History of the camera

The history of the camera began even before the invention of photography. Early devices called camera obscura were used to project images and inspired the development of true cameras. Over time, many new technologies appeared, including daguerreotypes, calotypes, dry plates, and film. Today, we have digital cameras and camera phones that make capturing moments easy and instant.

Camera obscura (pre-17th century)

Further information: Camera obscura

The camera obscura is an old way to see images before cameras were invented. It works by letting light pass through a tiny hole in a wall or screen, creating a flipped picture on the other side. A long time ago, around 470–391 BC, a Chinese thinker named Mozi explained how this flipping happens because light travels in straight lines.

Later, around 1550, people started using lenses in dark rooms to help draw by projecting images. By the late 1600s, small, portable camera obscura boxes were used for drawing. These early images could only be kept by tracing them by hand, since cameras that could take pictures hadn’t been made yet. The first cameras were big enough for a person to stand inside, but they got smaller over time.

Ibn al-Haytham, an Arab physicist, helped a lot by studying how light works in dark rooms with tiny holes. He was the first to explain many details about how these images form and was important for later scientists like Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler.

Early photographic camera (18th–19th centuries)

Before cameras could take photographs, people knew that some substances, like silver salts, would change color when they were in the sunlight. In 1727, a German scientist showed that this change happened because of the light, not because of heat or air. Later, a Swedish chemist found that silver chloride, a type of silver salt, would change when exposed to light and stay changed even when put in a special liquid.

The first lasting photograph was taken in 1826 by Nicéphore Niépce. He used a small wooden box camera to capture the view from his window. This photo took a very long time—8 hours—to take. Niépce worked with Louis Daguerre to improve this process. Daguerre later created a new method called the Daguerreotype, which produced very clear and sharp images.

Around the same time, William Henry Fox Talbot in England developed his own way to capture images using silver salts. He created a process called calotypes, which allowed him to make many copies of a single photograph by using a negative image. This idea of using a negative to make many prints became the basis for modern photography.

The first camera made for selling was a Daguerreotype camera built by Alphonse Giroux in 1839. It was a double-box design with a lens on the outside and a place to hold the image plate inside. Early cameras needed long exposure times, sometimes taking up to 30 minutes for one photo. Over time, cameras were improved with better lenses and faster ways to take pictures, reducing exposure times to just a few seconds.

George Eastman introduced film in the late 1800s, making cameras even simpler and more affordable for everyone. His first camera, called the Kodak, was a small box camera that came with film for 100 pictures. When the film was used up, people sent the camera back to be reloaded and processed. Film also helped start the movie industry by allowing motion pictures to be captured.

Early fixed images

The first photograph was made around 1816 by Nicéphore Niépce. He used a small camera he built himself and a special paper coated with silver chloride. This paper darkened when exposed to light, but the picture wasn’t permanent because the unchanged parts also darkened over time.

Later, in the mid-1820s, Niépce tried another method using a wooden box camera made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier. He used a substance called Bitumen of Judea, which hardened in bright areas of the image. The parts that didn’t harden were washed away, and one of these photographs still exists today. One of those photographs has survived.

Daguerreotypes and calotypes

After Louis Daguerre continued the work of his partner Niépce after his death, he created the first practical way to make pictures using light in 1837. He called this the daguerreotype. He used a special silver-coated copper sheet and treated it with iodine to make it sensitive to light. After placing it in a camera and letting light hit it, he developed the picture using mercury vapor and fixed it with salt.

Around the same time, Henry Fox Talbot developed another method called the calotype in 1840. Both of these early cameras were very simple, made from two nested boxes. The back box had a screen that could slide in and out to help focus the picture. Once focused, a special plate or paper was placed inside, and the camera was closed up until the picture was ready. These cameras used special lenses to get clear images.

Dry plates

Collodion dry plates were introduced in 1857 by Désiré van Monckhoven, but it was Richard Leach Maddox's invention of the gelatin dry plate in 1871 that changed everything. This new plate could match the quality and speed of the older wet plates. In 1878, it was found that heating the gelatin emulsion made it much more sensitive, allowing for quick snapshot photos without needing a tripod. For the first time, people could easily take pictures by hand in daylight with a small camera, leading to a boom in amateur photography and casual, candid portraits. This led to many new camera designs, including simple box cameras and even hidden "detective cameras" that looked like everyday objects.

The quick exposure times needed for these new photos also led to the creation of the mechanical shutter. Early shutters were separate accessories, but by the end of the 19th century, many cameras had built-in shutters.

Invention of photographic film

The use of photographic film began with George Eastman, who started making paper film in 1885 and later switched to celluloid. In 1888, he introduced the first Kodak, a simple box camera with a fixed lens and one shutter speed. It was affordable and came with film for 100 pictures, which needed to be sent back to the factory to be developed and reloaded. By the late 1800s, Eastman had created several camera models, including both box and folding cameras.

In 1900, Eastman introduced the Brownie, an even simpler and very inexpensive camera that made snapshot photography easy for everyone. The Brownie was very popular and sold for many years. Film also helped movie cameras become practical tools for making films. Even with these advances, plate cameras were still used for higher-quality photos and stayed popular into the 20th century. Some plate cameras were updated to hold multiple plates or use film packs.

35 mm

See also: History of 135 film

Between 1905 and 1913, several companies began using a special type of film called 35 mm for taking pictures. The first cameras that many people could buy were the Tourist Multiple in 1913 and the Simplex in 1914.

A man named Oskar Barnack, who worked at a company called Leitz, thought of using this same film for smaller, easier-to-carry cameras. He made a prototype camera around 1913, but it took many years because of World War I. After the war, Leitz started selling their first 35 mm camera, called the Leica I, in 1925. This camera became very popular and inspired other companies to make similar cameras, like the Contax in 1932.

Another big company, Kodak, joined in 1934 with a camera called the Retina I, which introduced a special film container still used today. Even though these cameras were not cheap, more affordable options like the Argus A in 1936 and the very popular Argus C3 in 1939 helped make 35 mm cameras common for many people. By 1966, 35 mm film was the most used type for cameras.

In 1936, a company in Japan called Canon started making 35 mm cameras, and after World War II, many soldiers brought these cameras back to places like the United States, helping Japanese cameras become well-known around the world.

TLRs and SLRs

See also: History of the single-lens reflex camera

The first practical reflex camera was the Franke & Heidecke Rolleiflex medium format TLR in 1928. It was small enough to become very popular, and the medium-format TLR design was used in many cameras.

A big change in SLR cameras started in 1933 with the Ihagee Exakta, a small SLR that used rollfilm. Later, in 1936, came the first Western SLR to use 135 film (also called 35 mm film), the Kine Exakta. The 35 mm SLR design became very popular, especially after World War II, with many new models and features.

In 1947, the Hungarian Duflex introduced the eye-level viewfinder, improved in 1948 by the Contax S, the first camera to use a pentaprism. Before this, SLRs used waist-level screens. The Duflex also had an instant-return mirror, so the viewfinder didn’t go black after each picture.

In 1952, the Asahi Optical Company introduced the first Japanese SLR using 135 film, the Asahiflex. Other Japanese companies like Canon, Yashica, and Nikon joined the SLR market in the 1950s. Nikon’s Nikon F had interchangeable parts and accessories, helping Nikon become known for professional-quality cameras.

Instant cameras

In 1949, a new kind of camera was introduced called the Polaroid Model 95. It was the first camera that could develop pictures right before your eyes, making it very popular. This type of camera, later known as a Land Camera, became one of the best-selling cameras ever.

Automation

In 1936, Albert Einstein and Gustav Peter Bucky created one of the first automatic cameras. It used an electric eye to help set the right amount of light for pictures. The first camera that could do this on its own was the Super Kodak Six-20 in 1938, but it cost too much for many people to buy.

Later, in 1960, a small German camera called the Mec 16 SB was made. It was special because it placed the light-measuring tool behind the lens for better results. By the 1960s, cameras with automatic light settings became more common and easier to afford.

Digital cameras

Further information: Digital camera § History

Digital cameras are different from older cameras because they don’t use film. Instead, they save pictures on special memory cards or inside the camera. Because they don’t need film, digital cameras are cheaper to use. Today, many digital cameras can connect to the internet using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to share photos, and most mobile phones have built-in cameras.

Digital imaging technology

Further information: Digital imaging § History

See also: Image sensor and Data compression

The first digital camera parts were invented in 1969 by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith. They created a tiny part called a CCD that could catch light and turn it into digital information. Later, new parts called CMOS sensors made cameras even smaller and cheaper, which helped lead to cameras being put into phones.

Early digital camera prototypes

People tried to make digital cameras long before they became common. In 1975, an engineer named Steven Sasson built a big camera that weighed about 8 pounds. It could take a black-and-white picture and save it on a tape, but it was just a test and not sold to people.

Analog electronic cameras

Main article: Still video camera

In 1981, a company showed a new kind of camera that recorded pictures like a video. It saved pictures on special disks, but it was very expensive and not common. These cameras were mostly used by news stations because they could send pictures quickly.

Early true digital cameras

The first small digital camera that people could buy was sold in Japan in 1989. It saved pictures on a special card. Another camera came out in the United States in 1990, but it was very expensive and only saved black-and-white pictures.

Digital SLRs (DSLRs)

Main article: Digital single-lens reflex camera § History

In 1991, a big company introduced one of the first professional digital cameras. It was very expensive and big, but it could take clear pictures. Over time, these cameras got better and cheaper, and by 2003, more people were buying digital cameras than film cameras.

Camera phones

Main article: Camera phone

The first phone with a camera was sold in Japan in 1999. It could save about 20 pictures and send them over the internet. Soon after, other companies made phones with cameras, and today, almost every phone has a camera in it.