How Do Our Eyes Sees ?

How do we see
an
How

The
IRIS
How do our
eyes work?
The images we see are made up of light reflected from the objects we look at. This
light enters the eye through the cornea. The cornea bends or refracts the rays that
pass through a round hole called the pupil. The iris, or colored portion of the eye
that surrounds the pupil, opens and closes (making the pupil bigger or smaller) to
regulate the amount of light passing through. The light rays then pass through the
lens, which actually changes shape so it can further bend the rays and focus them
on the retina at the back of the eye. Because this part (Lens, Cornea) of the eye is
curved, it bends the light, creating an upside down image on the retina(this is
eventually put the right way up by the brain).

The retina is a complex part of the eye containing a thin layer of tissue at the back
of the eye that contains millions of tiny light-sensing nerve cells
The retina, but only the very back of it is light sensitive. This part of the retina has
roughly the area of a 10p coin, and is packed with photosensitive cells called
“Rods and cones.” ,
which are named for their distinct shapes.
 Cones are the cells responsible for Daylight vision.
There are three kinds – each responding to a different wavelength of light: Red,
Green and Blue. The cones allow us to see images in color & detail. Cones are
concentrated in the center of the retina, in an area called the macula. In bright light
conditions, cones provide clear, sharp central vision and detect colors and fine
details.
In darkness, the cones do not function at all.

Rods are responsible for Night vision. They are sensitive to light but not to colour.
Rods are located outside the macula and extend all the way to the outer edge of the
retina. They provide peripheral or side vision. Rods also allow the eyes to detect
motion and help us see in dim light and at night.

These cells in the retina convert the light into electrical impulses. The optic nerve
sends these impulses to the brain where an image is produced.
And How does a
Camera work?
How does a
Camera work?
 A camera is an optical instrument that records images that can be stored directly,
transmitted to another location, or both. These images may be still photographs or
moving images such as videos or movies.

The term camera comes from the word camera obscura (Latin for "dark chamber"),
an early mechanism for projecting images. The modern camera evolved from the
camera obscura. Camera word is very similar to the Hindi word “Kamra” which also
means room or chamber. The functioning of the camera is very similar to the
functioning of the human eye.
 Functional description

A camera may work with the light of the visible spectrum or with other portions of
the electromagnetic spectrum.
A camera is an optical device which creates a single image of an object or series of
images of a scene, & records it on a storage device(S.D. Card) processed by an
electronic sensor or on a photographic film.

All cameras use the same basic design: light enters an enclosed box through a
converging lens & an image is processed on a light-sensitive medium.

A Shutter mechanism controls the length of time that light can enter the camera.

An Aperture controls the “Amount of Light” to be entered through the lens.

And ISO settings which sets the sensitivity of the sensor/film.

 Digital cameras also have a Display that can view the scene to be recorded, allow
for a desired part of the scene to be in focus, & to control the exposure so that it is
not too bright or too dim.

A data display, often a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

permits the user to view settings such as
Shutter Speed, Apperture, ISO & other settings.

New generation camera displays come with touch feature also which aids to
Focus through the display.
D
S
L
R
Typical Cross Section of Mirror & Shutter Functioning

in an SLR
A Cutaway Section of a DSLR
 Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR)

A digital single-lens reflex camera (also called a Digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital
camera combining the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera
with a digital imaging sensor, as opposed to photographic film.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a DSLR and other
digital cameras. In the reflex design, light travels through the lens, then to a mirror
that alternates to send the image to either the viewfinder or the image sensor.
The alternative would be to have a viewfinder with its own lens, hence the term
"single lens" for this design. By using only one lens, the viewfinder presents an
image that will not perceptibly differ from what is captured by the camera's sensor.

The fundamental principal of SLR type camera is the TTL (Through-The-Lens)

mechanism. TTL means that the scene is viewed, focused and metered directly
through the lens as shown in Figures.
Incoming light is reflected by a “reflex“ mirror towards pentaprism (all-glass, or a
roof-mirror type as a smaller and cheaper solution). Then prism re-directs light to
the viewfinder. As result, viewfinder shows a scene through the "eye" of the lens.
The amount of transmitted light is roughly dependent on the aperture of the lens
so the faster the lens the brighter is the viewfinder.
Mirror-Less Cameras
As the name itself says, a Mirrorless Camera is a camera which does not have a
reflex mirror or the optical viewfinder like the DSLR. It has a digital viewfinder &
display.
Due to lack of Mirror in the camera it has less weight & smaller in size. And
because of this very factor these mirrorless cameras are gaining popularity.
Even Canon has indicated that it is winding down its DSLR development, the
company announced in late 2021 that its EOS-1D X Mark III would be its last
professional DSLR model.
 Why DSLR are popular/preferable than other Formats?

Interchangeable lenses

The ability to Interchange lenses, to select the best lens for the current
photographic need & to allow the attachment of specialized lenses, is one of the
key factors in the popularity of DSLR cameras
Although this feature is not unique to the DSLR design as new Mirrorless
interchangeable lens cameras are becoming increasingly popular. All Camera
manufacturers’ Interchangeable lenses are built to fit with their specific lens mount
that is generally unique to the company. A photographer will often use lenses made
by the same manufacturer as the camera body (for example, Nikkor lenses for a
Nikon body)
 Although there are also many independent lens manufacturers, such as Sigma,
Tamron, Tokina, and Vivitar that make lenses for a variety of different lens mounts.
There are also lens adapters that allow a lens for one lens mount to be used on a
camera body with a different lens mount but with often reduced functionality.

Larger sensor sizes and better image quality

Image sensors used in DSLRs come in a range of sizes. The very largest are the ones
used in “Medium Format” cameras, typically via a "digital back”(Sensor) which can
be used as an alternative to a film back.

"Full-Frame" is the digital equivalent to a 35mm film cameras of past.

It is the same size as 35 mm film (135 film, image format 24×36 mm)
these sensors are used in DSLRs such as the Nikon D850, Df, D610, Nikon Z9/Z7
(Mirrorless) & Canon EOS-6D MkII X, 5D Mark IV, EOS R/M (Mirrorless).
 HD video capture

Since 2008, manufacturers have offered DSLRs which offer a movie mode capable
of recording high definition video. The first DSLR introduced with an HD movie
mode, the Nikon D90,
captures video at 720p24 (1280x720 resolution at 24 frames/sec).

The rapid maturation of DSLR cameras has sparked a revolution in digital

filmmaking, and the "Shot On DSLR" badge is a quickly growing phrase among
independent filmmakers. An increased number of films, documentaries, television
shows, and other productions are utilizing the quickly improving features.

Due to the affordability and convenient size of DSLRs compared to professional

movie cameras, The Avengers used five Canon EOS 5D Mark II and two Canon 7D to
shoot the scenes from various vantage angles throughout the set and reduced the
number of reshoots of complex action scenes
 Depth-of-field control
The lenses typically used on DSLRs have a wider range of apertures available to
them, ranging from as large as f/1.0 to about f/32.
Live Preview
Early DSLRs lacked the ability to show the optical viewfinder's image on the LCD
display – a feature known as Live Preview. Live preview is useful in situations
where the camera's eye-level viewfinder cannot be used, such low angle scenes.
In 2000, Olympus introduced the Olympus E-10, the first DSLR with live preview –
albeit with an atypical fixed lens design. In late 2008, some DSLRs from Canon,
Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Leica, Pentax, Samsung and Sony all provided
continuous live preview as an option.
 Wider angle of view

The angle of view of a lens depends upon its focal length and the camera's image
sensor size; a sensor smaller than 35 mm film format (36×24 mm frame) gives a
narrower angle of view for a lens of a given focal length than a camera equipped
with a full-frame (35 mm) sensor. As of 2014, only a few current DSLRs have full-
frame sensors.
The scarcity of full-frame DSLRs is partly a result of the cost of such large sensors.
Medium format size sensors, such as those used in the Mamiya ZD among others,
are even larger than full-frame (35 mm) sensors, and capable of even greater
resolution, and are correspondingly more expensive.
Most modern DSLRs uses a smaller more affordable sensor that is APS-C sized,
which is approximately 22×15 mm, slightly smaller than the size of an APS-C film
frame, or about 40% of the area of a full-frame sensor.
 CROP Factor

The impact of sensor size on field of view is referred to as the "crop factor" or
"focal length multiplier", which is a factor by which a lens focal length can be
multiplied to give the Crop-Frame equivalent focal length for a lens. Typical APS-C
sensors have crop factors of 1.5, so a lens with a focal length of 50 mm will give a
field of view equal to that of a 75 mm lens on a Crop-Frame camera.

Of course, the actual focal length of a photographic lens is fixed by its optical
construction, and does not change with the format of the sensor that is put behind
it.
The outer, red box displays what a 24×36 mm (FULL-Frame) sensor would see

And the inner, blue box displays what a 15×23 mm sensor would see.
 Types of Lenses
ZOOM LENSES vs. PRIME LENSES
A “zoom” lens is one where the photographer can vary the focal length within
a pre-defined range like 70-200mm, 24-70mm etc
whereas this cannot be changed with a
“Prime" or fixed focal length lens.
The primary advantage of a zoom lens is that it is easier to achieve a variety of
compositions or perspectives (since changing of lens for different Focal length
is not necessary). This advantage is often critical for dynamic subject matter,
such as in photojournalism and children's photography.
Keep in mind that using a zoom lens does not necessarily mean that one no
longer has to change their position; zooms just increase flexibility. If a prime
lens were used, then a change of composition would not have been possible
without cropping the image (if a tighter composition were desirable).
 Why would one intentionally restrict their options by using a prime lens? Prime
lenses existed long before zoom lenses were available, and still offer many
advantages over their more modern counterparts. When zoom lenses first arrived
on the market, one often had to be willing to sacrifice a significant amount of
optical quality. However, more recent high-end zoom lenses generally do not
produce noticeably lower image quality.
The advantages of prime lenses are in Cost, Weight, Size and Speed. An
inexpensive prime lens can generally provide as good (or better) image quality as
a high-end zoom lens.
Finally, the best prime lenses almost always offer better light-gathering ability
(larger maximum aperture) than the expensive zoom lenses — often critical for
low-light sports/theater photography, and when a shallow depth of field is
necessary.
 Focal Length
Contrary to common belief, focal length isn’t a measure of how long or short a lens
is physically, but
Focal Length is the distance in millimeters from the optical center of a lens to the
imaging sensor when the lens is focused at infinity.
 INFLUENCE OF LENS FOCAL LENGTH

The focal length of a lens determines its “Angle of view” which describes the amount of a scene
in front of the camera that a lens can take in & thus also how much the subject will be magnified
for a given photographic position.
Wide angle lenses have short focal lengths, while telephoto lenses have longer corresponding
focal length. The angle of view is measured in degrees.
For instance, a fisheye lens may offer an extremely wide 180° angle of view, meaning that it can
capture everything in front of it (and to each side).A 200mm lens, on the other hand, will offer a
much narrower angle of view of 12.3°.
The following table provides an overview of what focal lengths are required to be
considered
a wide angle or telephoto lens, in addition to their typical uses.
Please note that focal lengths listed are just rough ranges, and actual uses may
vary considerably;
many use telephoto lenses in distant landscapes to compress perspective, for
example.

Lens Focal Length Terminology Typical Photography

Less than 21 mm Extreme Wide Angle Architecture
21-35 mm Wide Angle Landscape
35-70 mm Normal Street & Documentary
70-135 mm Medium Telephoto Portraiture
135-300+ mm Telephoto Sports, Bird & Wildlife
 FOCAL LENGTH & HANDHELD PHOTOS
The focal length of a lens may also have a significant impact on how easy it is to
achieve a sharp handheld photograph. Longer focal lengths require shorter
exposure times (Shutter Speed) to minimize blurring caused by shaky hands.

A common rule of thumb for estimating how fast the exposure needs to be for a
given focal length is the one over focal length rule. This states that for a 35 mm
camera, the exposure time needs to be at least as fast as one over the focal length
in seconds. In other words, when using a 200 mm focal length on a 35 mm camera,
the exposure time needs to be at least 1/200 seconds — otherwise blurring may be
hard to avoid.
 EXPOSURE
A photograph's exposure determines how light or dark an image will appear when
it's been captured by your camera.
This is determined by 3 pillars of camera settings:
Aperture, Shutter speed & ISO (the "exposure triangle").
Mastering all the three use is an essential part of making great pictures.

The exposure can be seen by the camera’s

exposure meter which determines what the
proper exposure is.
 Aperture
Aperture is one of the three pillars of photography, the other two being ISO and
Shutter Speed. Without a doubt, it is the most talked about subject, because
aperture either adds a dimension to a photograph by blurring the background, or
magically brings everything in focus.
What is Aperture?
Simply put, aperture is an opening within a lens, through which light travels into
the camera body can be controlled. It can be compared to the Pupil of the eye.

INFLUENCE OF LENS APERTURE OR F-NUMBER

The aperture range of a lens refers to the amount that the lens can open up or
close down to
let in more or less light, respectively.
Apertures are listed in terms of f-numbers, which quantitatively describe relative
light-gathering area (depicted below).

Larger the aperture opening lower the f-numbers (often very confusing).
So f-numbers are in inverse relationship with exposure.
How Aperture Affects Depth of Field
Aperture has a direct impact on the Depth of Field, which is the area of the image
that appears sharp.
A large f-number such as f/32(smaller aperture) will bring all foreground &
background objects in focus known as “Wider Depth of Field”,
while a small f-number such as f/1.4 will isolate the foreground from the
background by making the foreground objects sharp and the background blurry
known as “Narrow Depth of Field”.
Lenses with larger apertures are also described as being "faster," because for a
given ISO speed, the shutter speed can be made faster for the same exposure.
Additionally, a smaller aperture means that objects can be in focus over a wider
range of distance, a concept also termed the depth of field.
Corresponding Impact on Other Properties:
f-Number
Light-Gathering Area Required Shutter
Depth of Field
(Aperture Size) Speed

Higher Smaller Slower Wider

Typical
LowerMaximum Apertures Larger Typical Lens Types
Faster Narrower
Fastest Available Prime Lenses
f/1.0
(for Consumer Use)
f/1.4
Fast Prime Lenses
f/2.0
Fastest Zoom Lenses
f/2.8
(for Constant Aperture)
f/4.0
Light Weight Zoom Lenses or Extreme Telephoto Primes
f/5.6
 When one is considering purchasing a lens, specifications ordinarily list the
maximum (and maybe minimum) available apertures. Lenses with a greater range
of aperture settings provide greater artistic flexibility, in terms of both exposure
options and depth of field. The maximum aperture is perhaps the most important
lens aperture specification, which is often listed on the box along with focal
length(s)

An f-number of X may also be displayed

as 1:X (instead of f/X), as shown below
for the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens (whose
box is also shown above and lists f/2.8).
Finally, some zoom lenses on digital SLR and compact digital cameras often list a
range of maximum aperture, because this may depend on how far one has zoomed
in or out. These aperture ranges therefore refer only to the range of maximum
aperture, not overall range. A range of f/3.5-4.5 would mean that the maximum
available aperture gradually changes from f/3.5 (fully zoomed out) to f/4.5 (at full
zoom). The primary benefit of having a zoom lens with a constant maximum
aperture is that exposure settings are more predictable, regardless of focal length.
 How Aperture Affects Shutter Speed
The f/stop also affects shutter speed. Using a low f/stop means more light is entering the
lens and therefore the shutter doesn't need to stay open as long to make a correct
exposure which translates into a faster shutter speed. Again, the reverse is true: using a
high f/stop means that less light is entering the lens and therefore the shutter will need to
stay open a little longer which translates into a slower shutter speed.
 Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is the second pillar of photography. Shutter speed is where the other
side of the magic happens – it is responsible for creating dramatic effects by either
freezing action or blurring motion.
What is a Camera Shutter?
Simply put, a camera shutter is a curtain in front of the camera sensor that stays
closed until the camera fires. When the camera fires, the shutter opens and fully
exposes the camera sensor to the light that passes through the lens aperture. After
the sensor is done collecting the light, the shutter closes immediately, stopping the
light from hitting the sensor. The button that fires the camera is also called
“shutter” or “shutter button”, because it triggers the shutter to open and close.
What is Shutter Speed?
Shutter speed, also known as “exposure time”, stands for the length of time a
camera shutter is open to expose light into the camera sensor.
If the shutter speed is fast, it can help to freeze action completely, as seen
in the below photo of the dolphin.
 If the shutter speed is
slow, it can create an
effect called
“Motion Blur”
where moving objects
appear blurred along the
direction of the motion.
The Motion Blur is used quite a bit in advertisements of cars and motorbikes, where a sense of
speed and motion is communicated to the viewer by intentionally blurring the moving wheels.
 How shutter speed is measured
Shutter speeds are typically measured in fractions of a second, when they are under a
second. For example 1/4 means a quarter of a second, while 1/250 means one two-
hundred-and-fiftieth of a second or four milliseconds. Most modern DSLRs can handle
shutter speeds of up to 1/4000th of a second, while some can handle much higher speeds
of 1/8000th of a second and faster. The longest shutter speed on most DSLRs is typically 30
seconds. Bulb mode hold the shutters open for as long as the shutter button kept pressed.

Fast & Slow Shutter speeds

Fast shutter speed is typically whatever it takes to freeze action. It is typically above
1/500th of a second for general photography and above 1/1000th of a second for Action
photography.
Slow shutter speed is considered to be the slowest shutter speed that you can handle
without introducing camera shake.

Nikon has VR (vibration reduction) & similarly Canon has IS (Image Stabilization)
technologies within the lens that can handle shutter speeds of up to 1/10th of a second
(depending on photographer’s technique), hand-held!
 ISO
It is challenging to take good pictures without a good understanding of how ISO
works and what it does. Camera ISO is the Third pillar of photography and every
photographer should thoroughly understand it, to get the most out of their
equipment.
What is ISO?
ISO is the level of sensitivity of the camera sensor to the available light.
The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive sensor is to the light, while a higher
ISO number increases the sensitivity of the camera sensor.
With increased sensitivity, your camera sensor can capture images in low-light
environments without having to use a flash.
But higher sensitivity comes with a cost – it adds grain or “noise” to the pictures.

NOISE is visual distortion created by the sensor’s electronic elements when they
amplify light values by becoming more sensitive towards light at higher ISO.
The difference is clear – the image on the right hand side at ISO 3200 has a lot more noise than the one on the left
at ISO 200.
Every camera has something called “Base ISO”, which is typically the lowest ISO number
of the sensor that can produce the highest image quality, without adding noise to the
picture.
On some High-End cameras such as Nikon D850, the base ISO is 50, while most DSLRs
have the base ISO of 100. So, optimally, the base ISO get the highest image quality.
 However, it is not always possible to do so, especially when working in low-light
conditions.
Typically, ISO numbers start from 100 (Base ISO) & increment in value in geometric
progression (power of two).
So, the ISO sequence is: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 and etc.
The important thing to understand, is that each step between the numbers
effectively doubles the sensitivity of the sensor. So, ISO 200 is twice more sensitive
than ISO 100, while ISO 400 is twice more sensitive than ISO 200. This makes ISO
400 four times more sensitive to light than ISO 100, and ISO 1600 sixteen times
more sensitive to light than ISO 100, so on and so forth. What does it mean when a
sensor is sixteen times more sensitive to light? It means that it needs sixteen times
less time to capture an image!
 When to use low ISO
As mentioned above, you should always try to stick to the lowest ISO (base ISO) of
your camera, which is typically ISO 100 or 200, whenever possible. When there is
plenty of light, you should always use the lowest ISO, to retain the most detail and
to have the highest image quality. There are some cases where you might want to
use low ISO in dim or dark environments – for example, if you have your camera
mounted on a tripod or sitting on a flat surface. In that case, bear in mind that your
camera will most likely need more time to capture the scene and anything that is
moving is probably going to blur.
When to increase ISO
You should increase the ISO when there is not enough light for the camera to be
able to quickly capture an image. Anytime shooting indoors without a flash, set the
ISO to a higher number to be able to freeze motion. But before increasing the ISO,
you should think if it is OK for you to introduce noise to the image.
Take a look at this picture. It is captured
at 1/2000th of a second at ISO 800. The
camera sensor only needed 1/2000th of
a second to fully capture this
photograph. Now what would have
happened if one had put ISO 100 on my
camera instead? The sensor would have
needed 8 times more time to capture
the same scene, which is 1/250th of a
second. At that speed, it would have
introduced motion blur into the picture,
because the birds were moving faster
than that. In short, it would have ruined
the picture.
 White balance
In photography White balance is the global adjustment of the Intensities of the
Colors. An important goal of this adjustment is to render specific colors –
particularly neutral colors – correctly; hence the general method is sometimes
called neutral balance, or Color balance.
White balance changes the overall mixture of colors in an image to get colors other
than neutrals to also appear correct or pleasing.
Before talking about how to control the white balance in camera we need to know
a little bit about color temperature.
Color temperature is measured in ‘Kelvins' formerly known as 'degrees kelvin’.
To get the idea, think of a piece of metal being heated in a fire.
First it gives off a reddish glow & as it gets hotter the color gets whiter and then as
it really warms up, it starts to give off a bluish glow. The photographer's color
temperature chart is a loose interpretation of the kelvin scale, the numbers are not
used in any precise manner.
5500 kelvins is what we photographers call white light and is represented by 'average
daylight', whatever that is, actually it's fairly obvious if you look at the chart below. We also
need to know that household bulbs give off an orange light and a cloudy day will appear
blue. Here's a color temperature chart covering typical light sources.
When we look at objects with our eyes, we perceive white objects as white, and
gray objects as gray, no matter what sort of light source we are viewing them by.
This is because our brain is making the conversion for us. We know that wall is
white so we don't notice that it looks yellow at night (with the room lights on). If
you really start to look you can see these color differences to some extent, but they
are not as noticeable as they are to the camera.

Modern cameras have 'automatic white balance' so why can't we just leave it all to
that? The AWB does do quite a good job but it isn't 100% accurate all the time. So
sometimes we need to be able to do a few corrections ourselves. So with that in
mind let's move on to talk about white balance.

Adjusting the white balance basically means making sure that a part of the picture
that is supposed to be a neutral color does actually contain equal amounts of red,
green and blue. As different types of light source emit different colors.
 Auto White Balance On most modern
Custom
cameras we have an
AWB (automatic white
Kelvin balance) setting,
various fixed color
Tungsten temperature settings
such as 'daylight',
Different types of Fluorescent 'tungsten',
White Balance
Presets 'Fluorescent', and
In a Camera
With their Symbols Daylight 'flash' and, on the
better cameras custom
Flash setting also is an option
to adjust White
Cloudy Balance manually in
Kelvin values..
 AWB (automatic white balance) is the default setting and the one you should use
most of the time. Daylight, shade, cloud, flash and tungsten are all fixed settings
that you can use under the appropriate lighting conditions.
Your camera’s Auto white balance setting is great for general subjects, but strong
colors can fool it. It can also be difficult to match the white balance presets to the
conditions you’re shooting in. In these situations, you can use a Preset Manual
(Nikon) or Custom white balance (Canon) setting to get color spot on.
Shoot an image of a white or grey subject (a piece of card or paper) in the same
lighting as your subject and the camera then uses the colors in this image to get the
white balance right.
Because this white balance is then fixed, this technique is only suitable for shooting
in consistent light. If the light changes, you need to go through the whole process
again.
 How to set custom white balance

Step 1: Position the card

To get the most accurate colours, position a piece of white or neutral grey card or paper so that it
is in the same lighting as your subject. For the best results, place the card where your subject will
be, and make sure that it is facing where you are going to be shooting from.
 Step 2: Shoot the card
Now fill the frame with the card and take a picture of it from the same direction as you will
be taking your main shot. The exposure of this reference image isn’t critical, as long as the
picture isn’t completely over- or under-exposed. You may need to switch to manual focus.
 Step 3: Delve into the menu
Now you need to navigate to your camera’s shooting menu and find the list of white
balance settings. To do this on a Nikon, scroll down to the white balance settings and then
select Preset Manual; on a Canon, simply select Custom White Balance from the list of
options that appears.
 Step 4: Set the white balance
Select the picture of the card to set this as the white balance reference image. On a Nikon,
press OK twice to set the white balance, while on a Canon you need to first press Set to
select the image, then go back to the white balance settings and select Custom from the list.