Photography Through the Years

1500

The first Pinhole camera (Camera Obscura) was used to trace an image.

1826

Camera Obscura is used to make an image on metal plates coated with chemicals. This was when the first permanent photograph was taken! It took 8 hours to take this photograph!

1839

The first galss negative was used in Daguerreotype process which involved exposure to make a negative and then processing it with chemicals to develop and fix the image. These photos were one of a kind and took only 15 minutes to take the photo.

1851

The wet collodion process becomes the standard as the photographs made by this method are more detailed and sharper. Also the wet collodion process produces a negative that can be used to make duplicate photos.

1861

First color photograph was made by taking multiple images through red, green, and blue filters. Then these images were overlaid to make a colored image.

1888

Kodak made the first film camera, which had a 20-foot film roll that held 100 photos. This made photography available to all! These photographs were 2.5 inches.

1913

The first handheld camera Leica was sold. This camera had 35mm film.

1933

The first SLR (single lens reflex) camera, Exakta. This camera used a single lens, a mirror and a prism system which allowed the photographer to see exactly what would be seen by the sensor.

1948

First Polaroid instant photo.

1975

Eastman Kodak invented the first digital camera that displayed photos on its screen. Digital cameras can store more photos than film.

1999

Nikon offered the first DSLR, digital single-lens reflect camera, which combined a digital imaging sensor with the mechanisms and optics of a single-lens reflex camera.

2000

First camera phone is produced in Japan.