Cameras Through The Ages

With the accessibility and size of cameras nowadays, it's easy for people of all ages to capture moments with the click of a deice they just pulled from their pocket. The picture can then quickly be transmitted to the world with a few more clicks. But this simplicity is often taken for granted with how far the technology of cameras has progressed over the ages. We'll run through some of the high points of cameras through the ages to give everyone a feel of what it used to take to produce a single image.

The history of the camera starts with credit to the ever interesting ancient Greek philosopher, scientist and inventor Aristotle. He developed a method of early image capture that he aptly named "Camera Obscura", which in Latin is translated to "Dark Room". With this method, Aristotle used a full room with the only point of light entry being a single pin point. The light, when directed at an opposite wall, produced an image from outside the room that was rotated 180°. The image could then be captured by tracing it on the wall or available parchment.

The person who is typically credited as the father oh photography is French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833). His invention, the heliograph, produced the world's longest lasting image of a real world scene in 1826 or 1827. The heliograph used light reflected onto silver chloride either paper or plate to produce the image. The issue with the silver chloride is that after the exposure, the chemical would continue to darken, rendering the image completely black after a period of time. Niépce eventually switched to using bitumen that would turn hard with exposure so the remainder could be dissolved away leaving the good image.

Around 1839, Niépce and Louis Daguerre teamed up to further develop the technology. They started using highly polished silver plated copper plates treated with iodine vapors. The plates would be exposed to an amount of light judged to be necessary by the user for the lighting conditions. Think of it as a manual shutter in today's terms! After the exposure, mercury vapor was used to develop the image and a table salt compound was used to preserve it. Needless to say, this was well before the time when it was known how dangerous some of these chemicals are. Niépce unfortunately died before the completion of the final device that became known as the Daguerreotype. This latest development was the leader for more than 20 years.

The next rendition of the camera technology was introduced to the public in 1841 as the calotype or talbotype. This device was similar to the daguerreotype, but had the huge advantage of the first device that would generate a negative of an image that could then be use to produce several copies of the image. In order to produce the negative, a silver iodide coating was used with a significant exposure time, usually an hour or more.

Even with the advancements using the negative, the calotype was never able to displace the daguerreotype due to less clear images and patent issues.

The collodion process, also known as the "collodion wet plate process", was invented around 1851. Two people, Frederick Scott Archer and Gustave Le Gray, were simultaneously working on the same tech. During the next several years, the process, equipment and production went through many changes and rendition. By the end of the 1860s it had almost entirely replaced the daguerreotype. During the 1880s, the collodion process was largely replaced by gelatin dry plates—glass plates with a photographic emulsion of silver halides suspended in gelatin. The dry gelatin emulsion was not only more convenient, but it could also be made much more sensitive, greatly reducing exposure times.

The end of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century yielded some of the widest ranging and most significant advancements in history of photography. Some of the most noted items are in introduction of names such as the widely know Kodak and Luzo model cameras. The widely popular 35mm camera became the choice of many for still photos beginning around 1915. Additionally, Japanese camera maker Canon came on the scene in 1936 with the Canon 35mm rangefinder. Additionally, several inventors began to realize the significance of using flash with image production. Now some early versions of this used gunpowder that produced issues you can most likely imagine for yourself. With other technological advances such as the incandescent bulb, the fl;ashes began to advance with the cameras.

This time period produced the beginnings of the modern camera revolution with the TLR and SLR cameras. Many advancements on viewfinders, mirrors as well as interchangeable components became the items to separate manufacturers from on another. The Asahi, Canon, Nikon and Yashica brands were a few of the notable players going into the 1950s.

This era also brought possibly the most widely recognize and still a fan favorite camera, the instant picture Polaroid. The original Polaroid Model 95 was widely know as the Land Camera after its inventor, Edwin Land. It used a patented chemical production process that could produce a positive image from a negative in under one minute. By the 1960s, the Polaroid company had generated dozens of models of this popular camera.

Enter the age of the camera that many people either know or have seen before. Cameras began to become more accessible to the masses with advances in size of components and ease of development. Cameras such as the disposable camera made for fun times on a budget.

The biggest development in this time period was the introduction of the digital camera. This allowed for a whole new way for people to interact with photos, easily get images out to others, and new ways of image manipulation. These new cameras allowed for on the fly changes to lighting, shutter speed, white balance, ISO, etc. The lenses and other attachments continued to advance with the camera bodies allowing for an unprecedented capturing of colors, clarity and light in a fraction of the time previously thought possible.

These advance cameras, like many new technological items, the prices came down as components developed allowing an everyday consumer to obtain median level camera tech. These "pro-sumer" level cameras allowed for families to capture moments on a whole new level and hobby level photographers gain much need experience.

One item that completely revolutionized the age of cameras was the addition of cameras to mobile phones. This allowed anyone who had a phone to carry a fully functional camera and eventually a video camera in their pocket. When paired with social media, scenes and events from around the world were instantly accessible to everyone.

Cameras Through The Ages

Camera Obscura

Heliography / Nicéphore Niépce

Daguerreotype

Calotype

Collodion Process

Late 19th Century Progression

Early-Mid 20th Century

Late 20th Century to Early 21st Century

Modern Camera Tech