Camera Technology: History and its
Development
If you
like photography, maybe you use a camera every day. Whether it's to take
pictures of everyday events, sights, or special moments such as weddings.
However, did you know the development of the camera? The history of the camera
can be traced further back than the introduction of photography. Cameras evolved
from camera obscura, and continue to change through many generations of
photographic technology, including daguerreotype, calotype, Dry Plates, films,
and even digital cameras.
1. Camera Obscura
Camera
obscura is the first camera in the history of photography. Obscura comes from
Latin which means "dark room". This camera is shaped like a box with
dark or impermeable space in it. The camera obscura can reflect light through
two convex lenses, which then place the image on the film / paper at the focal
point on the camera lens. The oldest record that addresses this principle is
the description put forward by the philosopher Han Chinese Mozi (470 to 391
BC). Mozi confirmed that the camera obscura image was reversed because the
light moved in a straight line from the source.
Alhazen - Camera Obscura
In the
11th century Arab physicist Ibn Al-Haytham (or also known by another name
Alhazen) wrote very influential books on optics, including experiments with
light through small holes in dark rooms. This camera was developed with the
concept small holes in dark boxes that are illuminated by light can produce
images. That was the starting point for all camera technology.
Illustration of the Camera Obscura Principle
Image of an artist using an 18th-century camera obscura
Before
being popularized by Alhazen, in the era before Christ it was recorded that
this concept had been discovered by a philosopher named Mozi in the era before
Christ.
Joseph
Nicphore Niépce was the first person to produce photographs using a camera in
1816. He produced his first photo using a very small camera of his own and
using a piece of paper coated with silver chloride. Although at that time he
could not produce a permanent photo, then in the mid-1820s, Niépce experimented
again using a camera obscura focused on the tin plate 16.2 cm x 20.2 cm (6.4 in
× 8.0) coated thin with judea asphalt, ie naturally formed light asphalt.
Joseph Nicphore Niépce was the first person to produce photographs using a
camera in 1816. He produced his first photo using a very small camera of his
own and using a piece of paper coated with silver chloride. Although at that
time he could not produce a permanent photo, then in the mid-1820s, Niépce
experimented again using a camera obscura focused on the tin plate 16.2 cm x
20.2 cm (6.4 in × 8.0) coated thin with judea asphalt, ie naturally formed
light asphalt.
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce Plate - View From The Window At
Le Gras
The first photo by Joseph Nicéphore Niéce - View From
The Window At Le Gras
Camera
obscura that is not practical has developed. In the 1660s, British scientist
Robert Boyle and his assistant Robert Hook discovered a portable obscura
camera. This camera is a form of modification of the camera obscura so that the
shape is more compact.
Portable Obscure Camera
Alhazen's
book was also studied by western scientists like Joseph Kepler. This scientist
finally managed to enlarge the projection of the image produced by the camera
by adding a negative lens behind the positive lens. Boyle's robot then managed
to make a small camera without cables in 1665.
the
first camera that was very practical to use in the field of photography was
invented by Johann Zahn, in 1685. The principle of this Zahn camera model was
using additional slides as a tool to focus objects. The Zahn system is able to
provide additional sensitive plates in front of the camera lens before taking
pictures.
2. Kemera Daguerreotypes and Calotypes
Nearly
900 years after the discovery of the camera Obscura, in 1837 French Joseph
Joseph Niepce discovered the concept of practical photography, which he later
named as the Daguerreotypes and published in 1839. Daguerre used silver-plated
copper sheets with iodine vapor to provide a light sensitive silver iodide
layer . After exposure to the camera, the image was developed by mercury vapor
and repaired with sodium chloride solution.
Camera Daguerreotypes
In a
small box with a light hole, by adding copper and silver plates added to iodine
vapor, this generation of cameras is more sensitive to light.
Boulevard du Temple by Daguerre
After
exposure to the camera, the image is then formed through mercury vapor and
sodium chloride solution. Niepce collaborated with his partner Louis Daguerre
in the discovery of this camera, hence the name of the camera was named after
the inventor.
Henry
Fox Talbot perfected a different process namely calotype in 1840 and was
commercialized. He developed a very simple camera consisting of two nesting
boxes. The back box has a ground glass screen that can be removed and can enter
and exit to adjust focus. After focusing, the ground glass is replaced with a
light-proof handle containing sensitive plates or paper and a closed lens. Then
the photographer opens the cover on the holder, opens the lens cap, and counts
as many minutes as desired which is adjusted to the lighting conditions before
replacing the lid and closing the seat. Despite this mechanical simplicity,
high-quality achromatic lenses have become the standard.
Calotype C 1850 camera
3. Collidion Dry Plate
Collodion
dry plate was used by people since 1857, this one camera was the work of Desire
van Monckhoven. Fourteen years later, this dry plate camera was modified by
Richard Leach Maddox who succeeded in creating wet plates whose quality and
speed of shooting were better.
Camera Dry Plate Collodion
Colliidion's
camera journey continued until in 1878 gelatin emulsion was found which was
able to increase the sensitivity of the camera, so that the camera could take
pictures spontaneously.
These
are times when a tripod and other camera aids are not needed to take pictures.
for the first time, the camera can be made quite small the weight is not too
big to hold hands, or even hidden. There is a proliferation of various designs,
from single reflexes and dual lenses to large cameras and handheld cameras.
4. Kodak and Film Cameras
Photographers
born in the 90s must have known a camera that uses film rolls in it which can
then be printed into a photo. Actually the film camera development had started
a century before, namely since 1885 by George Eastman who started camera film
production, which later developed again into celluloid in 1888-1889.
Kodak 1888 camera
Kodak 1910 camera
He
named the film's camera as Kodak, which then began to be introduced to the
wider community since 1888. More sophisticated than before, it only consisted
of one focus lens and one shutter speed.
Until
finally at the end of the 19th century Eastman had succeeded in making various
film camera models, including box-shaped cameras and folding cameras. Although
this Kodak camera succeeded in making photography not too expensive for many
people, plate cameras were still widely used by people at that time because of
the better quality. To compete with the camera roll, this era plate camera is
equipped with a magazine to hold several plates at once.
5. Compact and Canon cameras
The
history of the camera continued with the presence of a compact camera which was
examined by Oskar Barnack at Leitz. Barnack uses 35 mm film to make a camera
that can produce magnified images with very good quality. Finally, in 1913 the
Ur-Leica prototype was formed, a 35 mm camera which was later delayed due to
the first world war.
After
several developmental features, the Ur-Leica camera went on sale widely in
1923. Since then, consumer camera users have been very satisfied and welcomed
this one camera innovation.
35 mm Leica I camera, 1925
From
here, then came the rival camera maker Ur-Leica, a Canon camera whose company
was based in Japan. Canon also made cameras with 35 mm cine films, which then
competed with Ur-Leica. Cameras made in the land of the rising sun later became
very popular after the end of the Korean war which made many Japanese veterans
bring these cameras to the United States. Of course, until now Canon continues
to innovate to produce a variety of other sophisticated cameras, so that even
now the business is still running fertile.
6. TLR and SLR
TLR
stands for twin-lens reflex, while SLR is an acronym for single-lens reflexes.
The TLR camera was started by Franke & Heidecke Rolleiflex in 1928, while
SLR cameras as further developments began production since 1933, which first
used 127 film rolls.
Contax S SLR camera
In
particular, TLR cameras are equipped with two objective focal lenses of the
same length. One lens is useful for the purpose of taking pictures, while the
other lens is useful for capturing shadows that have entered the first lens.
While on SLR cameras, there is only one lens that has been combined with a
digital image sensor.
The
SLR camera was popularized by the company Asahi Optical, which first launched a
35mm SLR camera called Asahiflex. In the 1950s, many SLR cameras were on the
market, including Canon, Yashica, and Nikon.
1949 SLR cameras
While
conventional cameras are becoming more sophisticated, a completely new type of
camera appeared on the market in 1948. This is the Polaroid Model 95, the
world's first instant-picture camera. Known as the Land Camera after its owner
by Edwin Land. Model 95 uses a patented chemical process to produce positive
prints that have been completed from negatives exposed in less than one minute.
Land cameras are quite popular even though the prices are relatively high and
the Polaroid range has expanded to dozens of models in the 1960s. The first
Polaroid camera aimed at the popular market, the Model 20 Swinger of 1965, was
a huge success and remains one of the best-selling cameras of all time.
J66 Polaroid Model, 1961
Polaroid Model 20 Swinger
The
first camera that carries automatic exposure equipped with a light-meter
selenium is the Super Kodak Six-20 pack in 1938, but the price is very high at
around $ 225 at that time (equivalent to $ 3912 for now). In the 1960s,
low-cost electronic components were commonplace and cameras equipped with light
meters and automatic exposure systems became increasingly widespread.
MEC-16 SB 16mm subminiature camera
Subsequent
technological advancements came in the 1960s, when Mec 16 SB German
subminiature became the first camera to place a light meter behind the lens for
more accurate measurements. However, measurements through lenses eventually
became a more common feature found on SLRs than other types of cameras. The
first SLR equipped with the TTL system was Topcon RE Super in 1962.
7. Analog camera
The
history of subsequent photographic cameras arrived in 1981 when the manufacture
of analog cameras began, which the shooting technique was still able to use
celluloid film (cliché / negative film). The first time making this analog
camera was Sony Mavica.
Sony Mavica camera
At the
1984 Olympics, the first time an analog camera produced by Canon was used to
photograph the Yomiuri Shinbun, whose results were later published in Japanese
newspapers.
But
along the way, analog cameras are less enthusiastic about the community because
the cost of their use is very expensive, and the image quality is not good when
compared to other cameras. Analog camera applications are currently widely used
for CCTV cameras.
8. Digital Cameras
The
history of the development of digital cameras is inseparable from the
development of video tape recorders (VTR), which is a technology of recording
images on television. In 1951, for the first time, Bing Crosby Laboratory made
an initial version of VTR. The tool serves to take pictures from a television
camera, then convert the image into an electrical impulse (digital) and store
it into magnetic tape.
Then
in 1956, Charles P. Ginsburg and Ampex Corporation perfected VTR by launching
the VR1000 version and commonly used by the television industry. So from there,
between video cameras and digital cameras have similarities in the use of CCD
(Charged Couple Device) to adjust the color and intensity of light. Since then,
the era of digital cameras has started and developed rapidly.
"Separation"
of digital cameras with video cameras occurred in 1981, where Sony introduced
their first commercial electronic camera called Mavica. The workings of the
first digital camera are images recorded onto a mini disc and then inserted
into a video reader that is connected to a color monitor or television.
Although Mavica cannot yet be called a digital camera, it is actually a
modification of a video camera that takes photos spontaneously.
Meanwhile,
since the mid-1970s, Kodak Company has had several discoveries about
solid-state or clarity for image sensors, namely changing light to digital
images for use at the professional and household consumer level.
Continued
in 1986, Kodak for the first time in the world introduced megapixel sensors.
This sensor is capable of recording 1.4 million pixels which can produce 5x7
inches of good quality digital print photos at that time. A year later (1987),
Kodak also released seven (7) other products for recording, storing,
manipulating, electronic transmission, as well as for printing images or
objects. The digital camera was first developed by Fuji in 1988, which uses a
16MB memory card for save data taken photos. Furthermore, digital cameras began
to be introduced to the wider community since 1989 by Fuji. In 1991, the
marketing of a 1.3 megapixel resolution Kodak DCS-100 digital camera began.
Kodak DCS 100 camera
The
digital camera photo format began to switch to JPEG and MPEG which did not take
much space on data storage. In 1995, digital cameras with liquid crystals on
the back of the lens began to be developed by Hiroyuki Suetaka with the Casio
QV-10 camera name.
The
digital camera photo format began to switch to JPEG and MPEG which did not take
much space on data storage. In 1995, digital cameras with liquid crystals on
the back of the lens began to be developed by Hiroyuki Suetaka with the Casio
QV-10 camera name.
Minolta RD-175
In
1995 Minolta introduced the RD-175, which was based on Minolta 500si, SLR with
independent CCD splitters and three. This combination produces 1.75 million
pixels.
DSLR
cameras began to be discovered in 1999 beginning with the launch of Nikon D1
which managed to reduce production costs to just the price. This type of camera
is capable of producing excellent images and high resolution.
Nikon D1 camera
Until
now, DSLR cameras are still widely used by photographers with a variety of
removable lenses. In addition, in general the price of DSLR cameras is not as
expensive as it used to be.
Digital
camera sales continue to grow, driven by rapid technological advancements. The
digital camera market is segmented into various categories, Compact Still
Digital Cameras, Bridge Cameras, Mirrorless Compacts and DSLRs.
Canon CMOS sensor
One of
the most important advances in digital camera technology is the development of
CMOS sensors, which help drive sensor production costs that are low enough to
be able to be applied as cellphone or smartphone cameras.
Such
is the development of photographic cameras from time to time. Hopefully this
camera history adds to your knowledge in the world of photography.
Reference:
- https://www.foldertekno.com/sejarah-kamera/
- https://dinprasetyo.com/sejarah-dan-perkembangan-kamera-dari-masa-ke-masa/
- https://www.saintd.co/2018/07/sejarah-kamera.html
- https://www.kaskus.co.id/thread/512576652c75b4da3f000003/sejarah-perkembangan-kamera-digital/
