First Cameras

Posted by Georgy | 2/19/2011

By Ruth Smith


With cameras so much a part of our lives these days, it's surprising to remember that in truth, the first ever photograph was taken less than 200 years ago, by someone named Joseph Nicphore Nipce. This first camera was manufactured by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris; this first photograph didn't last because it wasn't permanent, and quickly faded. Surprising today, then, that we have the ability to easily turn any pictures we want to be made into more permanent media into things like canvas prints or personalised calendar.

Incidentally, Louis Jacques Daguerre was Joseph Nicphore Nipce's partner, but he died before their invention could take any sort of commercially successful form. Therefore, it was Daguerre who became famous for the invention that became the first practical way to take a photograph, named the daguerreotype. The 19th-century studio camera became the first truly commercially available way to take a photograph, most especially with the invention of the gelatine dry plate in 1871. Richard Leach Maddox invented these, and they were superior to what place both in quality and speed. It was at this time the cameras were first made small enough that they could be concealed or held in the hand.

Faster processing also meant candid photography was possible; because of this, short exposure times were necessary, which made the invention of the mechanical shutter necessary. By the turn of the century, built-in shutters were commonplace.

George Eastman began to manufacture paper film for photographs in 1885, and then switched to celluloid. The first camera he manufactured was called the Kodak, first available for sale in 1888. Its low price and simple function meant that it was easily accessible to the average consumer. These first cameras had film 100 exposures included; upon completion of a roll of film, the entire camera was sent back to the factory for processing.

Eastman's next major invention was in 1900, with the Brownie. This simple, inexpensive box camera was the first that really took a "snapshot". It was so popular, in fact, that models of the Brownie were not entirely removed from commercial sale until the 1960s.

Movie camera inventions also were not left behind. With film came the ability to make relatively inexpensive films, which made them popular as well for commercial film ventures. Although George Eastman certainly opened up photography to the average consumer, plate cameras made higher quality prints and state popular in certain sectors for decades into the 20th century. Kodak itself got into the market with 35mm film in 1938 with the Retina I.

Instant cameras were another new incarnation of the consumer market, with the first appearing on the market in 1948. It was known as a Land Camera, named after its inventor, Edwin Land. Polaroid produced dozens of models by the 1960s. The first Polaroid camera on the popular market was the Model 20 Swinger, which remains a top seller.

Digital cameras changed the process of picture taking because they don't use film but instead capture photographs on internal storage devices or digital memory cards. This makes it much easier to produce pictures, and is much less costly to own and operate than film cameras are. Today, for example, consumers are increasingly offered the ability to take pictures on mobile phones and share them quickly. All of this does not of course remove the need for permanence and elegance that canvas prints or a personalised calendar can provide. Nonetheless, today, you can take your digital or film photographs, and have them easily turned into lasting art such as canvases or the likes of.




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