Point and shoot.

Any compact non-SLR camera that does not support interchangeable lenses and which has either very simplified controls or is highly automated or both.

Such cameras are meant to be used by ordinary consumers who want to record snapshots of everyday life without having to learn about how to use a camera. They therefore offer very little if any manual control over how the image is taken.

P&S cameras typically have small direct-vision viewfinders that are not optically connected to the taking lens and thus have parallax problems at close ranges. Compact cameras of this type became very popular in the 1980s and 90s.

cf. automatic camera, direct vision camera, parallax, taking lens.

Entry last updated 2002-04-10. Term 937 of 1487.

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