The Technological Development of the Digital Camera through History
The invention of the camera has significantly changed the society. Since the launch of the camera centuries ago, the technology which the digital camera is derived from has been directly related to and evolved from its earliest ideas. The ancient designs of this tool successfully led to digitization of the camera. The device has been a useful product for consumers as they were able to keep their memories and historical events through still pictures.
Pre-industrial
The precursor of the film camera was the camera obscura which can be a comparison to dark rooms that current photographers use. It allowed the light to go through a curved lens, forming an image of external objects on a surface of paper or glass (Camera, n.d). It was a useful tool for artists to draw pictures. In the 1660s, Robert Boyle, an Irish scientist, developed a portable camera obscura. Following with this invention, the first small portable camera was created by Johann Zahn in 1685. Although this advanced device was still 150 years behind the technology to be efficient (Camera, n.d), it was small enough to be useful for photography. Even though this device was not widely used during the pre-industrial era, the significant change in this technology during this time period was that artists were able to use portable camera obscura to help them draw scenes precisely (Ted’s Photographics, 2006). Unlike today, the average people of this era found the tool useless to the public due to lack of knowledge of the method of utilizing the device. This invention played a crucial role in leading toward the creation of film cameras in the industrial era.
Industrial
During the industrial revolution, George Eastman created the modern photograph film technology (The People History, 2009) that made it more convenient to develop pictures. In 1888, Eastman designed the first roll-film Kodak camera (About.com, 2009) which provided the advancement of camera industry and popularity among users. Its huge fame was caused by the “full developing and printing service” (Ted’s Photographics, 2006). The invention had an immense impact on the economy because of the advertisements of several companies. Film cameras were mainly utilized for news evidence and ads in order to announce to the public and convince consumers. Since there were more photos taken by different individuals, there was more variety of choices for companies to advertise. Even though it allowed individuals to capture black and white images to keep their memories and preserve historical events, this system did not last very long before more developments were built.
Post-industrial
The post industrial era has seen the vast improvement of the camera. In the beginning of the 20th century, Eastman utilized his own technology and introduced the Brownie (The People History, 2009). His invention became small enough for users to carry it around and it was capable of taking snapshots (The People History, 2009). Because it provided portability, it was the favoured camera among people so that they could easily preserve memories with it. By the 1930s, cameras became more convenient with its flexibility and popularity. In 1948, the launch of the instant-processing Polaroid cameras served the consumers with instant gratification abilities (The People History, 2009) and provided entertainment. The Polaroid camera is still an on-going design as it is one of the top selling products because of its ease to access and instant capabilities. This device eventually led to the digitization of cameras. By the mid-1970s, digital cameras were created by “convert[ing] light to digital pictures” (About.com, 2009). In 1984, Canon exhibited the first digital electronic camera (About.com, 2009) and the development of user digital still cameras continued at a rapid pace. When the digital technology was launched into the camera industry, the impact of this instrument was remarkable, playing an essential role in society. Most of the digital cameras have been providing ease and portability as it enable individuals to instantly view the photo after capturing it in the camera and to easily carry them around. Since the device has been offering several accessibilities that film cameras are unable to give, it has led to a tremendous decline in film sales and processing. Also, it has had a dramatic effect on companies that produce film cameras. Although this has been an issue, most individuals are now choosing digital cameras because of its incredible versatility.
The gradual change to the camera’s technology over the last several years gave vast impact on society. During the pre-industrial era, the earliest cameras led to the development of film cameras, when these were utilized as a devise for news evidence and advertisement during the industrial revolution. The post-industrial era demonstrates the digitization of standard cameras. Digital cameras have become one of the most preferred products since people could take it with them anytime to reshape their history and make memories that would last a lifetime.
Reference:
About.com. (2009). Inventors: History of the Digital Camera. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bldigitalcamera.htm
About.com. (2009). Inventors: Photography Timeline. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from
http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/Photography.htm
Camera. (n.d). Retrieved March 15, 2009, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera
Ted’s Photographics. (2006, May 12). Cameras before 1900. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from
http://www.ted.photographer.org.uk/camera_designs_1.htm
The People History. (2009) The Changes to Camera Technology over the Last 70 Years. Retrieved March 15,
2009, from http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/cameras.html
