<P> A digital camera or digicam is a camera that produces still, single - frame (and may produce moving, multi-frame) photographs that can be stored in digital memory, displayed on a screen and printed on physical media . Most cameras produced today are digital, and while there are still dedicated compact cameras on the market, the use of dedicated digital cameras is dwindling, as digital cameras are now incorporated into many devices ranging from mobile devices to vehicles . However, expensive, high - end, high - definition dedicated cameras are still commonly used by professionals . </P> <P> Digital and movie cameras share an optical system, typically using a lens with a variable diaphragm to focus light onto an image pickup device . The diaphragm and shutter admit the correct amount of light to the imager, just as with film but the image pickup device is electronic rather than chemical . However, unlike film cameras, digital cameras can display images on a screen immediately after being recorded, and store and delete images from memory . Many digital cameras can also record moving videos with sound . Some digital cameras can crop and stitch pictures and perform other elementary image editing . </P> <P> The history of the digital camera began with Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was thinking about how to use a mosaic photosensor to capture digital images . His 1961 idea was to take pictures of the planets and stars while travelling through space to give information about the astronauts' position . As with Texas Instruments employee Willis Adcock's filmless camera (US patent 4,057,830) in 1972, the technology had yet to catch up with the concept . </P>

Where does a digital camera store its pictures