-
500
500 BC
Chinese and Greek philosophers describe principle of optics and he camera. -
Jan 1, 1500
16th Century
Camera Obscura ( darkened room) improved by utilizing a basic lens. -
1666
Issac Newton proves light is the source of color. Used a prism to divide sunlight into different colors and combine them to make white light. -
1725
Dolland develops Arochromatic telescope lens, improves camera obscura image. -
1727
Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered silver nitrate darkens when exposed to light. -
1794
First Panorama opens, forerunner movie house created by Robert Baker. -
1801
Thomas Young suggests that the retina contains three types of color sensitive receptors. One for blue light, one for green, and one for red. He also suggests that the brain interprets combinations to form other colors in visible UV spectrum. -
1802
Wedgwood produces silhouettes of opaque objects by printing them on silver nitrate coated paper. Images were unfixed and faded by daylight. -
1814
Joseph Niepce creates first photographic image using camera obscura. Image requires eight hours of light exposure and faded easily. -
1829
Daguerre begins partnership with Niepce. -
1834-1835
Fox Talbot experiments with silver chloride paper to achieve "negatives" of silhouettes. Uses small mousetrap cameras to photograph personal library window at Lacock Abbey, thus creating the first negative. -
1837
Louis Daguerre creates the first daguerreotype, a fixed image that did not fade and required less than thirty minutes of light exposure. -
1840
First American client issued in photography to Alexander Wolcott for his camera. -
1841
William Henry patents Calotype process. First negative-positive process making the first multiple copies possible. -
1841
Petzval calculates mathematic compounded lens of f/3.6 and reduces Daguerreotype exposure to one minute. -
1843
First advertisement with a photograph is published in Philadelphia. -
1847
Niepce De St. Victor discovers use of albumen to bind silver salts on glass base. Process requires ten minutes exposure. Talbot patents process in England. -
1851
Frederick Scott Archer invents Collodion process - images. Required only a few seconds of light exposure. -
1859
First Panoramic camera, The Sutton, is created by Thomas Sutton. -
1861
Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer. -
1865
Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works under copyright law. -
1871
Richard Leach Maddox creates gelatin dry plate silver bromide process causing negatives to no longer be required to be devloped immediately. -
1880
Eastman Dry Plate Company is founded. -
1884
George Eastman creates flexible, paper-based photographic film, -
1887
Hannibal Goodwin filled patent for roll film with flexible plastic base. -
1888
Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera. -
1900
First ever camera is mass marketed -The Brownie. -
1913
First 35mm still camera is created, The Ur- Leica. -
1927
Geheral Electric invents modern flash bulb. -
1932
First light meter equipped with photoelectric cell is introduced. -
1935
Eastman Kodak begins marketing Kodachrome film. -
1941
Eastman Kodak opens the doors of Kodacolor negative film. -
1948
Chester Carlon receives a patent for electric photography (xerography). -
1948
Edwin Land markets Polaroid camera. -
1954
Eastman Kodak introduces high-speed Tri-X film. -
1960
EG&G develops underwater camera with an extreme depth limit for the U.S Navy. -
1963
Polaroid introduces instant color film. -
1968
Photograph of the Earth is taken from the moon. The photograph (Earthrise) is one of the most influential environmental photographs. -
1973
Polaroid introduces one-step instant photography: SX-70 camera. -
1977
George Eastman and Edwin Land are inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. -
1978
Konica introduces first point-and-shoot camera with autofocus. -
1980
Sony produces first consumer camcorder - captures moving pictures and still. -
1981
The University of Calgary Canada ASI Science Team builds the Fairchild All-Sky camera. -
1984
Canon produces first digital, electronic still camera. -
1985
Pixar introduces digital imaging processor. -
1990
Eastman Kodak announces Photo Compact Disc, a digital image storage medium. -
1990
Microsoft releases Windows 3.1. -
1990
Kodadk announces Photo CD as a digital image storage medium. -
1992
Tim Berners -Lee produces software and protocol for the World Wide Web. -
1993
NCSA releases World Wide Web browser. -
1994
Netscape launches WWW Navigator (browser). -
1996
APS (advanced photo system) is introduced with cassettes that can hold 24mm wide film. Microsfot releases Internet Explorer. -
1998
First consumer megapixel camera introduced. -
1999
Kyocera Corporation introduces the VP - 210 VisualPhone. First mobile phone with a built-in camera. Could record video and take still photos. -
1999
First digital camera with interchangeable lenses (DSLR) is released by Nikon. -
2000
The Canon EOS D30 (first digital SLR) is released for market with a CMOS sensor. -
2000
Sharp and J-Phone introduced first camera-phone in Japan. -
2000
Development of "mircolens array" leads to higher megapixel image senors. -
2001
Sony releases DSC-F707, 5 megapixel sensor that can take night pictures without flash. -
2002
Contax N Digital first camera to include a CCD sensor the size of a full 35mm frame. The EOS-1D's was Canon's first full frame camera. -
2003
Olympus E-1 first camera to utilize Four-Thirds SLR system. -
2003
Canon launches Digital Rebel, first affordable DSLR that is aimed at non-professional market. Olympus introduces first DSLR with self-cleaning image sensor. -
2006
Nikon discontinues most film cameras and focuses on still photos with higher resolution lenses. -
2008
Polaroid discontinues instant film products due to the overwhelming popularity of digital photography. -
2008
Nikon D90 is the first DSLR to record video. -
2009
Canon EOS 7Dirst APS-C is the first 18MPcamera. First to use dual image processors. -
2010
Fujifilm's Real 3D W3 is the first digital camera to shoot 3D photographs. -
2010
The Pentax 645D is the first DSLR to be sold for less than $10,000.
