Cameras may chore with the burnished of the visible spectrum or with other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A camera generally consists of an enclosed cleft with an opening (aperture) at precise end for light to enter, and a recording or viewing surface for capturing the bright at the other end. A majority of cameras have a lens positioned in end of the camera's opening to gather the incoming light and focus all or part of the image on the recording surface. The diameter of the aperture is often controlled by a diaphragm mechanism, but some cameras have a fixed-size aperture.

Wet plate cameras were little different from previous designs, though there were some Camera Bags models, such as the sophisticated Dubroni of 1864, where the sensitizing and developing of the plates could be carried out inside the camera itself rather than in a asunder darkroom. Other cameras were fitted with multiple lenses for making cartes de visite. It was during the wet plate era that the benefit of bellows for focusing became widespread.