camera obscura

• manku kumfa?
  • The words mean literally "dark room", but although a darkroom is a dark room, it is not a camera obscura.
• manku kacma?

kacma = x₁ is a camera/photographic equipment recording illumination type x₂ images to media x₃

A camera obscura is a camera which, by direct optical means, displays its image rather than recording it. One translation is kacma fi zi'o.

• The lujvo for kacma fi zi'o is zilcibykacma
• jezrax:
  • We don't need to make up Lojban words to exactly match English words. A camera obscura where you walk in and the image is projected on a wall could be a kumfa kacma (room camera) or a kacma je kumfa (camera and room). The kind used by artists to help in sketching could be a drawing aid, and so on. There are many ways to say any given thing; choose one that says what you want.

Common error

Not kacma fi no da since that would be anything (such as a tree) which has nothing to record images on kacma fi noda!).

See also discussion of kacma fi noda.