-
Camera Obscura
The first photograph was made by the Camera Obscura in 1814 by Joseph Niepce. The camera's name in Latin translates to "dark chamber." It wasn't an ideal piece of technology because it required eight hours of light exposure to produce a photo. -
Daguerreotype
Louis Daguerre came up with the method of developing images with warm mercury vapor. The Daguerreotype used a copper plate that became exposed to an image, rather than a negative. The images didn’t fade with time. Daguerre presented his invention to the French Académie des Sciences on this day, even though he had been working on the invention for years prior. -
Calotype Process
William Henry Talbot made it possible to make multiple copies of the same picture using the Calotype process. Exposure times were shorter than with earlier processes. It never really competed against other cameras of the time, but it was the top alternative for amateurs and artists, among others. -
Collodion Process
Frederick Scott Archer invented a new way to develop photos that had much more detail then before: the collodion process. Cameras only needed a few seconds of light to properly expose the photo. The image was then treated with chemicals. After drying, it became liquidproof. -
Gelatin Dry Plate Process
Richard Leach Maddox came up with the gelatin dry plate process using silver bromide. This allowed photos to be taken and developed later, since a time lapse between exposure and devlepment didn't damage the image. -
First motion picture machine created
The first motion picture machine, the "zoopraxiscope," was invented in 1879 by Eadweard Muybridge; however the patent was completed 12 years prior by William Lincoln. The zoopraxiscope was the first step toward motion pictures. -
Roll-Film Camera
George Eastman received a patent for the Kodak roll-film camera. Rolling the film protects it from white light, which would overexpose and destroy the image. The film made it possible for Thomas Edison to design a motion picture camera a few years later. -
Leica
The Leica camera was invented by Oskar Barnack. It was more compact and easier to transport, making it ideal for outdoor photography. With 35mm film, the negatives were smaller but could be enlarged later and maintain quality. -
The Polaroid camera
Edwin Land released the first Polaroid camera. It allowed for the instant production of images. He had unveiled instant film a year prior. The original Polaroid cameras were called Land cameras, after the inventor. -
First digital camera
The first digital camera was created by the Sasson Company, and the first digital image was taken in black and white in December of 1975. The device took a year to construct, weighed about 8 pounds, and used a 100x100-pixel sensor. -
Fuji Fujix DS-1P
Unveiled by Fuji at the 1988 Photokina trade show in Köln, Germany, the first true digital camera aimed at consumers was never marketed. However, the 400,000-pixel camera showcased an important new technology: a removable SRAM (static RAM) memory card developed with Toshiba. -
First Commercial DSLR
Kodak would use old Nikon film bodies, gut them, and place digital equipment inside to create the first commercial digital single lens reflex camera. Storage for the digital files was typically carried by the photographer in a bag slung over the shoulder, transmitted via cable. -
First camera phone
Sharp produced the J-SH04 camera phone in 2000 and released it through J-Phone in Japan. It was a 0.11-megapixel camera, and the photos taken on the phone could be sent electronically.
