Note: This useful Camera simulator can NOT be viewed on an iPhone or iPad because those devices don't support the Flash Player.

Aperture

The Aperture function is to regulate the amount of light admitted through the lens. The larger the aperture opening, the more light comes through. How the aperture is set also affects the image depth. If the aperture is large (low aperture value) the light transmission will be height and the depth of focus short. Which means that when the aperture is small (high aperture value) the light transmission will be small and the depth of focus far. To see how this looks, you can click in the box "link aperture/shutter" and pull the aperture control. Note how the background depth of focus change.

Shutter

The camera's shutter regulates image exposure. The longer the shutter is open, the more light get through. When shooting, it is important to find the right balance between the shutter and aperture value. A short shutter mostly requires a lower aperture value. The shutter also affects the image motion blur if you shoot a subject on the move. A long shutter time results in a motion blur while a short time becomes sharper as the subject will not have time to move as much.

ISO

ISO is short for International Organization for Standardization and tells the camera's light sensitivity. In analogue cameras with film is the film's luminous display. A high ISO value makes the camera more light sensitive so you can shoot with quick/short shutter speeds in a dark environment. The disadvantage of a high ISO value is that the picture is more grainy.

Light meter

Most SLR cameras has a built-in light meter. The light meter shows how the image exposure values are set.