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Cameras are the defining tools of photography. Descended from the ancient camera obscura, all cameras share three basic traits: an aperture to focus light, an imaging media (usually film) to record the focused image, and a body to keep unfocused light away from the media. Cameras exist in an variety of forms, ranging from "single-use" disposable cameras to professional large format view cameras, while supporting media formats ranging from 19th-century glass plates to 21st-century digital media.

The most common type of camera today, 35mm cameras were invented in 1914 by Oskar Barnack. As implied by the name, these cameras use 35mm-wide film, spooled into light-tight cartridges. The 35mm format provides a balance between image clarity, camera size, and affordability that has made the format popular with professional and amateur photographers.

The Advanced Photo System (APS) is a 24mm film format developed in the 1990s by a group of five camera manufacturers responding to consumers' difficulties with conventional 35mm cameras. APS' smaller film and redesigned film cartridge allow for more compact, easier-to-load cameras with more powerful zooms, but produce a considerably smaller image than the 35mm format. While APS is experiencing considerable growth in the amateur market, its smaller negatives and limited selection of film types have discouraged many experienced photographers.

Large format cameras are manual-focus view cameras that use sheet film to produce images significantly larger than other formats. Similarly, large format cameras are the largest contemporary cameras, requiring tripods to hold them steady, and bellows to adjust focal lengths. Large format cameras are widely considered the most "old-fashioned" types of cameras, having changed relatively little over the past century.

One of the oldest formats still in widespread use, medium format cameras and film were introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1898. Medium format film is 2-3/8 inches wide. Medium format images are 56mm high, with image widths depending on the camera used.

Subminiature cameras are usually defined as any still camera that exclusively uses a single film format smaller than 16.7mm x 30.2mm, which is the size of the Advanced Photo System's (APS) IX240 film. The size of the camera is not the determining factor, though in most cases these cameras are some of the smallest ever produced. The majority of these cameras are not toys. In fact, many of them have some of the more advanced optics of their time, as well as being mechanical marvels. Many older models rival the better lenses produced today. Cameras produced fifty years ago are carried daily in the pockets of many professional photographers.