Compact camera

A point-and-shoot camera, also called a compact camera, is a still camera designed primarily for simple operation. Most use focus free lenses or autofocus for focusing, automatic systems for setting the exposure options, and have flash units built in.

Point-and-shoots are by far the best selling type of separate camera, as distinct from camera phones. They are popular with people who do not consider themselves photographers but want easy-to-use cameras for snapshots of vacations, parties, reunions and other events. Point-and-shoot camera sales declined after about 2010 as smartphones overtook them in such uses.

Many superzoom compact cameras have optical zoom up to 30x and weigh less than 300 grams, much less than bridge cameras and DSLRs. Most of these compact cameras use small 1/2.3" sensors, but since 2008 a few non-interchangeable compact cameras use larger sensor such as 1" and even full frame format such as Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R. They prioritize intelligent Auto, but some high end P&S cameras have PSAM mode dial, Raw image format, and hot shoe. None have lens threads.

Point-and-shoot cameras are distinguished from single-lens reflex cameras (SLRs) in several respects: point-and-shoot film cameras, and many digital ones, use a viewfinder. The image that the photographer sees is not the same image that passes through the primary lens of the camera (that is, the lens that projects the image onto the film or, in the case of digital cameras, the image sensor). Rather, the image in the viewfinder passes through a separate lens. SLRs, on the other hand, have only one lens, and a mirror diverts the image from the lens into the viewfinder; that mirror then retracts when the picture is taken so that the image can be recorded on the film or sensor. With this mechanism, pictures cannot be previewed on the LCD screens of most digital SLRs, although some manufacturers have found a way around this limitation. Digital cameras eliminate one advantage of the SLR design, as the camera's display image comes through the lens, not a separate viewfinder. Many smaller digital point-and-shoots of the 2010s omit the optical viewfinder.

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