Vidicon camera tube
A Vidicon target stores the optical image before a beam reads it as a continuously varying electrical signal.
Camera
A camera holds an optical image still long enough to record it. The objective and image plane are common; the material or device placed at that plane changes the rest of the chain.
Film camera
Exposure is accumulated directly in a photosensitive material.
Digital camera
A pixel array samples the image before electronic and numerical processing.