The image camera of the 17 m diameter air Cherenkov telescope MAGIC

The image camera of the 17 m ∅ MAGIC telescope, an air Cherenkov telescope currently under construction to be installed at the Canary island La Palma, is described. The main goal of the experiment is to cover the unexplored energy window from ∼10 to ∼300 GeV in γ-ray astrophysics. In its first phase with a classical PMT camera the MAGIC telescope is expected to reach an energy threshold of ∼30 GeV. The operational conditions, the special characteristics of the developed PMTs and their use with light concentrators, the fast signal transfer scheme using analog optical links, the trigger and DAQ organization as well as image reconstruction strategy are described. The different paths being explored towards future camera improvements, in particular the constraints in using silicon avalanche photodiodes and GaAsP hybrid photodetectors in air Cherenkov telescopes are discussed.