a device for capturing a photographic image or recording a video, using film or digital memory.
(in a television transmitting apparatus) the device in which the picture to be televised is formed before it is changed into electric impulses.
adjective
Printing. camera-ready.
Idioms for camera
off camera,
out of the range of a video camera, as a television or motion picture camera: The stunt woman was waiting just off camera for her cue to enter the scene.
(of an actor) in one’s private rather than professional life: The two co-stars are best friends off camera.
on camera, being filmed or televised by a live camera: Be sure to look alert when you are on camera.
Origin of camera
1
1730–35; shortening of camera obscura; 1840-45 for def. 1; utimately <Latin camera vaulted room, vault; see camera2
We also see her physically battling Sheriff Clark, but the camera focuses on her falling to the ground.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’|Gary May|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The camera passes to each hostage in turn to allow them to plead with the Lebanese government to let them live.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda|Ruth Michaelson|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He subtly gestured toward the direction of the camera pointed at their house.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind|Brin-Jonathan Butler|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We see photographs of him with his arm around Joan Jett, two punks mugging for the camera.
‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk Paintings|Melissa Leon|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then he's quiet, while I, nonplussed, just stare until he adds, “The camera must never move.”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The majesty of the scene grew upon me as I gazed, and presently hand went to camera that some record of it might be attempted.
Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled|Hudson Stuck
If the camera is higher you look over the immediate foreground objects, touching the ground past them, which is undesirable.
The Barnet Book of Photography|Various
It wouldn't take a Sherlock Holmes to discover that I had the camera craze, would it?
Said the Observer|Louis J. Stellman
For the next week the camera was the one engrossing thought.
About Peggy Saville|Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey
I've marked a place where I can tie my camera, and fix the bait so he'll have to be in range when the flash comes.
Phil Bradley's Mountain Boys|Silas K. Boone
British Dictionary definitions for camera
camera
/ (ˈkæmərə, ˈkæmrə) /
noun
an optical device consisting of a lens system set in a light-proof construction inside which a light-sensitive film or plate can be positionedSee also cine camera, digital camera
televisionthe equipment used to convert the optical image of a scene into the corresponding electrical signals
See camera obscura
plural-erae (-əˌriː) a judge's private room
in camera
lawrelating to a hearing from which members of the public are excluded