flat surface.

Similar artistic fields in the moving image camera domain are film, videography, and cinematography. Captured images may be reproduced later as a part of the process of photography, digital imaging, or photographic printing. The still image camera is the main instrument in the art of photography.

A shutter mechanism determines the amount of time the photosensitive surface is exposed to light. Lenses focus the light entering the camera, and the size of the aperture can be widened or narrowed.

Cameras have various mechanisms to control how the light falls onto the light-sensitive surface. At a basic level, cameras are sealed boxes (the camera body) with a small hole (the aperture) that allows light through to capture an image on a light-sensitive surface (usually photographic film or a digital sensor). A camera is an optical instrument that captures a visual image.

Mount and blade keep getting captured