The classical optical camera does not capture anything. It is a light sealed box, with a pinhole for a lens. As an optical system, it interacts with electromagnetic waves that go through it, that's the only 'reality' you can really care about.
What captures an image is an imaging surface; traditionally a chemical emulsion on a piece of film, now a complex array of digital sensors.
This imaging surface is of human design, it therefore images what its designers designed it to image. But don't forget that it is a sampling of reality; by definition always partial, and biased (biased to the 400~700 nm range, for starters).
What captures an image is an imaging surface; traditionally a chemical emulsion on a piece of film, now a complex array of digital sensors.
This imaging surface is of human design, it therefore images what its designers designed it to image. But don't forget that it is a sampling of reality; by definition always partial, and biased (biased to the 400~700 nm range, for starters).