Since the invention of the camera by Daguerre in 1839, the camera has experienced more than 180 years. Let’s go back and see how the camera has gone through these 180 years!
1. 19th century: origins of camera
When we talk about cameras, we cannot leave photography alone.
In 1825, the first photosensitive image of human beings was preserved.
Humans’ attempts at photography began in the early 19th century, but the earliest image left was in 1825, when the Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce copied a 17th-century Dutch print – The Horseman , which is the earliest photosensitive image that can be saved.
In 2002, the photo was acquired by the National Library of France for €330,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in Paris.
In 1826, Niépce took a photo of his second-floor window, which was exposed for 8 hours on a pitch-coated tin plate.
This work is considered to be the earliest photograph of human beings by many documents.
After the successful experiment of taking pictures, Niépce, Daguerre and others formed a group to continue to explore photography, but Niépce passed away in 1833, and the next task fell on Daguerre.
In 1839, Daguerre finally succeeded in trial-producing the daguerreotype camera, and the world’s first camera was born. The silver version reduces exposure time from 8 hours to 20 minutes.
Below the street scene shot by Daguerre, that is already much more beautiful than Niépce’s window photo.
In those days, exposure time was long, and being photographed was not a comfortable thing. So people invented many props to assist people in maintaining posture.
In 1850, the Daguerre camera has already begun to use the skin cavity.
2. Early Photographers
The camera set at that time was similar to a camera bag for photographers today, but if there was no horse-drawn carriage back then, don’t expect to take this out to take pictures.
Those big cameras are called large format cameras(LFC). Today very few companies still produce them for some reason. However, this way of photography has not changed much to this day.
There are two things that have to mentioned in the 19th century, because they played a big role in promoting the development of the camera.
First is the color photo film. Although color film was not invented until the 20th century, as early as 1861, James Clerk Maxwell successfully took the first color photograph.
Second thing is that Kodak company was established in 1886. Its founder George Eastman successfully developed an early film and invented their first SRL camera.
Cameras has become smaller and easier to operate. The slogan “you press the button, we do the rest” was then born.
3. 20th Century: The Heyday of Film
In the 20th century, smaller large-format cameras appeared. They became even handheld.
In 1900, the Kodak BROWNIE 1 was officially published, and photo printing shops continued their busy days until the decline of film.
The emergence of BROWNIE camera has changed photography and made photography very easy in those days. And the idea of “you press the button, we do the rest” has always been used until the eve of the digital age.
4. Master and Camera
In 1905, Picasso got a box camera with a cracked lens from a friend, and it was the pictures taken by this broken camera that inspired Picasso. He then painted the masterpiece “The Maiden of Avignon”
In 1914, KODAK 1A POCKET CAMERA was invented, the camera can finally be put in the pocket
5. Leica – the Beginning of a Legend
In 1924-1925, Leitz engineer Oscar Barnack invented the Leica camera using 35mm motion picture film. The appearance of the Leica camera has far-reaching significance for photography, and the 135 film is still the mainstream. The advent of the 35mm camera has made photography easier.
In 1928, the Rollei released its first double reflex camera.
It is very interesting that Einstein, the greatest scientist of mankind, also designed a camera with his friends once, in 1936.
After all, cameras from Leica was far to reach for ordinary people, a United States company designed the model Argus A camera with a fixed lens, which was small, beautiful, and cheap… At that time, it only sold for 12.5 US dollars, and the camera sold 30,000 units in the first week on the market, also in 1936.
Still in 1936, Ihagee Kine released Exakta 1 135 SLR, without pentaprism yet.
In 1939, the Soviet released “Спорт” 135 SLR, did not have a pentaprism either.
In 1949, CONTAX developed the first pentaprism SLR CONTAX S
6. HASSELBLAD – First to Space
In 1949, Hasselblad developed its model 1600F.
In 1969, Hasselblad’s HASSELBLAD 500 EL Lunar Surface camera followed Armstrong to the moon, which has become the first camera to space.
It’s traceable that today’s Hasselblad lunar camera pays tribute to its glorious history.
7. Ordinary People’s Camera
Thanks to the rapid development of the camera industry, on the one hand, cameras have become more professional; on the other hand, various cameras have begun to enter ordinary people’s lives in the 1960s.
Ultra-compact cameras, using 16mm film, can make the camera smaller. The small-sized films didn’t manage to be popularized, However, small CCDs have become popular later.
8. Auto Focus Explore
During this period, the film cameras were also undergoing major changes, and a large number of Auto Focus SLR cameras began to appear.
However, Canon 650D has even more significance. Because this model, now all SLR manufacturers have learned ultrasound.
Don’t underestimate this machine, the 45-point focusing system allows sports, wildlife and other subjects to finally use powerful area servo focusing to track targets.
If not limited to 135, the Polaroid sx70 sonar is the first AF SLR.
9. Origin of Digital Camera
Digital cameras start here. Although the digital camera at this time is still in the exploratory stage, the foundation has been laid.
In 1975, Kodak’s Steven J. Sasson developed the world’s first digital camera. Photos are stored on magnetic tapes and can be viewed on TV. In 2009, Steven J. Sasson was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by president Obama.
Also in 1975, Bryce Bayer invented the Bayer array, which is the mosaic filter of the sensor. This design is still being used today, and this thing will be used for a long time foreseeably.
Mr. Bayer passed away on November 13th, 2018 in Maine. Let’s remember this pioneer.
In 1981, Sony launched the Mavica, the first interchangeable lens digital camera, which was shown by Sony founder Akio Morita himself.
10. Developing of Digital Camera
In the era of digital enlightenment, many manufacturers have designed digital cameras, such as Hitachi, Toshiba, Sanyo and other digital cameras, but they have not been able to grow.
In 1990, another unusual year, Photoshop 1.0, the ancestor of today’s greatest digital image processing software Photoshop 22 (version 23), was born! All these years, Photoshop and digital camera achieved mutual improvement. Intriguingly back then, Photoshop 1.0 is a copy sold on a floppy disk.
Still in 1990, the most powerful digital camera in human history, the Hubble Telescope, went to the sky!
By the way, after Hasselblad, Nikon also went to space, especially this Nikon NASA F4 camera, this camera is different from the traditional F4, it has digital imaging equipment where the film should be put.
In 1991, Rollei introduced the original digital back, 29.25 million pixels, for $19,000
In 1992, the leaf DCB digital back was released, which is the ancestor of all digital backs.
Although everyone was looking forward to Apple’s introduction of digital cameras to revolutionize the industry, in fact, Apple asked Fuji to produce two digital cameras as an OEM as early as 1994 and 1996, but the cameras at that time were still ugly…
11. Digital SLR – a Brilliant Start
When people made earliest attempt to DSLRs, they were very clumsy back then.
Kodak has made a lot of digital SLRs with Nikon bodies, even on Nikonos. At the same time, Minolta is not idle, and engages in digital work with AGFA. However, neither of them result out positive.
In addition to Kodak, Nikon has also partnered with Fuji to launch several Fujix cameras, but not successful. Finally, Nikon and Canon understand that only self-development has a future.
12. 21st Century-The Rise of the Digital Camera
When the plane crashed into the building, Korean Chang W. Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for his Canon D2000 digital SLR.
In 2000, the Sharp J-SH04 camera phone, at that time, I am afraid that no one could think that the camera phone could compete with the small digital.
From the “civilian digital SLR” EOS 300D onwards, everyone is familiar with it, so there is no need to elaborate.
Nokia N95 – a milestone in mobile phone photography, perfect system and Zeiss lens, the camera is starting to bear the stress.
When Apple released iPhone 4, it became the device with the most uploads on Flickr immediately.
You are already aware of the development afterwards, so I won’t go into details. Today’s smart phones are built with cameras with even 100 megapixels, and they are very easy to use, which is also doomed to the decline of SLR cameras.
We reviewed the 180-year history of camera development. From Daguerre cameras to the latest digital cameras, generations of pioneers have allowed mankind to preserve the moments of history. There are too many stories in the history of nearly 200 years.
