camera

Most general online definitions of the word “camera” will suffice for discussion on these pages.

For the explanations on this website, the picture-taking aspect of any device that can record photographs using only light from the scene is referred to by the term “camera.”

This usage applies regardless of whether that capability is built into a multipurpose device (smartphone, tablet, watch, eyeglasses) or whether recording photographs is the primary or sole function of the device.

See also “what the camera lens saw”