Revolution Of Camera

Pinhole theory

5^th Century, the principle on which cameras are based was developed: Chinese philosopher "Mo Ti" was the first to have observed that upon entering the room where a Pinhole has been made on a wall, one could view the inverted picture of the outside on the opposite side of the wall. The camera obscura was derived from this pinhole theory.

Portable Camera Obscura

1604, Birth of Portable Camera Obscura: Mathematician and Astronomer "Johannes Kepler" coined the word Camera Obscura. He used it in his book Ad "Vitellionem Paralipomena" in 1604. In the 1660's British scientist Robert Boyle and his assistant Robert Hooke developed a Portable Camera Obscura. In 1685, Johann Zahn built the first Portable Camera Obscura that was small enough to be carried.

Wooden Box Camera

1826, Permanent photographs made: "Joseph Nicephore Niepce" was the first person who made a Permanent Photograph using Camera. He used the sliding Wooden Box Camera designed by "Charles" and "Vincent Chevalier" in Paris.

Daguerreotype Camera

Collodion wet plate Process Camera

1839, Photographic Medium Discovered: The first Practical Photographic Medium, "Daguerreotype plates" was made in 1839. This was replaced by the "Collodion Wet Plate" process during the 1850's. 

Dubroni(Box-Style Camera)

The Dubroni(Box-Style Camera), developed in 1864, required photographers to develop and sensitise plates inside the camera itself.                                    

Kodak and the Rise of Amateur Photography

George Eastman was the first to devise the use of Photographic film. In 1885, he started making paper film and gradually switched over to celluloid in 1889. 

He named his first Camera "Kodak" and started selling it from 1888. This was simple box camera with a fixed-focus lens and single shutter speed.

The low cost, together with the fact that the camera came preloaded with film for 100 exposures made it a hit among the audience. The film had to be sent to the factory for processing and reloading once the role was finished.

Kodak which used the slogan, "You Press The Button- We Do The Rest", gave birth to Snapshot Photography.

Pigeon Photographer

All of us know that pigeons were once used as carriers of mail. However, it is a lesser known fact that they turned photographers tool during World War II, pigeons were trained in aerial photography by the French, Americans, Germans.

German origin "Julius Neubronner" was the first to get patent for using a Pigeon carrying a camera in 1908.

1920s, Electronic Camera was devised: The Electronic Video Camera Tube was invented in 1920's, which gradually paved the way for modern day Digital Camera's.

Old Polaroid Camera

Upgraded Polaroid Camera Model

1979, polaroid Camera's came into being: The first auto-focus SLR Camera was developed by Polaroid in 1979. It allowed people to get a photo within 3 Minutes of clicking the Picture.

Introducing Smart Camera's:

In the late 1970's and early 1980's, compact camera's that were capable of making image control decisions on their own were introduced. These "point and shoot" cameras calculated shutter speed, aperture, and focus, leaving photographers free to concentrate on composition.

The automatic camera's became immensely popular with casual photographers. Professionals and serious amateurs continued to prefer to make their own adjustments and enjoyed the image control available with SLR cameras.

The Digital Age:

In the 1980's and 1990's, numerous manufacturers worked on cameras that stored images electronically. The first of these were point-and-shoot cameras that used digital media instead of film.

By 1991, Kodak had produced the first Digital Camera that was advanced enough to be used successfully by professionals.

Other manufacturers quickly followed and today Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and other manufacturers offer advanced digital SLR (DSLR) cameras.

Even the most basic point-and-shoot camera now takes higher quality images and smartphones can easily pull off a high-quality printed photograph.