Inside a digital camera

Last updated: September 6, 2008.

Ever wondered what's inside a digital camera? What takes the photo? Where's it stored? What makes the flash work? And how do all these bits connect together? When you take electronic gadgets apart, they're much harder to understand than ordinary machines (things that work through a clear physical mechanism): you can't always see which part does which job or how. Even so, it can be quite illuminating to peer into your favorite gadgets to see what's hiding inside. I don't recommend you try this at home: opening things up is the quickest way to invalidate your warranty; it's also a good way to ensure they'll never work again!

Photo: What's lurking inside this low-cost digital camera?

The main parts of a digital camera

I've opened up the camera in our top photo—and these are the parts I've found inside:

1. Battery compartment: This camera takes two 1.5-volt batteries, so it runs on a total voltage of 3 volts (3 V).
2. Flash capacitor: The capacitor charges up for several seconds to store enough energy to fire the flash.
3. Flash lamp: Operated by the capacitor. It takes a fair bit of energy to fire a xenon flash like this, which is why a lot of indoor flash photography quickly uses up your batteries.
4. LED: A small red LED (light-emitting diode) indicates when the self-timer is operating, so you can take photos of yourself more easily.
5. Lens: The lens catches light from the object you're photographing and focuses it on the CCD.
6. Focusing mechanism: This camera has a simple switch-operated focus that toggles the lens between two positions for taking either close-ups or distant shots.
7. CCD: This is the light-detecting microchip in a digital camera. You can't actually see the CCD in this photo, because it's directly underneath the lens. But you can see what it looks like in our article on how CCDs work.
8. USB connector: Attach a USB cable here and connect it to your computer to download the photos you've taken.
9. SD (secure digital) card slot: You can slide a flash memory card in here for storing more photos. The camera has a very small internal memory that will store photos too.
10. Processor chip: The camera's main digital "brain". This controls all the camera's functions. It's an example of an integrated circuit.
11. Wrist connector: The strap that keeps the camera securely tied to your wrist attaches here.
    
12. Top case: Simply screws on top of the bottom case shown here.

Another important part, not shown here, is the LCD display that shows you the photos you've taken. It's mounted on the back of the electronic circuit board so you can't see it in this photo.

Well packed!

Here's the same camera with its SD memory card in place. Notice how neatly everything fits inside? All the components have been carefully minimized and organized to fit into the camera's pocket-sized plastic case!