The study examines and compares various interpretations of the term camera as a means of expression in the individual stages of the development of film sciences, as well as the overlap of the mentioned theoretical concepts into groundbreaking film pieces by relevant filmmakers. In addition to theoretical knowledge, based on aesthetic and philosophical concepts, it also monitors their practical crossovers into cinematographic and directorial practice. The paper examines two basic periods in which the camera phenomenon developed - the period of classical film shooting on film stock, i.e. the period of analogue production and the period of digital production, which brought new theoretical knowledge into the development of the camera phenomenon. The study seeks to position the phenomenon of the cinematographic camera, which lies at the crossroads of art and technology. The value of this concept in film theories oscillates between the recording device and the means of expression. The authors of theoretical conceptions lead a long-term ontological and semiological discourse on how to understand the phenomenon of the camera in film - whether the camera is more like a pen writing in a special language or it is to be understood as a specific writing type or style. In any case, thanks to light, its mechanical-optical-electronical equipment conveys a cut-out of reality, which is a testimony of a special form and content. Film theory poses many questions and answers some of them, thanks to the knowledge of camera significance in film production realization. The purpose of this article is to zoom into the theoretical and practical side of looking at the phenomenon of cinematographic camera.
