ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the basic function and operation of the video camera and its integral lens and mounting systems. It also discusses aesthetic considerations, including picture composition principles and basic shot types. Cameras transduce light into electrical signals through a process called scanning. Light enters a camera through the lens, which focuses it onto one or more image sensors, computer chips that transduce the light energy into a digital signal. Some cameras have a single image sensor, while others have three. Video cameras and video display devices, like the human eye, are sensitive to three attributes of color: hue, saturation, and luminance. Possibly the most crucial element in the whole process of producing video pictures is the lens. The quality of the lens, to a large extent, can determine the quality of the picture produced by a particular camera and, consequently, the quality of the picture seen on the home TV screen or studio monitor.
