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How does a digital camera see color?

Exploring the science behind digital color exposure?

Jared Braun / Photography
6 min readAug 7, 2023
Leica SL with it’s 24mpx CMOS Sensor

A few days ago I wrote an article about how traditional 35mm film sees color, you can check out that article here.

Let’s take a quick dive into how digital camera sensors read and interpret color, exploring the intricate process that turns light into vibrant hues.

Color Capture and Interpretation: How Digital Sensors Decode Light

When light enters a digital camera, it encounters the camera’s image sensor, which plays a crucial role in capturing color information. Digital sensors are made up of millions of tiny light-sensitive elements called pixels, and each pixel corresponds to one color channel — red, green, or blue.

1. Light Filtering:
Before reaching the pixels, light passes through a color filter array placed on top of the sensor. This array is a grid of microscopically small filters that primarily let specific colors of light pass through to each pixel. The most common color filter…

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Jared Braun / Photography
Jared Braun / Photography

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