It began with a totally impractical photographic process. It ended with digital wizardry that would have seemed like magic two centuries ago. John Wade charts what happened in between.

Camera obscuras, used by artists as an aid to composition, predated the photographic camera (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Camera obscuras, used by artists as an aid to composition, predated the photographic camera (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Strange as it might seem, cameras were invented before photography. They were called camera obscuras, used by artists as aids to sketching and an understanding of perspective. A typical example took the form of a box with a lens at the front which reflected its image via a mirror onto a screen on the top. The artist placed a piece of thin paper on the screen, viewed the image through it and traced its outline. The thing that occupied the minds of inventors and scientists during the 18th and early 19th centuries was how to capture and permanently store the camera obscura’s image. One man finally made it happen 200 years ago in 1826.

THE FIRST CAMERAS

1826-1840: Niépce, Daguerre and Talbot

Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce produced what is now accepted as the world’s first photograph. His camera comprised a box with a lens at one end and a place to hold a sensitised plate at the other. His process, which he called heliography, involved a pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea, an exposure of eight hours (and maybe more), then the application of lavender oil and treatment with iodine vapour to produce a positive image. It was impractical, but the apparatus Niépce used can be considered as the first photographic camera.

The device used by Niépce in 1826 can be considered as the first photographic camera (Artwork by Ron Holloway)
The device used by Niépce in 1826 can be considered as the first photographic camera (Artwork by Ron Holloway)

The first commercially successful camera came with the announcement of the daguerreotype process in 1839. Behind that was another Frenchman, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. His camera comprised two boxes, one of which slid inside the other for focusing. The plates on which direct positive images were produced measured 6½x8½in, which would become known as whole plate. The daguerreotype process was long, complicated and somewhat dangerous, involving iodine, bromine and mercury fumes to prepare and develop an image on a silver-plated copper sheet. Nevertheless, many daguerreotype cameras were produced from makers around the world, including Charles Chevalier in France, Voigtländer in Germany and Richard Beard in the UK.

The Daguerreotype camera led the way to the first commercially successful cameras (Artwork by Ron Holloway)
The Daguerreotype camera led the way to the first commercially successful cameras (Artwork by Ron Holloway)

Meanwhile in Britain, William Henry Fox Talbot, Squire of the Manor at Lacock in Wiltshire and amateur scientist, was experimenting with sensitised paper to produce photogenic drawings, with which an image was exposed until it began to physically appear on the sensitive paper, necessitating very long exposures. To counteract this, Talbot used smaller cameras, in which the lens’s light was concentrated on smaller areas and was therefore brighter. The tiny cameras were built by a local carpenter in Lacock and Talbot used one to produce the world’s first negative in 1835. It was only when he discovered that a latent image – one that remained invisible until activated by chemicals – needed much less exposure that it became practical to build larger cameras. In 1840, this resulted in Talbot introducing his Calotype process which produced paper negatives, contact printed onto sensitised paper to creative positive images. And then a new generation of cameras grew up.

Replica of one of Talbot’s mousetrap cameras with which he produced the first negative. The name was coined by Talbot’s wife Constance when she saw the tiny size of the cameras
Replica of one of Talbot’s mousetrap cameras with which he produced the first negative. The name was coined by Talbot’s wife Constance when she saw the tiny size of the cameras

1851-1871: Wet and dry plates

Talbot’s work was important for introducing the concept of a negative from which multiple prints could be made. The next step was to move from paper negatives to glass plates.

A wet plate camera made by the British firm Horne & Thornthwait
A wet plate camera made by the British firm Horne & Thornthwait

That became a reality with the wet collodion process announced by English chemist and photographer Frederick Scott Archer, whose process cut exposure times down to seconds. The downside was that plates needed to be prepared in a darkroom immediately prior to exposure, used in the camera while still wet, and developed immediately after. Nevertheless, the wet plate process became very popular and a great many cameras were made for it.

The English Collins Half-Plate Tailboard camera, c.1890, was typical of the kind of cameras that used dry plates
The English Collins Half-Plate Tailboard camera, c.1890, was typical of the kind of cameras that used dry plates

In 1855, French chemist J.M. Taupenot demonstrated a dry collodion process, followed in 1871 by English physician Richard Leach Maddox introducing a method of coating a glass plate with gelatine. For the first time, photographic plates could be bought in advance, kept until required for exposure and developed when convenient.

The craze for disguised cameras began early. This is Thompson’s Revolver camera from 1862. Its circular brass body contained a disc-shaped photographic plate, and the lens, resembling a gun barrel, lined up with a ground-glass focusing screen, covered by a magnifier in a tube. As a catch was pressed, the lens dropped to its lower position to align with a plate and the single speed rotary shutter was automatically released. The plate then rotated through 90° so that four circular pictures could be taken in rapid succession (Courtesy of Auction Team Breker)
The craze for disguised cameras began early. This is Thompson’s Revolver camera from 1862. Its circular brass body contained a disc-shaped photographic plate, and the lens, resembling a gun barrel, lined up with a ground-glass focusing screen, covered by a magnifier in a tube. As a catch was pressed, the lens dropped to its lower position to align with a plate and the single speed rotary shutter was automatically released. The plate then rotated through 90° so that four circular pictures could be taken in rapid succession (Courtesy of Auction Team Breker)

1888: Introduction of roll film

The Kodak of 1888 was the world’s first roll film camera whose simplicity of use appealed to people who had never before considered owing a camera. (The camera pictured is a now rare replica, made by Kodak in 1988 to celebrate the camera’s centenary)
The Kodak of 1888 was the world’s first roll film camera whose simplicity of use appealed to people who had never before considered owing a camera. (The camera pictured is a now rare replica, made by Kodak in 1988 to celebrate the camera’s centenary)

American inventor and entrepreneur George Eastman introduced the first roll film camera in 1888. It was box shaped with a fixed focus and fixed aperture lens. Every camera came pre-loaded with enough film for 100 exposures, after which it was returned to the Eastman works to be unloaded, the film processed and prints made. Everything was then returned to the owner complete with a camera preloaded with another film. Eastman called his camera The Kodak, the first time that name had been used. He explained that the letter ‘K’ was a favourite, and wrote: ‘This is not a foreign name or word. It was constructed by me to serve a definite purpose. It has the following merits as a trademark. It is short. It is not capable of mispronunciation. It does not resemble anything in the art and cannot be associated with anything else in the art.’ The Kodak was introduced with the slogan ‘You press the button, we do the rest.’ And with that, snapshot photography was born.

WHAT CAME NEXT

1900-1920: A new world of camera design

The Sanderson, first seen in 1895, introduced the concept of multiple lens movements that included rise, fall, swing and tilt.
The Sanderson, first seen in 1895, introduced the concept of multiple lens movements that included rise, fall, swing and tilt.


As camera production approached and entered the 20th century, manufacturing took a new turn. Until then cameras had been essentially designed to accommodate the different processes used to form an image. But now, with glass plates and flexible roll film established, camera design could develop in new and innovative directions. It did so, prior to 1900, with the arrival of cameras like the English Sanderson, innovative for its introduction of new kinds of camera movements, and even a French camera with built-in motor drive.

Le Pascal, in 1898, was the world’s first camera with a built-in clockwork motor drive, shown here alongside later clockwork-driven pioneers, the 1934 Robot I and 1956 Leningrad
Le Pascal, in 1898, was the world’s first camera with a built-in clockwork motor drive, shown here alongside later clockwork-driven pioneers, the 1934 Robot I and 1956 Leningrad
In 1900, the first camera to bear the Brownie name was aimed at children, at a time when brownies in America were pixies or elves. The camera had no viewfinder, only two V-shaped lines etched into the top to line up on the subject, although a separate accessory viewfinder, seen attached here, was available. The first Brownie (second version) is pictured here with a green No.2 Brownie, the first camera to use 120 size roll film and a Brownie 110 from 1980, the last camera to bear the Brownie name
In 1900, the first camera to bear the Brownie name was aimed at children, at a time when brownies in America were pixies or elves. The camera had no viewfinder, only two V-shaped lines etched into the top to line up on the subject, although a separate accessory viewfinder, seen attached here, was available. The first Brownie (second version) is pictured here with a green No.2 Brownie, the first camera to use 120 size roll film and a Brownie 110 from 1980, the last camera to bear the Brownie name

The century began, however, with a name that would resonate throughout the best part of the next 100 years: the Kodak Brownie. In 1901, the camera evolved into the No.2 Brownie, and the term ‘Box Brownie’ inevitably became incorrectly applied to just about any box camera irrespective of its maker.

Kodak’s No.1 Panoram from 1900 used a lens that swung in an arc during exposure, exposing the image as it moved on a curved stretch of film. The style later became popular in 35mm cameras of which versions can still be bought new today
Kodak’s No.1 Panoram from 1900 used a lens that swung in an arc during exposure, exposing the image as it moved on a curved stretch of film. The style later became popular in 35mm cameras of which versions can still be bought new today

Panoramic photography, which had been around since the daguerreotype days, became popular in 1900 with the introduction of the Kodak No.1 Panoram camera with an unusual lens that swung from side to side during exposure. It initiated a style of camera that would come and go for more than a century.

Folding cameras like this proliferated for more than half a century from around 1900 onwards. This one is the 1907 No.4 Folding Pocket Kodak that could be adapted to shoot on film or glass plates
Folding cameras like this proliferated for more than half a century from around 1900 onwards. This one is the 1907 No.4 Folding Pocket Kodak that could be adapted to shoot on film or glass plates

In 1912, everyone’s favourite photographic manufacturer introduced the Vest Pocket Kodak. It was the first camera to use 127 roll film in a folding design, with a lens panel that pulled out from the body on scissor struts supported by a fold-down leg. The VPK, as it was popularly known, was advertised as the soldier’s camera, referring to the fact that soldiers of World War I were reputed to have illegally carried them when they went into battle.

Disguised cameras were very popular from the earliest days of photography right up to the current digital age, and watches made popular starting points for unusual designs. Here are the Ticka from 1906 (left) and the later Steineck ABC from 1948
Disguised cameras were very popular from the earliest days of photography right up to the current digital age, and watches made popular starting points for unusual designs. Here are the Ticka from 1906 (left) and the later Steineck ABC from 1948
In 1912, the Vest Pocket Kodak was the first camera to use 127 size film. The original model is pictured on its now rare tripod attachment, alongside the newly designed Model B that followed in 1925
In 1912, the Vest Pocket Kodak was the first camera to use 127 size film. The original model is pictured on its now rare tripod attachment, alongside the newly designed Model B that followed in 1925

Stereo photography became very popular at this time. It was carried out by use of a camera with two lenses to shoot two pictures side by side. When the result was placed in a suitable viewer so that the left eye saw only the view taken by the left lens and right eye only the view from the right lens, the brain combined the two to give the impression of a three-dimensional, stereoscopic scene.

In 1914, Kodak introduced the Autographic Back. With the use of special autographic film, a stylus and a trapdoor in the camera back, it became possible to ‘write’ notes on the film’s backing paper which would be transformed into writing on the rebate between frames of film
In 1914, Kodak introduced the Autographic Back. With the use of special autographic film, a stylus and a trapdoor in the camera back, it became possible to ‘write’ notes on the film’s backing paper which would be transformed into writing on the rebate between frames of film
Two cameras from 1914 and 1920 that typified the design of stereo cameras of the time: a Monoblock (left) and Stereo Spido Metallique, both made in France
Two cameras from 1914 and 1920 that typified the design of stereo cameras of the time: a Monoblock (left) and Stereo Spido Metallique, both made in France

Also of note: The 1913 Aptus was a while-you-wait camera that incorporated a method of developing and fixing a picture in a special tank attached to the base. With a certain amount of dexterity, a photographer could use this to shoot, develop and fix a picture in about five minutes. The Thornton Pickard Mark III Hythe Machine Gun Camera from 1915 was another rarity. Shaped exactly like a machine gun, it shot pictures instead of bullets and was used to help train pilots in air-to-air combat. The Hicro camera, from the same year, shot three monochrome images at once, each through a red, green or blue filter. After processing, these were combined with similar filtration in a special viewer or complicated projection apparatus to show the subject in full colour.

The Aptus was a while-you wait camera that shot pictures and developed them on the spot in an attached tank, all in about five minutes
The Aptus was a while-you wait camera that shot pictures and developed them on the spot in an attached tank, all in about five minutes
The Hicro from 1915 provided an early method of shooting photographs in colour
The Hicro from 1915 provided an early method of shooting photographs in colour

1920-1940: Birth of major landmarks

Before the 35mm SLR became popular, reflex cameras were very different, as shown here with the 1920 Patent Klapp Reflex (left) and the 1930 Thornton Pickard Rubyette No.1
Before the 35mm SLR became popular, reflex cameras were very different, as shown here with the 1920 Patent Klapp Reflex (left) and the 1930 Thornton Pickard Rubyette No.1

Three cameras from this era played huge roles in the shape of things to come. The Leica arrived in 1925, for the first time making 35mm film truly viable. Those who initially shunned the camera, believing such a small negative was incapable of producing professional quality images, were soon proven wrong, and 35mm went on to become legendary.

Three 35mm landmarks: the 1925 Leica IA (rear), 1932 Contax I (left) and 1934 Kodak Retina (right)
Three 35mm landmarks: the 1925 Leica IA (rear), 1932 Contax I (left) and 1934 Kodak Retina (right)

Next up was the 1928 Rolleiflex. Until then, twin lens reflexes (TLRs) had been big and made for shooting on glass plates. The Rolleiflex was the first compact, roll film TLR with its twin lenses focused in tandem on a moving panel. It shot six exposures 5.5x6cm on 117 size film, but some were converted to accept 120 roll film, which soon became the norm for this and the multitude of Rolleiflex clones that went on to be produced around the world.

The Rolleiflex set the standard for compact roll film TLRs. Pictured here are the original model from 1928 (left) with the Automat II, first seen in 1950
The Rolleiflex set the standard for compact roll film TLRs. Pictured here are the original model from 1928 (left) with the Automat II, first seen in 1950
The world’s first 35mm SLR, the 1936 German Kine Exakta (left), evolved from the 1933 VP Exakta which used 127 roll film
The world’s first 35mm SLR, the 1936 German Kine Exakta (left), evolved from the 1933 VP Exakta which used 127 roll film

The third landmark was the 1936 Kine Exakta, the world’s first 35mm single lens reflex (SLR). The camera evolved from the 127 film VP Exakta introduced three years before. The two had similar specifications with shutter speeds down to 12 full seconds and up to 1/1,000sec. The Exakta used a waist-level viewfinder, and it would be another 13 years before a 35mm SLR with an eye-level viewfinder would be available in the shape of the Contax S.

For a while it was thought that the Russian Sport was the first 35mm SLR, but recent documentation has shown that it was just beaten by the Kine Exakta
For a while it was thought that the Russian Sport was the first 35mm SLR, but recent documentation has shown that it was just beaten by the Kine Exakta
The 1935 Contaflex was an unusual twin lens reflex made for 35mm film, and the first camera equipped with a built-in photoelectric exposure meter. The shooting lens focal length was 50mm, but the viewing lens was 80mm to give a slightly larger than 35mm size format on the viewfinder screen
The 1935 Contaflex was an unusual twin lens reflex made for 35mm film, and the first camera equipped with a built-in photoelectric exposure meter. The shooting lens focal length was 50mm, but the viewing lens was 80mm to give a slightly larger than 35mm size format on the viewfinder screen

As important as these cameras were, they must not overshadow other major arrivals from this era. The Contax I made its debut in 1932, not so much a rival to the Leica, but more a camera that took a different look at 35mm design and made it its own. In 1934, the first Kodak Retina brought lower cost 35mm photography to those who couldn’t afford a Leica or Contax. At the same time, the Robot I was launched to popularise clockwork motor drives in cameras, and many more models of the camera were subsequently produced.

Shown here in its open and shut positions, this is first Minox today known as the Riga model, named after the town in Latvia where it was built in 1937. The body was made of stainless steel and, like the various models that followed, the photographer pulled on one end to extend the body, took the picture and then snapped it shut again, an action which also tensioned the shutter and advanced the film. Following World War II, later models were made of aluminium and manufactured in West Germany
Shown here in its open and shut positions, this is first Minox today known as the Riga model, named after the town in Latvia where it was built in 1937. The body was made of stainless steel and, like the various models that followed, the photographer pulled on one end to extend the body, took the picture and then snapped it shut again, an action which also tensioned the shutter and advanced the film. Following World War II, later models were made of aluminium and manufactured in West Germany
The Compass, designed in England and built in Switzerland in 1938, was so small it could fit into a cigarette packet, and yet had all the features and more of much larger cameras. It was probably the most complicated camera ever made
The Compass, designed in England and built in Switzerland in 1938, was so small it could fit into a cigarette packet, and yet had all the features and more of much larger cameras. It was probably the most complicated camera ever made

In 1935, the Contaflex represented a masterpiece of 35mm TLR engineering, followed in 1936 by the Compass, a miniature camera designed in England but built by a Swiss watch maker, and probably the most complicated camera ever made. The following year the first Minox arrived and went down in cinematic history as every spy’s favourite camera. Then there was the Super Kodak Six-20 which, in 1938, was the first camera with automatic exposure control. All this and more was put on hold by the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

The Super Kodak Six-20 in 1938 was the first camera with auto-exposure control
The Super Kodak Six-20 in 1938 was the first camera with auto-exposure control

1940-1960: Professional systems and instant photography

When Swedish optical engineer and photographer Victor Hasselblad was asked by his government if he could make a camera like an aerial camera recovered from a German reconnaissance aircraft that had crashed in Sweden, he replied, ‘No, but I can make a better one.’ The result was the Hasselblad 1600F
When Swedish optical engineer and photographer Victor Hasselblad was asked by his government if he could make a camera like an aerial camera recovered from a German reconnaissance aircraft that had crashed in Sweden, he replied, ‘No, but I can make a better one.’ The result was the Hasselblad 1600F

When the war ended in 1945, camera manufacturers took a while to get back on their feet. But once production began again, the landmarks just kept coming. In 1947, the first Hasselblad arrived from Sweden. It was the 1600F, named after its highest shutter speed. The camera’s modular design comprised a body to which could be attached interchangeable lenses, film backs and a wide variety of viewing systems.

The Polaroid Model 95, in 1948 was the first truly viable instant picture camera
The Polaroid Model 95, in 1948 was the first truly viable instant picture camera

The following year, the Polaroid Model 95 became the world’s first truly viable, easy-to-use instant picture camera. Twin rolls of sensitised paper, connected by a paper leader were used. After exposure, as a tab was pulled, the rolls were sandwiched together along with in-built pods of chemicals that burst and processed a monochrome print for removal from the camera back after 60 seconds.

Two British pioneering, and slightly eccentric, designs from the 1950s: the Wrayflex I (left) and the first Periflex
Two British pioneering, and slightly eccentric, designs from the 1950s: the Wrayflex I (left) and the first Periflex

The 1950s saw a couple of interesting English ventures from the Wray and Corfield companies. Wray introduced Britain’s first and only attempt at producing a 35mm SLR. The 1951 Wrayflex I and 1953 Ia used mirrors in place of a prism viewfinder, resulting in a laterally reversed landscape view and an upside down portrait image. A pentaprism was added with the Wrayflex II in 1959, but the camera never achieved the success its manufacturer had anticipated. Less than 3,000 cameras across the three models were produced.

The Brownie 127 from 1952 was one of the most popular and successful snapshot cameras of all time. It was predominantly seen in black, but in 1953, 5,000 white versions were made and test marketed in the Channel Islands. The white cameras never went into production and today are very rare
The Brownie 127 from 1952 was one of the most popular and successful snapshot cameras of all time. It was predominantly seen in black, but in 1953, 5,000 white versions were made and test marketed in the Channel Islands. The white cameras never went into production and today are very rare

The 1953 Periflex from Corfield developed the unusual idea of a small periscope that was manually pushed down into the film plane to magnify part of the image by a factor of eight for focusing, then withdrawn and a normal eye-level viewfinder used for shooting. Despite the unusual design, variations continued to be made until 1961.

Two Japanese pioneering 35mm SLRs from 1959: the Nikon F (left) and Canonflex. The Nikon is shown with its Photomic head introduced in 1961 to offer match-needle metering
Two Japanese pioneering 35mm SLRs from 1959: the Nikon F (left) and Canonflex. The Nikon is shown with its Photomic head introduced in 1961 to offer match-needle metering

Although the East German Praktina FX, launched in 1953, stood at the heart of a large system of lenses and accessories, it became overshadowed by the arrival of the Japanese Nikon F in 1959. The Nikon was built to be the centre of a system comprising lenses from 21mm to 1,000mm, electric motor drives, a choice of viewfinders and focusing screens, plus many other accessories. For 35mm SLRs, it soon became the first choice for professional photographers world-wide.

First and second models of View-Master cameras that provided a means for photographers of the 1950s and 1960s to shoot stereo or 3D images and make their own stereo reels for viewing in special viewers
First and second models of View-Master cameras that provided a means for photographers of the 1950s and 1960s to shoot stereo or 3D images and make their own stereo reels for viewing in special viewers

Stereo photography, which had previously risen and fallen in popularity, rose again in the 1950s with cameras that used 120, 127 or 35mm film, rather than the glass plates of old. The View-Master system that had been providing stereo pairs of pictures on reels for use in special viewers since the 1930s was enhanced in 1952 and 1961 with the introduction of View-Master cameras that enabled photographers to make and view their own stereo reels.

Leica M3, the first Leica with a bayonet lens mount and an important landmark for Leitz in 1954
Leica M3, the first Leica with a bayonet lens mount and an important landmark for Leitz in 1954

Also significant from this era: Gamma Duflex, the first 35mm SLR with instant return mirror; Mecaflex, a miniature 35mm SLR for 24×24 images; Leica M3, the first bayonet lens Leica and the start of a hugely successful series; FT-2 35mm panoramic; and the Olympus Pen, Japan’s first half-frame camera.

Original Olympus Pen (right), launched in 1959 and destined to be the start of a long series of cameras culminating in the 1963 Pen F (left), the world’s first half-frame 35mmm SLR.
Original Olympus Pen (right), launched in 1959 and destined to be the start of a long series of cameras culminating in the 1963 Pen F (left), the world’s first half-frame 35mmm SLR.

1960-1980: The Japanese arrival

The Contarex, which came from Zeiss Ikon in 1960, was a professional SLR whose large, round Selenium cell meter mounted over the lens gained it a nickname of the Bullseye or Cyclops
The Contarex, which came from Zeiss Ikon in 1960, was a professional SLR whose large, round Selenium cell meter mounted over the lens gained it a nickname of the Bullseye or Cyclops

Between the end of World War II and the latter years of the 1950s, Board of Trade restrictions in the UK prevented certain luxury goods from being imported, and that included cameras. As the 1950s morphed into the 1960s, restrictions were lifted – and in came the Japanese. With them, came good quality and newly affordable 35mm SLRs, and suddenly, everyone wanted a reflex camera, amateurs and professionals alike.

Launched in 1961, the Canon 7 was the company’s last great rangefinder camera, defined by its incredible wide aperture standard lens, a 50mm f/0.95 that became known as the Dream Lens
Launched in 1961, the Canon 7 was the company’s last great rangefinder camera, defined by its incredible wide aperture standard lens, a 50mm f/0.95 that became known as the Dream Lens

The Nikon F started it, but hot on its heels came cameras like the Pentax S2, Minolta SR-1 and, most notably, the Canonflex. Unlike its rivals, the Canon offered a selenium cell exposure meter which mated with the shutter speed dial as an aid to measuring exposure. It also accepted a wide range of Canomatic lenses in breach lock mounts, similar to but not the same as the Canon FL and FD mounts that followed later.

From the 1960s, subminiature cameras made for 16mm film: Rollei 16, Mec 16SB, Goldeck 16, Minicord and Mamiya 16 Automatic
From the 1960s, subminiature cameras made for 16mm film: Rollei 16, Mec 16SB, Goldeck 16, Minicord and Mamiya 16 Automatic

This era also saw a growing interest in subminiature cameras. Although the Mini-Fex, the first camera for 16mm film, appeared in 1932, the trend really took off in the 1950s and continued into the 1960s. For a while it looked like 16mm would take over from 35mm, but it never happened.

Topcon RE Super, the first 35mm SLR with TTL metering
Topcon RE Super, the first 35mm SLR with TTL metering

Two important landmarks landed in 1963. The Topcon RE Super was the first 35mm SLR with through-the-lens (TTL) metering. It worked by using a special reflex mirror with a pattern of transparent lines etched into it, allowing some light to pass through the mirror to a CdS meter cell at the rear. (Note for pedants: the first camera to use TTL metering was actually the Mec 16SB in 1961, but that was a 16mm subminature, not an SLR.)

Three generations of Kodak snapshot cameras: the Instamatic 100 for 126 film, Pocket Instamatic for 110 film and the first Disc Camera
Three generations of Kodak snapshot cameras: the Instamatic 100 for 126 film, Pocket Instamatic for 110 film and the first Disc Camera

The other major landmark of 1963 was the introduction of Kodak’s Instamatic cameras, whose unique selling point was the Kodapak cartridge containing film that was simply dropped into the back of the camera, doing away with the complications of loading that plagued snapshot photographers. The basic design was taken up by other manufacturers around the world before being overtaken by Kodak’s Pocket Instamatics for 110 film in 1972. Again popularity for the design spread around the world until Kodak’s introduction of Disc cameras ten years later.

Swing lens panoramic cameras for 35mm film: the FT-2 from 1958 (left) and the 1967 Horizont
Swing lens panoramic cameras for 35mm film: the FT-2 from 1958 (left) and the 1967 Horizont

Polaroid was again to the fore in 1972 with the introduction of the SX-70 camera. Following the first instant picture camera back in 1948, Polaroid had gone through many incarnations of the peel-apart film process. But SX-70 saw a completely different approach, with pictures which were automatically ejected from the camera immediately after exposure to develop in full colour, in normal lighting, in around one minute.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Mamiya proved a worthy rival to Hasselblad with its range of roll film reflexes. Left to right: Mamiya RB67, Mamiya M645 Super and Mamiya RZ67
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mamiya proved a worthy rival to Hasselblad with its range of roll film reflexes. Left to right: Mamiya RB67, Mamiya M645 Super and Mamiya RZ67

The same year saw Olympus introduce the OM-1, a new breed of ultra-compact 35mm SLRs, which went on to influence rivals like Pentax and Nikon. The camera began life as the Olympus M-1, but following objections from Leitz who had a Leica with a similar nomenclature, Olympus agreed to change the name. The OM-1 was followed by the OM-2, the first SLR with off-the-film metering with which the shutter speed was measured and set during the actual exposure. Following on came the OM-3 and OM-4, then the simplified OM10, OM20, OM30 and OM40.

SX-70 Alpha 1, part of a new wave of instant picture cameras from Polaroid
SX-70 Alpha 1, part of a new wave of instant picture cameras from Polaroid
The original Olympus M-1 with Pentax ME Super and Nikon EM
The original Olympus M-1 with Pentax ME Super and Nikon EM

The 1970s were when auto-exposure really took off with aperture priority metering in the 1975 Olympus OM-2, shutter priority in the 1976 Canon AE-1, shutter and aperture priority combined in the 1977 Minolta XD7 and no less than five exposure modes in the 1978 Canon A-1.

Metering pioneers: Olympus OM-2 illustrated with T20 flashgun and OM Winder 2 fitted, Canon AE-1 and Minolta XD-7
Metering pioneers: Olympus OM-2 illustrated with T20 flashgun and OM Winder 2 fitted, Canon AE-1 and Minolta XD-7

The most significant advance of the 1970s, although you wouldn’t have known it at the time, was when, in 1975, Kodak electrical engineer Steven Sasson invented and demonstrated the first digital camera, only to have Kodak patent it and try their best to forget it. Presumably in light of the fact that Kodak made most of its money from film and processing, the company’s accountants were hoping digital photography might go away. How wrong they were.

The first digital camera used six circuit boards, 16 nickel cadmium batteries, an analogue/digital converter salvaged from a digital voltmeter, the discarded lens from an old Super-8 movie camera and a portable digital cassette instrumentation recorder. In today’s jargon it would be called a 0.01 megapixel camera (Courtesy of Steven Sasson)
The first digital camera used six circuit boards, 16 nickel cadmium batteries, an analogue/digital converter salvaged from a digital voltmeter, the discarded lens from an old Super-8 movie camera and a portable digital cassette instrumentation recorder. In today’s jargon it would be called a 0.01 megapixel camera (Courtesy of Steven Sasson)
Early autofocus relied on special lenses for attachment to manual focus SLRs. Here are the Pentax ME F, the first camera specifically made as an autofocus SLR, and the Olympus OM30, with its purpose-made autofocus lens
Early autofocus relied on special lenses for attachment to manual focus SLRs. Here are the Pentax ME F, the first camera specifically made as an autofocus SLR, and the Olympus OM30, with its purpose-made autofocus lens

1980-2000: New technologies

Two autofocus landmarks: 1977 Konica C35AF, the first autofocus camera (left), with the 1985 Minolta 7000, first with body integral autofocus
Two autofocus landmarks: 1977 Konica C35AF, the first autofocus camera (left), with the 1985 Minolta 7000, first with body integral autofocus

The 20 years leading up to the millennium saw the introduction of new digital technology fighting against what, with hindsight, now looks like desperate attempts to reinvent and hold on to the film camera market.

Things kicked off in 1981 with a glimpse of the future in the shape of the Sony Mavica, a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) with interchangeable lenses. Images were captured and up to 50 colour pictures stored on interchangeable magnetic discs called Mavipaks. The resolution of the images was 570×490 pixels, equivalent to a little under 0.3 megapixels. The camera didn’t get beyond the prototype stage.

Two different bridge camera designs: the 1988 Ricoh Mirai and 1990 Olympus IS-1000
Two different bridge camera designs: the 1988 Ricoh Mirai and 1990 Olympus IS-1000

Unperturbed by the coming digital revolution, the Minolta 7000 film SLR was launched in 1985. Autofocus was already possible in compact cameras or in SLRs with special lenses. But the Minolta was the first to integrate the autofocus mechanism into the camera body and so set the style for autofocus SLRs, both film and digital, for many years to come.

By 1987, film camera sales had begun to dwindle. Manufacturers countered this by producing a series of 35mm bridge cameras that offered much of the SLR’s versatility, albeit with fixed zoom lenses, coupled with the compact camera’s auto-everything ease of use. Yashica began the craze with the Samurai, which looked more like a camcorder than a still camera, but the shape settled down to the more traditional bridge camera styling with cameras from Olympus, Chinon, Ricoh, Canon, Minolta and Fujifilm, all the way through to 1991.

Disposable cameras began briefly back in the 1940s with models like the Hollywood (left), but the craze took off in a big way with the Fujifilm Quicksnap in 1987
Disposable cameras began briefly back in the 1940s with models like the Hollywood (left), but the craze took off in a big way with the Fujifilm Quicksnap in 1987

Disposable cameras began in America back in the 1940s and 1950s, but the arrival in 1967 of the Fujifilm Quicksnap marked the start of what would become a huge craze for disposable cameras that still lasts today.

Then, in 1988, Canon launched the iON (standing for Image Online Network). Known as the Xap Shot in America and Q Pic in Japan, this was one of the earliest commercially available digital cameras. The iON used a flat body with an f/2.8 lens at one end of the narrow side and a built-in flashgun at the other. Using small spinning discs for storage, it shot 50 pictures, viewed by connecting the camera to a normal television. It wasn’t a digital camera as we know it today, but more like a still video camera. Nevertheless, it marked the start of what was about to come big time.

Canon iON still video camera with the discs on which images were recorded
Canon iON still video camera with the discs on which images were recorded

Not that you’d have known it if you were listening to some of the world’s biggest photographic manufacturers, who got together in 1996 to launch the Advanced Photo System (APS). With this came a new type of film for a new kind of camera that combined simplicity of use with revolutionary hi-tech ways of shooting and processing. Kodak, Agfa, Fujifilm and Konica made the film; Kodak, Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Olympus and others came on board with cameras that ranged from simple point-and-shoot compacts to top-notch interchangeable lens SLRs. Predictions were that APS would replace 35mm and change photography for ever. It lasted less than ten years.

The extremely stylish Canon EOS IX, one of the best APS cameras
The extremely stylish Canon EOS IX, one of the best APS cameras

INTO THE DIGITAL ERA

2000-2026: How we got where we are

As film camera manufacturers hung on by their fingertips to the old ways, by 2000, the digital revolution had already insinuated itself and soon it totally took over.

Two early attempts at building DSLRs: a Kodak DCS 410, which mounted Kodak digital technology on a Nikon N90 SLR (left), with a Nikon E2, made more bulky than most to allow room for its reduction optics technology
Two early attempts at building DSLRs: a Kodak DCS 410, which mounted Kodak digital technology on a Nikon N90 SLR (left), with a Nikon E2, made more bulky than most to allow room for its reduction optics technology

From 1990 onwards, Nikon had already joined forces with Kodak to produce the DCS series of DSLRs, that were essentially Nikon film cameras like the F3 with Kodak image sensors bolted to the back and base. Kodak also went on to couple its digital backs and bases to Canon EOS cameras. In 1996, Nikon collaborated with Fujifilm to produce the strangely shaped and extremely cumbersome Nikon E2, which tackled the way small sensors took a bite out of the centre of an image. This meant that, for example, a 50mm lens which would be a standard on a 35mm film camera became more like an 80mm medium telephoto on a digital camera. The E2 solved that with inbuilt reduction optics technology that shrunk the image to fit the size of the sensor.

Two DSLRs that strongly influenced future digital designs: the Nikon D1 and Olympus E-1
Two DSLRs that strongly influenced future digital designs: the Nikon D1 and Olympus E-1

Around this same time, other non-reflex manufacturers were joining the digital revolution, freed from the previously dictated confines of having to place a lens in the centre of a body with a film behind it. Now cameras could be any shape, and lenses could be placed anywhere. The Casio QV-10 in 1995 was the first with an LCD screen on the back; Pentax’s first digital camera, the EI-C90 in 1996, was shaped like a flat box, part of which formed a detachable camera and the other part housing a monitor with a pop-up screen; Minolta came up with the Dimage V in 1998 whose 8-13mm zoom lens could be detached from the body and waved about on the end of a long cable. And there were more, far too numerous to mention.

Then, in 1999, Nikon introduced the first DSLR to be built from the ground up by a single manufacturer, and brought it in under $5000 / £4,000 (RRP). The camera was the Nikon D1. It might only have had a 2.7MP sensor, but it marked the start of a new era of reflex cameras

The Sharp J-SH04 J-Phone was the first stand-alone mobile phone with a built-in camera (Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
The Sharp J-SH04 J-Phone was the first stand-alone mobile phone with a built-in camera (Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

The following year saw the beginnings of a new kind of digital photography when Sharp Electronics in Japan introduced the J-SH04 J-Phone, the first mobile phone with a built-in 0.11MP camera. The real phone revolution, however, began in 2007 when Apple launched the iPhone, and the rest of that particular story is history.

The Canon EOS 300D which made DSLR photography more affordable for the amateur market (Courtesy of Park Cameras)
The Canon EOS 300D which made DSLR photography more affordable for the amateur market (Courtesy of Park Cameras)

Meanwhile, back with cameras, 2003 saw the launch by Canon of the EOS 300D for under $1,000/£1,000, a price that really opened up the affordable amateur DSLR market. Nikon countered that with its D70 for a similar price. At the same time, Olympus launched the E-1, whose Four Thirds technology was offered to other manufacturers, giving them access to design specifications and technologies to produce cameras and lenses all with the same mount. Olympus went big on the system, while Panasonic made two Four Thirds cameras and Leica made one.

For professional use, however, full-frame, meaning the 24x36mm format that harks back to 35mm film, soon became king. Surprisingly perhaps, that goes all the way back to 2002, when the first full-frame DSLR was the Contax N Digital. However it was the Canon EOS-1Ds from the following year that is considered as the first major step towards full-frame digital photography.

Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 which brought the old techniques of stereo photography to the digital camera world
Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 which brought the old techniques of stereo photography to the digital camera world

Stereo photography once again surfaced in 2010, this time in the digital world with the introduction of the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 and W3 cameras. As of old, they used two lenses to shoot two images. Processed with the appropriate software, these could be reproduced as twin images for viewers similar to those in years before, or as anaglyphs, designed to be viewed through red and blue/green 3D spectacles.

Panasonic Lumix G1, the world’s first mirrorless camera
Panasonic Lumix G1, the world’s first mirrorless camera

The real revolution, though, came in 2008, when Panasonic introduced the Lumix G1. This was a distinctly unrevolutionary looking DSLR-like camera which removed the mirror box and pentaprism and replaced them with an electronic viewfinder, with the promise of more compact bodies and lenses. It was the first mirrorless camera, a type that would eventually made the SLR obsolete. Today, mirrorless represents the ultimate combination of power and portability through such all-singing, all-dancing cameras as the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and its counterparts from the likes of Nikon and Sony.

Where we are now: Canon EOS R5 Mark II DSLR, featuring full-frame 45MP stacked CMOS sensor, dual pixel intelligent autofocus including eye-control, 8K RAW video, continuous shooting up to 30fps, wi-fi connectivity, in-camera upscaling… and so much more, pictured with Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens (Courtesy of Park Cameras)
Where we are now: Canon EOS R5 Mark II DSLR, featuring full-frame 45MP stacked CMOS sensor, dual pixel intelligent autofocus including eye-control, 8K RAW video, continuous shooting up to 30fps, wi-fi connectivity, in-camera upscaling… and so much more, pictured with Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens (Courtesy of Park Cameras)

Since the dawn of digital, the technology has developed at speeds hitherto unheard of. Sensor sizes, megapixel counts, multiple autofocus points, facial recognition, touch screen operation, numerous shooting modes, time-lapse control, voice recording, Wi-Fi connectivity, text tagging, best shot selectors, 4K video… all these and more besides can be found in today’s cameras. It is worth remembering, however, that no matter how complicated or technologically advanced your latest digital camera might be, at its heart there lies no more than a box with a lens, some kind of sensitised material and controls to adjust focus, apertures and shutter speeds. And you know what? They knew all about those basics 200 years ago.

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