History of the camera and photography

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Today we cannot imagine our life without photos. They are all around us. Taking a photo is an elementary task for a modern person. But at one time they could only dream of it. Let's find out what was the history of the camera from the first ideas of engineers to modern technology.

Man has always been attracted to beauty. One day he wanted to describe it, give it a form. In poetry, the beautiful took the form of words, in music - sound, and in painting - images. The only thing that a person could not capture was a moment. For example, to catch thunderstorms that cut through the sky, or a breaking drop. With the advent of the camera, this and much more has become possible. The history of the development of the camera includes many attempts to invent devices that record images. It begins a long time ago, when, while studying the optics of light refraction, mathematicians noticed that an image can be turned upside down by passing it through a small hole into a dark room. Consider the most significant events that influenced the history of the camera.

Kepler's laws

Do you know when the history of the camera began? The first technologieswhich were later used to create photographs, appeared in 1604, when Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, established the laws of reflection of light in a mirror. Subsequently, the theory of lenses was based on them, according to which Galileo Galilei, an Italian physicist, created the world's first telescope for observing celestial bodies. The principle of refraction of rays was established and studied. It remains to learn how to register the resulting image on paper.

Discovery of Niépce

Almost two centuries later, in the 20s of the 19th century, the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce discovered a way to register an image. Many believe that it was from this moment that the history of the appearance of the camera began. The essence of the method was to process the incoming light with asph alt varnish and keep it on the glass surface. This varnish represented something similar to modern bitumen, and the glass was called a camera obscura. With this method, the image took shape and became visible. It was the first time in history when a painting was painted not by an artist, but by refracted rays of light.

New image quality from Talbot

Studying Niépce's camera obscura, English physicist William Talbot improved image quality using a negative, a photographic print he invented. It happened in 1835. This discovery made it possible not only to take photos of a new quality, but also to copy them. In his first photo, Talbot captured the window of his house. The image clearly conveys the outline of the window and frame. In his report, written a little later,Talbot called photography the world of beauty. It was he who laid the foundation for the principle that was used to print photographs for many years to come.

Setton's Invention

In 1861, English photographer T. Setton developed a camera that had a single reflex lens. The camera consisted of a tripod and a large box, on the upper side of which there was a special cover. The uniqueness of the lid was that it did not allow light to pass through, but it was possible to see through it. The lens recorded the focus on the glass, which formed an image with the help of mirrors. By and large, it was the first camera. The history of the further development of photography developed more dynamically.

Kodak

The now popular Kodak brand first made itself known in 1889, when George Eastman patented the first roll film, and then a camera designed specifically for this film. As a result, a large corporation, Kodak, appeared. It is interesting to note that the name "Kodak" does not carry any semantic load. Eastman just wanted to come up with a word that started and ended with the same letter.

Photo Plates

In 1904, the Lumiere trademark launched the production of plates for color photographs. They became the prototype of the modern picture.

Leica cameras

In 1923, a camera appeared that worked with 35mm film. Now you can view the negatives and choose the best ones for printing. Two years later, in massLeica cameras were launched. In 1935, the Leica 2 appeared, which was equipped with a viewfinder, powerful focusing, and could combine two pictures into one. And the Leica 3 version also allowed you to adjust the exposure time. For a long time, Leica models have been an integral part of the photographic art.

Color films

In 1935, Kodak began producing Kodakchrome color film. After printing, such a film had to be sent for revision, during which color components were superimposed. After seven years, the problem was solved. As a result, Kodakcolor film has become one of the most commonly used in professional and amateur photography for the next half century.

Polaroid camera

In 1963, the history of the camera received a new vector. The Polaroid camera revolutionized the idea of fast photo printing. The camera allowed you to print a photo immediately after it was taken. It was only necessary to press the button and wait a couple of minutes. During this time, the camera traced the contours of the picture on a clean print, and then the full gamut of colors. For the next 30 years, Polaroid cameras have secured their dominance in the market. The decline in popularity of these models began only in the years when the era of digital photography was born.

In the 70s, cameras began to be equipped with a light meter, auto focus, built-in flash and automatic shooting modes. In the 80s, some models were already equipped with liquid crystal displays, which displayed settings and modes.apparatus. The history of the digital camera began around the same time.

The Age of Digital Photography

In 1974, thanks to the electronic astronomical telescope, the first digital photo of the starry sky was taken. And in 1980, Sony launched the Mavica digital camera. The video shot on it was recorded on a floppy disk. It could be infinitely cleared for a new record. In 1988, the first model of a digital camera from Fujifilm was released. The device was called Fuji DS1P. Photos taken on it were digitally saved on electronic media.

In 1991, Kodak created a digital SLR camera that had 1.3 megapixels of resolution and a number of features that allowed you to take professional digital pictures with it. And Canon in 1994 supplied its cameras with an optical image stabilization system. Following Canon, Kodak also abandoned film models. It happened in 1995. The further history of the camera developed even more dynamically, although there were no more fundamentally important developments. But what happened was a decrease in size and cost with an increase in functionality. It is on the successful combination of these characteristics that the company's success in the market today depends.

2000s

The corporations Samsung and Sony, which develop on the basis of digital technologies, have absorbed the lion's share of the digital camera market. Amateur models have crossed the border of 3 megapixel resolution and began to compete with professional equipment in terms of matrix size. Despite the rapid developmentdigital technologies - face and smile detection in the frame, elimination of the effect of "red" eyes, multiple zooming and other functions - the price of photographic equipment is rapidly falling. Phones equipped with a camera and digital zoom began to resist cameras. Film cameras are no longer of interest to anyone, and analog photographs have begun to be valued as a rarity.

How does a camera work?

Now we know what stages the history of the camera consisted of. Having briefly examined it, let's get acquainted with the device of the camera closer.

The film camera works as follows: passing through the lens aperture, light reacts with the film coated with chemical elements and is stored on it. The case does not let light through, as does the film holder cover. In the film channel, the film is rewound after each shot. The lens consists of several lenses that allow you to change the focus. In a professional lens, in addition to lenses, mirrors are also installed. The brightness of the optical image is adjusted using the aperture. The shutter opens the shutter that covers the film. How long the shutter is open determines the exposure of the photo. If the subject is not well lit, the flash is used. It consists of a gas-discharge lamp, the instantaneous discharge of which can produce light exceeding the brightness of a thousand candles.

A digital camera at the stage of light passing through the lens works the same as a film camera. But after the picturerefracted through the optical system, it is converted into digital information on the matrix. The image quality depends on the resolution of the matrix. After it, the recoded picture is stored in digital form on the storage medium. The body of such a camera is similar to a film camera, but it lacks a film channel and a place for a film reel. In this regard, the dimensions of a digital camera are much smaller. A familiar attribute for modern digital models is the LCD display. On the one hand, it serves as a viewfinder, and on the other hand, it allows you to conveniently navigate through the menu and see the result of focusing.

The lens of a digital camera also consists of lenses or mirrors. In amateur cameras, it can be small, but functional. The main element of a digital camera is the sensor matrix. It is a small plate with conductors, which forms the quality of the picture. The microprocessor is responsible for all functions of the digital camera.

Conclusion

Today we learned what stages the fascinating history of the camera consisted of. Photos today do not surprise anyone, but there were times when they were considered a real miracle of engineering. Now a photo is taken in seconds, and before it took days.

The history of the creation of the camera with the advent of digital cameras received a new milestone in development. If earlier the photographer had to go to all sorts of tricks to get a beautiful picture, now the camera's rich software is responsible for this. In addition, any digital photocan be further edited on a computer. The creators of the first cameras did not even dream of this.