camera
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
Camera is the general term for any device that captures still or moving images, from a professional DSLR to the lens built into a phone. A camcorder is a handheld electronic device designed specifically for recording video — it is larger than a phone camera and usually has a flip-out screen and a zoom lens. A webcam is a small camera that connects to a computer, used mainly for video calls and live streaming; it is typically lower in resolution than a dedicated camera. The phrase smartphone camera refers specifically to the camera module inside a mobile phone, which users rely on for everyday snapshots. If you are filming a school play, you would bring a camcorder or use your smartphone camera, but you would say 'I forgot my camera' to mean either one.
Common collocations
Nouns
- camera bag
- camera lens
- camera battery
- camera phone
- camera roll
- security camera
- digital camera
- film camera
Phrases
- point the camera at
- set up the camera
- turn the camera on/off
- check the camera
Prepositions
- on camera
- off camera
- in front of the camera
- behind the camera
Etymology
The word camera comes from the Latin camera, meaning 'a room' or 'a chamber'. It was first used in the phrase camera obscura (Latin for 'dark room'), an early optical device that projected an image onto a wall inside a dark space. By the 1800s, camera alone came to mean the box-shaped photographic device that used the same principle. Modern senses — from phone cameras to broadcast cameras — all go back to that original idea of a light-controlled chamber.