December 30th, 2014

Now digital cameras have entered our lives so much that no one is already surprised. And few people think about how it all began. First Kodak Digital Camera
  1975 model.

The first Eastman Kodak digital camera weighed 3.6 kg. It consisted of several dozen boards and a cassette player attached to the side. All this was powered by 16 nickel-cadmium batteries.

Let's remember more about it ...

In December 1975, Kodak engineer Steve Sasson invented a device that, in a few decades, would lead to a revolution in photography - the first digital camera.

The resolution of the camcorder was only 0.01 Megapixels (10 thousand pixels, or approximately 125 x 80 pixels). She couldn’t do color cameras to create one black and white photograph, it took 23 seconds, and they were stored on a magnetic cassette.

One of the leaders of that project, engineer Steve Sasson, recalls it with warmth - even if the device wasn’t brought to mind, it became interesting in many ways - and soon thanks to him, Steve will be officially included in the Consumer Hall of Fame Electronics ”(Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame), a prestigious list of people who have made the most significant contribution to the evolution (or maybe revolution) that has occurred in recent years in this area.

The device is assembled on the basis of the elements of the Kodak Super 8 camera, using an experimental prototype of the CCD matrix, which in our time is equipped with all digital cameras. The carrier in it, of course, was not flash cards, but ordinary tape cassettes. Of course, this rarity could not boast of either speed or image quality: an image with a scan of 100 lines was recorded on tape for 23 seconds. Yes, and it turned out to be a little convenient - to view the picture, the cassette had to be placed in a tape recorder connected to a computer, which, in turn, was connected to the TV. It is not surprising that Kodak marketers, who tested the new product on various focus groups, did not dare to finance the continuation of the project.

To play photos, they were read from the film and displayed on a regular black and white TV.

But this does not matter, because even this imperfect device had the main advantage of a digital camera - it did not need a film or a photo paper. Then even this advantage seemed strange. According to Sasson, he was asked questions: “Who might even need to watch photos on TV? Where will he store them? How do you imagine an electronic photo album? Is it possible to make the technology convenient and affordable for the mass consumer? ”

Alas, then the inventor did not find what to answer to skeptics. It made time for him.

The camera was not intended for sales, and was not of interest to photographers in this form. Not surprisingly, the first truly portable digital cameras appeared only almost 15 years later in the late 80s.

Stages of Digital Photography

• 1908 Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton, a Scotsman, publishes an article in Nature magazine that describes an electronic device for recording images on a cathode ray tube. In the future, this technology formed the basis of television.
• 1969 Researchers at Bell Laboratories - Willard Boyle and George Smith formulated the idea of \u200b\u200ba charge-coupled device (CCD) for recording images.
• 1970 Scientists at Bell Labs created a prototype CCD-based electronic video camera. The first CCD contained only seven MOS elements.
• 1972 Texas Instruments patented a device called the All-Electronic Device for Recording and Subsequent Playback of Still Images. As a sensitive element, a CCD matrix was used in it, the images were stored on magnetic tape, and playback was through a TV. This patent almost completely described the structure of a digital camera, despite the fact that the camera itself was actually analog.
• 1973 Fairchild (one of the legends of the semiconductor industry) began the industrial production of CCDs. They were black and white and had a resolution of only 100x100 pixels. In 1974, with the help of such a CCD matrix and a telescope, the first astronomical electronic photograph was obtained. In the same year, Gil Amelio (Gil Amelio), also working at Bell Labs, developed a manufacturing process for the production of CCDs on standard semiconductor equipment. After that, their spread went much faster.
• 1975 Engineer Steve J. Sasson, who worked at Kodak, made the first working camera on a Fairchild CCD. The camera weighed almost three kilograms and made it possible to record images 100 × 100 pixels in size on a magnetic cassette (one frame was recorded for 23 seconds).
• 1976 Fairchild launches the first commercial electronic camera, the MV-101, which was used on the Procter & Gamble conveyor to control product quality. This was the first fully digital camera to transmit images to the DEC PDP-8 / E minicomputer via a special parallel interface.
• 1980 Sony introduced the first CCD-based color video camera to the market (before that, all cameras were black and white).
• 1981 Sony launches the Mavica camera (short for Magnetic Video Camera), with which it is customary to reckon the history of modern digital photography. Mavica was a full-fledged SLR camera with interchangeable lenses and had a resolution of 570 × 490 pixels (0.28 megapixels). It recorded individual frames in NTSC format and therefore it was officially called the “still video camera”. Technically, the Mavica was a continuation of Sony's CCD sensor line of television cameras. In many ways, the appearance of Mavica was a revolution similar to the invention of the chemical photoprocess at the beginning of the 19th century. The bulky cameras with cathode ray tubes were replaced by a compact device based on a solid-state CCD sensor. The images obtained on the CCD matrix were stored on a special flexible magnetic disk in the NTSC analog video format. The disk looked like a modern floppy disk, but had a size of 2 inches. It was possible to record up to 50 frames on it, as well as sound comments. The disc was rewritable and was called Video Floppy and Mavipak. Around the same time, the first fully digital camera called the All-Sky camera was developed at the University of Calgary, Canada. It was intended for scientific photography, was made on the basis of the Fairchild CCD matrix and provided data in digital format.
• 1984-1986 Following the example of Sony, Canon, Nikon, Asahi also began production of electronic video and photo cameras. The cameras were analog, they were very expensive and had a resolution of 0.3-0.5 megapixels. Pictures in the video format were written on magnetic media (usually floppy disks). In the same year, Kodak coined the term “megapixel”, creating an industrial prototype CCD-sensor with a resolution of 1.4 megapixels.
• 1988 Fuji, which owns the right to lead in the production of a full-fledged digital video camera, jointly with Toshiba released the Fuji DS-1P camera based on a CCD with a resolution of 0.4 megapixels. The DS-1P was also the first camera to record NTSC images not on a magnetic disk, but on a removable Static RAM memory card with a built-in battery to maintain data integrity. In the same year, Apple, together with Kodak, released the first program for processing photo images on a computer - PhotoMac.
• 1990 The fully digital, commercial camera, the Dycam Model 1, better known as Logitech FotoMan FM-1, appeared. The camera was black and white (256 shades of gray), had a resolution of 376 × 240 pixels and 1 megabyte of internal RAM for storing 32 pictures, a built-in flash and the ability to connect the camera to a computer.
• 1991 Kodak, together with Nikon, launches the Kodak DSC100 professional SLR digital camera based on the Nikon F3 camera. Recording took place on a hard drive located in a separate unit, weighing about 5 kg.
• 1994 Apple made a real marketing breakthrough with the release of the Apple QuickTake 100. The camera was released in a case that resembled binoculars (a popular form for video cameras in those years) and allowed storing eight 640 × 480 (0.3 MP) images in internal Flash memory ) or thirty-two pictures with a half resolution of 320 × 200. The camera was connected to the computer using a serial port, powered by three AA batteries and cost less than eight hundred dollars.
• 1994 The first Flash cards of the Compact Flash and SmartMedia formats appeared on the market, ranging in volume from 2 to 24 MB.
• 1995 The first consumer cameras Apple QuickTake 150, Kodak DC40, Casio QV-11 (the first digital camera with LCD-display and the first with a rotary lens), Sony Cyber-Shot are released. The race has begun for a reduction in prices and the approximation of the quality of digital photography to film quality.
• 1996 Olympus entered the market, not only with new models, but also with the concept of an integrated approach to digital photo based on the creation of a local user infrastructure: camera + printer + scanner + personal photo storage.
• 1996 Fuji introduced the first digital minilab. The technology of the new device was hybrid - it combined laser, digital and chemical processes. Later, other companies, in particular, Noritsu and Konica, joined the production of digital minilabs.
• 1997 The 1 megapixel symbolic milestone was overcome: at the beginning of the year, the FujiFilm DS-300 camera with a 1.2-megapixel sensor was released, in the middle - an Olympus C-1400 XL single-lens camera (1.4 megapixels), a SLR (based on a light-dividing prism).
• 2000 Release of the Contax N Digital camera of the first full-frame (24x36 mm) camera with a resolution of 6 megapixels.
• 2000-2002 Digital cameras are becoming available to the mass consumer.
• 2002 Sigma launches the SD9 camera with the Foveon three-layer sensor.
• 2003 Launch of the Canon EOS 300D, the first affordable interchangeable lens reflex digital camera for a wide range of photographers. Due to this fact, as well as the release of similar cameras by other manufacturers, there was a massive displacement of the film not only from the environment of unassuming amateur and professional people, but also among the “advanced” amateur, who before that were pretty cool about digital photography.
• 2003 Olympus, Kodak and FujiFilm introduced the 4: 3 standard, aimed at standardizing digital SLR cameras, and released the Olympus E-1 camera to this standard.
• 2005 The launch of the Canon EOS 5D, the first affordable (less than $ 3,000) camera with a full-frame sensor with a resolution of 12.7 megapixels

As a result of the digital mini-revolution that has taken place, Japanese companies have particularly won, in contrast to the cautious "Americans." In particular, Sony and Canon are now recognized as market leaders, and Kodak, as one of the leading developers of technology for digital photography, has almost lost the amateur digital camera market. This story is not completed, it is actively continuing at the present time.

Updated 09.24.2017

Everyone has modern digital cameras. But earlier (30 years ago) only very wealthy people could afford a camera. And this device was then considered a sign of luxury. Owners of digital cameras were forced to carry large hard drives with batteries, for which special backpacks were created separately. Over time, devices began to decrease and have changed a lot since then.

By the way, the very first camera looked like this (see photo below). There was no matrix or film in it. The image was printed on a metal tile, and it was possible to see it after further processing.

100 years have passed since the invention of the very first camera. Then came the first digital cameras. Matrices, known and widely used in all digital cameras today, were invented in the late 60s.

The very first and most complete digital camera is Dycam model 1. Also called him Logitech FotoMan FM-1. A little later, in 1981, Sony created the MAVICA camera. In this camera, frames were recorded on 3.5-inch floppy disks, and then this was the last word in technology. Now there are almost no computers that would "eat up" floppy disks.

Dycam model 1 (the very first digital camera) cost about $ 1,000. At that time it was a lot of money. Even today, $ 1000 for the camera is a very big price, and for this money you can buy a pretty good SLR for yourself. However, today expensive cameras can cost 40-50 thousand dollars. Opportunities Dycam model 1  were dull: they used a matrix with a resolution of 376x240 pixels, there was only 1 MB of memory and a simple lens with a fixed focal length.

In the mid-eighties, Sony's example was followed by the well-known brands Canon and Nikon, as well as the now little-known company Asahi. So the light appeared electronic video and cameras. These were analog cameras, they were expensive and had a resolution of 0.3-0.5 megapixels.

Despite the fact that the first devices appeared in the early 80s, their widespread production falls precisely in the first half of the 90s. But even these cameras were dull and did not provide the photographer with wide opportunities. The problem was that approaching the production of digital cameras was difficult. At that time, analog cameras developed well and their operating time was not suitable for implementing the ideas of digital cameras. As a result, there was failure after failure. One example is the DSLR. Kodak DCS-100  worth 25 thousand dollars. It implemented the principle of mechanical copying (without a clue what this means). Even if you drop the huge price, the camera was uncomfortable - you had to carry bags for the power supply and hard drive. Moreover, the image quality was poor.

The only element that could remain on a film camera and be used digitally is the lens. Its working principle has not changed at all.

There was another problem - wearing digital information. Cameras needed large and small digital media, and in 1994, SanDisc implemented the CompactFlash standard. It is used today, although it is somewhat modified. This was a rather big step in the practice of the development of photographic equipment. As a result, digital cameras appeared, which were both compact and really affordable. In addition, they used more or less good matrices with normal resolution.

Today, there are at least 8 camera companies that compete with each other. There are also other small brands compared to these giants. Previously, there was no such fierce competition - among themselves competed:

• Pentax;
• Kodak;
• Canon;
• Olympus;
• Pentax;
• Nikon;
• Minolta.

A little later they entered the struggle SonyCasio andFuji. These companies, by the way, continue to create cameras today (perhaps, except for the company Minolta).

Of all these brands, Kodak was the leader. This company was the leader in the field of technical achievements in photographic equipment. What is the model worth? DC-20released in 1995. It has become a truly compact and convenient digital camera. She weighed 120 grams and was the size of a regular deck of cards. Costing only $ 200, it was considered a "budget option" and was actively in demand. The resolution of the matrix used was 0.18 MP, which allowed us to obtain images with a maximum resolution of 493 × 373.

Later, Kodak introduced the model to the market. Here a vario lens with a focusing system was first used. Now the owner did not need to manually adjust the sharpness of the frame. Also available was an option to select image compression (good, best, maximum). Due to the maximum compression, space was freed up on the memory card, and instead of the standard 22 pictures, 99 frames can already be placed.

However, other companies also did not stand still. In 1997, FujiFilm introduced a camera with a resolution of more than one megapixel. However, at that time, few people had computers, and users could not fully appreciate all the benefits of switching to a new standard. In addition, the calculations showed that in order to get an excellent picture in 10 × 15 cm format, the resolution of the matrix should be approximately 2.1 MP.

Therefore, in 1998, Sony created a matrix ICX 224  with a resolution of 2 megapixels. Models using this matrix were the first digital cameras to be very popular and more similar to modern devices. Then their mass production began.

The best model of the last century is Olympus D-200L. They made sharp and accurate frames, also had an optical viewfinder and a liquid crystal display. Well, then it started ...

Over time, matrices with a resolution of 3-5 megapixels began to appear. Then there was stagnation in terms of increasing resolution, because its increase did not give improvements in picture quality. Although the quality of the picture and the improvement of color reproduction were improved.

The first SLR digital cameras

Simple digital soap dishes really won the market and the attention of buyers. But professional photographers did not seek to switch to digital cameras. Manufacturers until 2011 were engaged only in compact cameras, and the professional market was not disturbed. But it could not go on forever.

In 2001, Minolta created a camera with a 6 megapixel sensor. This was the first and very serious bid to win and occupy a key stake in this niche. This camera had quite impressive characteristics, which was immediately noticed by professional photographers. Later Canon and Nikon and even Pentax joined.

Result: in 2003, the device appeared, and it can be considered the first SLR camera with a removable lens that is available to a wide consumer. This camera was also promoted by the fact that it was possible to “screw” a lens from a film camera into it.

In 2003, a Pentax camera was also announced, and a few years later the Olympus E-1 model with a different lens mount technology was born. This technology was free and after it was picked up by other independent manufacturers of cameras and optics.

Finally, in 2005, Canon showed the world the first affordable camera with a full-frame sensor and a resolution of 12.7 megapixels. It was a model Eos 5D, and it cost about $ 3,000. This device at that time was out of competition, and even now it is better than many modern SLR cameras.

It is this camera () that can be considered a reference point. After it, those SLRs that we see at the moment on store shelves began to appear. Nikon succeeded quite well in this - after 2 years the brand created worthy competitors with full-frame matrices - a camera D3  and D700.

Canon answered with dignity - presented the camera Canon 5D Mark II. This model was superior in some respects to the Nikon model, although it could not show anything new a priori. And so began the era of improving SLR cameras, and we are witnessing this struggle of giants to this day.

It is fascinating, because the invention of the first camera allowed people not to use the services of artists to capture the bright moments of life. Innovators who worked in various fields: physicists and chemists, engineers, and even a doctor, worked on the creation of a photographic apparatus and film. In this article, you will learn how the path to progress was, what the first cameras were and how they worked.

Who invented the camera and when?

The starting station leading to the invention of the first camera was the observation that dissolved iron salts change color in the light. Since 1800, many tried to create a photograph, but only twelve years later, J.N. Neps, the inventor of a pinhole camera equipped with a lens and a sliding tube, succeeded in this. It was he who came up with a working camera, on which they made the first black and white photo.

Then Niepce was engaged in the modernization of his brainchild: thanks to his efforts in 1826 he improved the invention by adding a tin plate to it, which was covered with a thin asphalt layer.

Interesting: the resulting photo has been preserved until today. The photo had a peculiarity: before the asphalt pavement, the photographer had the opportunity to multiply the picture. This could be realized due to the fact that the image had a relief surface.

The creator of the first photographic apparatus called his invention a heliograph. This device was the first that allowed to get an image without an artist, so it caused a real delight among lovers of progress.

A little later, the camera was improved, supplementing the apparatus with a copper plate equipped with a silver coating. So, William Tabolt used paper, which was impregnated with saline and silver nitrate. This improved the quality of the photos.

The invention of film

Just like the creation of the camera, a lot of people worked on the invention of the film. The first film was invented by a doctor from England, named R. Madox, in 1871. This film for the camera belonged to the type of dry. It was made using an emulsion of gelatin, “aging” of silver and bromine.

A little later, two years later, the German scientist-innovator Vogel was able to reduce the exposure time period, thanks to which he achieved an increase in the sensitivity of photographic materials.

Four years later, an improved film was invented, made on a nitrocellulose, flexible lining. The history of photography owes this breakthrough to Priest Goodwin.

All these upgrades led to the 1880 super-breakthrough Eastman made: taking the work of his predecessors as a basis, he created dry plates for photographic cameras, and then rolls of film. The cameras were heavy, so they were mounted on.

Interesting: a little later, after the invention of the film, Eastman developed and released a special camera designed to work with roll film. It was this man who became the founder of the now popular manufacturer of reliable cameras - Kodak.

First color photos

The appearance of photographs, not in black and white, but in color, has become no less significant. So, the first persistent photograph, displaying a color picture, appeared thanks to James Maxwell, in 1861.

First, in order to get a picture in color, three cameras were used, in which they put multi-colored light filters. Due to the fact that each camera was equipped with a different color (one was red, the second was blue, and the third was green), the photographers received a color image at the output.

Interesting:s. Prokudin-Gorsky improved this technique, creating developments that allowed to reduce shutter speed, and also increased the circulation of images.

The possibilities of the photoemulsion, which was mentioned above, were limited, which hampered the development of color images, since it distorted the green color. However, this problem was solved by G. Vogel, whose work prompted the creation of a modernized staff. The new emulsion was characterized by a correct reaction to green.

In 1907, the Lumiere brothers patented and began selling photographic plates called “Autochrome,” which facilitated the creation of color photographs. Almost thirty years later, improved alternative versions began to appear, for example, Agfacolor and Kodachrome, and after about thirty years later Polaroid appeared.

Leica - the first camera company

As the birthplace of a 35 mm format application, Leica launched the first camera model in the masses in 1925. Sheathed in metal, the compact camera possessed completely non-heavy-duty technical parameters. Then the ratio of 6x9 cm was considered a small format: professionals used the minimum format of 9x12 cm.

Therefore, at first the cameras released by the Leica brand were not popular: only 850 cameras of this company “came out”. However, after two years, sales of “watering cans” began to grow, and quickly: in seven years, people began to buy up four times as many cameras.

Interesting: in addition to the standard eight camera modifications manufactured by the company, Leica created custom-made cameras for the war years. They were used by collectors and military personnel.

The cameras of this company were popular among residents all over the world until the 60s of the twentieth century, and then no less high-quality, cheaper models of Japanese manufacturers began to appear on the market. Despite this, Leica’s rangefinders are also equal in optical and mechanical design, recognizing the products of the first camera manufacturer as a standard.

The advent of digital cameras

As a result, although digital photographic devices arose in the 80s of the twentieth century, they began to be mass-produced only ten years later. Cameras gave users the opportunity to create black and white frames (“color” models appeared a little later), equipped with a CDD type sensor, which is used in modern devices.

A full-fledged digital camera that stores photos and also has a video recording function, together with Toshiba, and the first color digital camera appeared in 1994.

A video camera is a complex device that allows you to obtain optical images of objects by shooting on a photosensitive element, suitable for recording or transmitting an unstable image in motion.

The first video camera was created by a natural engineer from Scotland, John Byrd. The operability of the device consisted in the use of the Nipkov disk, which appeared in 1884.

The inventor is Paul Nipkov.

This disk allows you to scan line by line the image for transmission over the wire, and then again build the image on the screen. According to this principle, television still works (with the exception of digital television).

For the first time, this device was used by BBC in 1930 to shoot experimental videos.

Closer to 1940, the fully electronic developments of researchers Zvorykin and Farnsworth, based on a cathode ray tube, pushed Byrd's video system into the background. Such devices remained in wide use until the 1980s, until the era of new cameras based on KMOH technology arrived.

The first real camcorder (or kinetograph) was created by William Dixon. The kinetograph was a device for recording changing images.

The first camcorders in the world were analog devices. The transmitted image quality of these cameras was much worse than what the home TV screen was showing at that time.

But despite the low-quality picture and other shortcomings, at the turn of the 80s and 90s, video cameras are becoming popular. More and more people are acquiring these devices, rejoicing at the opportunity to see themselves and friends on video, as well as capture important moments.

The peak of sales of video cameras was at the beginning of the 90s, while the first mini-format video cameras and surveillance cameras with improved technical capabilities and at more affordable prices entered the market.

The first reaction to the invention of photography
Instruction for the camera

Today our magazine has replenished with a new “gallery” section, where it will be told, and first of all- The evolution of things well known to us is shown. The first exhibits on display will be devices for painting with light (the word "photograph" is derived from Greek phos -   light and graphe-  writing, drawing).

The first commercial camera (daguerreotype). Collected by Alfons Giraud in Paris on August 19, 1839. Weight - about 60 kg.

The world's first lamp flash was invented by Louis Bhutan in 1893 for underwater photography. Magnesium was placed in an airtight flask made of thick glass and burned with an electric wire. Such disposable flashes were unreliable: they often burst and cooled for a long time (it was impossible to unscrew a hot lamp immediately after use). The diver in the photo on the right holds an identification plate - but upside down. It is believed that this is the first photograph of nitrogen intoxication (Cousteau called it a "delight of the depths").

The world's first reusable flash (General Electric, 1927). Aluminum foil flashed in oxygen and gave light of monstrous power - about 180,000 lumen-seconds.

A nuclear explosion photographed by an EG&G (1952) camera at a Nevada training ground 1 millisecond after detonation. Exposure time is about 10 nanoseconds. The diameter of the cloud is only 20 meters.

1975 year. Kodak engineer Steve Sasson created the first prototype of a digital camera. Each black-and-white photograph of 100x100 pixels (0.1 megapixels) was stored on a cassette (on the right of the device) for 23 seconds.

Testing the WFPC3 (Wide Field and Planetary Camera 3), the main instrument of the Hubble telescope. The resolution of the main matrix is \u200b\u200b2048 × 4096, and infrared - 1024 × 1024 pixels.

The largest (non-military) telescopic lens in the world Zeiss Apo Sonnar T * 1700 mm f / 4, made by Carl Zeiss on the individual order of a Middle Eastern amateur photographer who is fond of wildlife photography. Used with the Hasselblad 203FE. Weight - 256 kg. Price not reported.