Camera negative is what you shoot the film on - it's what all subsequent internegatives and interpositives are made from - the first generation source, the film that runs through the camera. When the film is edited then the camera negative is conformed to that edit of the film's final version. Then an answer print is created - which has all the correct color timings. Then an internegative is created and it is from that which theatrical prints are made. In the old days, they did sometimes print from the camera negative itself, which is why some films look in rougher shape - when the camera negative was left in pristine condition, then making a new internegative or scanning from that usually results in a top-notch transfer. Anything that's not the camera negative is obviously at least one generation away in quality and if the film has a lot of opticals (dissolves, fades, wipes, or fx) then you can be many, many generations away.
