Auto Exposure Control

Automatically senses the ambient light intensity and adjusts the aperture and shutter speed for optimum exposure or turns the flash on if required. To take a good picture, the camera must allow precisely the correct amount of light to hit the film. This quantity of light can be controlled by making the opening at the lens wider or narrower or by controlling the amount of time that the shutter remains open to allow light to pass through. Inexpensive cameras may have no adjustments at all. Many cameras control the size of the lens opening, called the diaphragm or iris. They provide a wide opening for low sensitivity films, or low light conditions, and small openings for high sensitivity films or bright light conditions.