Digital and Disposable Come to Market
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, disposable cameras came
to market. Users shot photos and then turned in the camera
(packaged in cardboard) for processing. This meant people no
longer had to invest in the cost of a higher-quality camera.
Work on digital cameras began in 1975 at Kodak, and the first
commercially available digital camera was the 1990 Dycam
Model 1. By the 2000s, the cameras were widely available in
the United States. Many professional photographers, continued
to use film cameras, citing better quality, until the start of
the 21st century. Some people still favor film over digital
photography today.
Photos today are digital, which means they can be electronic
and instantaneous, no further away than a smartphone and
immediately shared with not only friends and family, but also
with complete strangers online.
But, as anyone above the age of 30 knows, photos were once
created by specialized cameras using film. This film then had
to be processed before anyone could see the pictures. That
meant dropping the film off somewhere (or mailing it) and
then picking up or taking delivery of the photographs, often
days later. The film became what were called negatives, and
people used negatives if they decided they wanted more
than one print of a photograph. People born in the mid-20th
century may even remember when color photos were rare –
and expensive. But, even that was remarkable innovation from
photography’s 19th century beginnings.
Plates ‘Saw the Light’
The first practical photographic method, named the
daguerreotype, was introduced in 1836 by Louis Daguerre.
A copper plate was coated with silver and then treated with
iodine vapor that made it sensitive to light. The image was
developed by mercury vapor and fixed with a strong solution
of sodium chloride.
The gelatin dry plate was introduced in 1871 by Richard
Leach Maddox. Also at this time, improved technology
enabled manufacturers to make smaller cameras that could
be hand-held. Shorter exposure times meant candid photos
could be taken, which led to the invention of the mechanical
shutter. (This explains why early photographs always seemed to
feature unsmiling, stiffly posed individuals who looked like they
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January 2013
were sitting for a painting – slow cameras meant photography
subjects had to hold still for a long time.)
George Eastman pioneered the use of photographic film,
which helped transform cameras into a mass-market, consumer
item. His first camera, called the Kodak, went on sale in
1888. The simple box camera had a fixed-focus lens and
single shutter speed, making it much easier to use than earlier
models. That, and its relatively low-cost, made it very attractive
to the American public.
However, once digital cameras hopped into smartphones, mass
adoption was quick. The first camera phone was sold in 2000 in
Japan, and, by 2008, cellphone manufacturer Nokia sold more
camera phones than Kodak sold film-based simple cameras.
Cameras had transitioned from daguerreotype to film to digital
to smartphone application in just 172 years!
Find Your Way
Through The Maze:
The Kodak was preloaded with enough film for 100
exposures. To turn the exposed film into photos required
sending the entire camera to the factory, where the film was
processed and the camera was once again loaded with film
so both could be returned to the photographer. Eastman’s
cameras were so popular that by 1900, he was offering several
models, including both box and folding varieties.
Brownies Stay Fresh for 60 Years
That same year, Eastman’s introduction of the Brownie camera
further extended the camera’s presence in American homes.
The Brownie camera was a simple and low-cost box camera
that became the first camera for many American children
by mid-century, and was a hallmark for the growing middle
class. It remained on the market until the 1960s.
Although first developed in 1948, instant cameras – which
immediately produced photos as soon as they were taken –
were not successfully mass-marketed until 1965, when Polaroid
started selling the Swinger. It remains one of the top-selling
cameras ever made.
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