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Trace the epic journey of the camera from pinboxes to smartphones

Team StoryWeavers|April 25, 2022, 08:28 IST| 100

I am an important part of everyone’s life. Be it holidays or festivals, I help people make beautiful memories at the touch of a button. Say cheese, and I will make you smile. Wondering who I am? I’m the camera. In this month’s The Evolution of Everything, let’s hear my story – Where was I born? Who created me? And how did I transform from a box into a device? 

Are you ready to listen to my story? 

Let’s go back in time to about 2000 years ago. 

The First Cameras

The journey began somewhere in the 5th Century BC. Several renowned philosophers and mathematicians like Aristotle and Ibn al-Haytham theorized on the phenomenon of optics to understand light. Arab mathematician Ibn al-Haytham invented the first pinhole camera called Camera Obscura. This camera was designed in the shape of a box with a small hole in the centre. The light would travel through the hole and strike a reflex surface. This would then project a colourful image, upside down.

Fun Fact: Camera Obscura was originally used to study solar eclipses

French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent images using a portable Camera Obscura. They were the first recorded images that did not fade quickly. Soon, he collaborated with French photographer Louis Daguerre to design the daguerreotype camera. This camera could be used by the masses. 

Fun Fact: The daguerreotype camera was one of the world’s most expensive cameras.

German photographer Friedrich Von Martens invented the first panoramic camera – Megaskop Kamera in 1845. The lenses of this camera could rotate 110 degrees to 360 degrees. This helped in getting quality landscape images.

Fun Fact: Friedrich Von Martens’ remarkable invention bagged him the Council Medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.

Advance camera

American entrepreneur George Eastman introduced the first celluloid film for use with a camera he called the ‘Kodak’. In 1900, he introduced the iconic camera, ‘The Kodak Brownie’ that was a hit until the late 1960s.

Fun Fact: Kodak Brownie popularised low-cost photography and introduced the concept of the snapshot.

The instant camera became popular when American scientist Edwin Land invented the Polaroid camera (model 95).

Fun Fact: The first Land camera (named after its inventor) employed a chemical process that made completed photo prints within a minute.

Digital world

American scientist Steven Sasson invented the first digital camera. By 1986, Fujifilm produced its first disposable camera.

Fun Fact: In 1991, the Kodak DCS SLR camera became the first professional digital camera that was sold for $13,000.

Japan’s J Phone is the first phone to have a camera. With this, phone cameras became a trend and many advanced versions were created afterward. Along with it, advanced SLR and DSLR cameras became popular among aspiring photographers.

The camera is undoubtedly a breakthrough invention in the history of science. It has transformed the way people look at art and life. Do you have a story about the first time you clicked a picture? Do share with us in the comments below.

Also read the article on How did telephones go from wired to wireless?

Like this story? Read similar stories at The Learning Tree.

About the Author


Books are Tanaya Goswami’s first love and cheesecakes come a close second. Talking about movies, music, calligraphy, politics, and Elon Musk will get you listed under the friends’ section of her diary. Ever since moving on from her job as an English lecturer, she spends her time at BYJU’S crafting stories filled with emotion and sprinkled with sarcasm. Outside of work, she’s either learning something new (French, most recently!) or is curled up with a book and a cup of coffee. She firmly believes that discovering what you don’t know is the key to knowledge and is constantly working towards improving herself. Drop in a line at storyweavers@byjus.com if you liked her stories, have something nice to say, or if you have compelling ideas to share!

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Comments



Irene Tesa

June 19, 2020

interesting history of cameras


Pranav Bagrecha

April 27, 2020

Please tell me about evolution of wireless technology.


Ashlin Chackochan

March 2, 2020

which is best: DSLR or camera Phone ☺


Ashlin Chackochan

March 2, 2020

What about DSLR ???


Samadrita sen

March 1, 2020

Wow!!


Rajshree Chakraborty

February 25, 2020

I can learn a lot with BYJU’S


Vatsal kumar

February 12, 2020

Very good information


Ridhim verma

February 2, 2020

I like all but I love only digital camera


Sri laxmi

January 28, 2020

It’s very good information about camera


Gautama Narang

January 28, 2020

It was really interesting and insightful. Thank you team Byju’s.


Harini

January 23, 2020

Fascinating


Rateeka

January 19, 2020

According to me byjus is the best way of learning because it not only provide the subject knowledge but also improve our general knowledge.


Shaurya

January 17, 2020

Good information


Yusuf Ameer

January 16, 2020

Amazing!


Vaishnavi

January 14, 2020

I like clicking photo ……nic information i liked it


Shaika

January 13, 2020

Very good tanaya.get going


Jai Singh

January 10, 2020

Very good knowledge about camera


Barira

January 10, 2020

Thanks byju’s for giving us the information of ??????❤️


Rishita

January 10, 2020

A beautiful presentation of camera with pictures and texts.Thanks for giving us this knowledge


Adhya Asati

January 9, 2020

Good to know about camera


Keyur Kurkute

January 9, 2020

It is very interesting to know about
different cameras.Thank you for sending


Usha

January 9, 2020

Really good information


Rohit

January 7, 2020

A good ???????????????????️?️????????????????? information?


Snigdha

January 7, 2020

The First sentence can be a riddle for my CLASS!
Very Nice.


Mahikaa

January 7, 2020

Its a good information and very beneficial
This also says how science has improved and is also improving in the 2020


Jahnavi

January 6, 2020

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us…..????????


Divyesh Kirankumar Tayade

January 6, 2020

Very nice I loved it very much.


Farooqui Rifa

January 6, 2020

Informative


K. ROHITH

January 5, 2020

It’s very interesting invention to us. we can store Our memories’s.and we can see after so many days. We can recollect our school or college, etc memories


JAY

January 5, 2020

Wow! I liked it. Thank you the team of Byju’s


Aditi nayak

January 5, 2020

Wow it is very nicely explained can I get some more stories like this and tips for exams.


TISHA

January 3, 2020

Great Narration I just loved it very very very helpful I formation
it helped me to improve the performance of general knowledge????
???????????????????????️?️?


Anwitha Abhilash

January 3, 2020

Good information.


Jai Singh

January 2, 2020

Very expensive and beautiful cameras


Chinmaya Nayak

January 1, 2020

Nice


Ravikumar Datta

January 1, 2020

I like camara


Harish

January 1, 2020

Which lens are used for first camera
??


Poojha

January 1, 2020

Wow! The camera history was amazing ???


Arpita Ranjan

January 1, 2020

Full of informations.
Thanks alot☺☺


Utsav

January 1, 2020

Wonderful history of camera. Love it ☺☺


Jeenal jain

January 1, 2020

This information is really usefull. And obscura cameras are really awesome and i saw them in our science lab for experiments


Shambhavi

January 1, 2020

this is really amazing information and even narration


Mekha Mariyam Thomas

December 31, 2019

Gave a lot of information..osm?


Ritikashree

December 31, 2019

It’s amazing to know about the cameras


Ritikashree

December 31, 2019

I’m really excited….


Ritikashree

December 31, 2019

I’m really excited


Abhiraj sanjaykumar jadhav

December 31, 2019

Hi,it is really a ethical information about cameras.I get to learn about history of cameras.Thanks for giving this detailed information on cameras.


Chirasmita meher

December 31, 2019

Very informative and interesting


Jesvi Maria

December 31, 2019

Great!!!!
I enjoyed !!!!
Thanks!!!!


Jesvi Maria Biju

December 31, 2019

Great! !!


Riddhi

December 31, 2019

Pretty interesting… It’s really fun to know about evolution of the cameras and very informative too.


Nived shaji

December 31, 2019

Nice information . Thanks byjus for this information.


Sadaf naaz

December 31, 2019

I love byju’s
It gives us so much information about the things in our life


Rizwan patel

December 31, 2019

Really good information to read


Bhavesh Rajpurohit

December 30, 2019

I feel glad to read about the History and Evolution of Cameras


Mekha Mariyam Thomas

December 30, 2019

Narration was awesome..and gave lot of information


Lakshmi Priya

December 30, 2019

It’s really a very good information. I am so proud to be a member of byju’s as i can improve my general knowledge as well as subject knowledge.


M.yazhini

December 30, 2019

A wonder full message and history of cameras


Anish ganesh

December 30, 2019

Wow! I like this narration ❤️❤️ . I learned the history beyond cameras . It was very interesting.I didn’t know that there was a history beyond cameras. I learned different types of cameras, who invented them, when they were invented and I also learned some of the facts of every
types of cameras. I am very curious to read more narrations about evolution of everything.?????✌️✌️✌️

Thank you ??


Jigya

December 30, 2019

It is an amazing narration about the history of camera ???.


Jigya

December 30, 2019

It is a nice information. keep it up ???


Jigya

December 30, 2019

It is a nice information.keep it up ???


Anish ganesh

December 30, 2019

Wow! I didn’t know. There was a huge history beyond cameras. From this epic narration ,I learned how cameras were invented? ,who invented them? And I also learned some of the fun facts about each
types of cameras . It was very interesting. I would like to read more evolution of everything. ?????

Thank you ??


Dr. Uzma Parveen

December 30, 2019

Interesting information ?


Drishti

December 30, 2019

Nice information..


Dibyadeep Vikramjit Karmakar

December 29, 2019

Thank you Byju’s


Jay Mahant

December 29, 2019

Very important information of camera


Sri Krishna

December 29, 2019

The evolution of cameras was very much impressive
But the evolution has not yet droped , still amazing
Cameras will be innovated and evolution will be continued


Ashok Badur

December 29, 2019

Very informative story.Thank you Team BYJU’S


Abhijeet

December 29, 2019

Still confused, IPhones have lesser megapixels than Android phones.
But IPhones Always provides Better and sharper photos


Divya

December 29, 2019

epic journey of a camera


NEETU PANDEY

December 29, 2019

Thank you Byju for an amazing adventure on evolution of cameras. It a special story for me.


Aryan Gujarathi

December 29, 2019

Awesome . Can you send a history of planes also ?


Aditya

December 29, 2019

Really camera is an incredible invention.
First picture I took was when we went to
Taj Mahal.


Thothathri.Y

December 29, 2019

Useful History


Nandita Gupta

December 28, 2019

Please give us the evolution of clothing which is also a very interesting topic.
Thank You byju’s ????????????????????????


Amulya Mandar Joshi

December 28, 2019

Hello. I am Amulya Joshi from 5th std. Thank you for this information.
My father has bought a digital camera and i was searching its information in google
But I didn’t got it there but got it here.


Trishan Saha

December 28, 2019

Wow!


Chinmayee Khairnar

December 28, 2019

????


Kristi

December 28, 2019

I love this. I don’t know that mobile phones are made like this. Thanks byjus so much for telling about

mobile phones.????????☺?


Sadiya kounine kittur

December 28, 2019

What is SLR and DSLR


TISHA

December 28, 2019

Wow what a information ??


Krishna periwal

December 28, 2019

Really great evolution by scientists


Soumya

December 28, 2019

Thanks, for this piece of information. ☺☺


Shubham

December 28, 2019

The best information about the camera evolution
I love it


Abhinav

December 28, 2019

Very important knowledge.


Sivaganga

December 28, 2019

Good


Nandini

December 28, 2019

This is so cool ! ?


Idiot and ayushi

December 28, 2019

Such a wonderful facts about ? that will improve my general knowledge. Thank you so much. You are really good. I will be the ultimate follower of your marvellous learning app the great app byju’s


Hasini

December 28, 2019

Can I know why you kept about camera
Just for knowledge or any special about it


Tejaswini Senapaty

December 28, 2019

What a naration! I just love it , especially the opening ???.


Harshit

December 28, 2019

Its interesting history of camera


Swastika

December 28, 2019

The camera obscura is now used for science experiments only.


Upendra Kumar Donthu

December 28, 2019

Really good information to read


Saisumeet

December 28, 2019

A lot of knowledge


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