Camera - History of Camera

Today, we use cameras almost every day. Some people even have cameras built into their phones or tablets. But, when was the camera invented?

Chines and Greek philosophers were experimenting with light and color as early as the 4^th century. The "camera" was originally designed to view solar eclipses without looking directly at them. The first type of camera was invented by Giovanni Batista Della Porte in 1558. Today, you can fit a camera into your pocket, but the first cameras were not so portable.

The images that you could see through these first cameras were not permanent either. There was no way to "capture" the image like we do today. In 1840, Alexander Wolcott discovered a way to make the images remain on the camera. Louis Jaques Mande Daguerre then developed a way to develop an image-a way to keep it from disappearing. The method created a "daguerreotype," and this process was brought to the United States by Samuel Morse.

Other inventors created ways for photographic images to be captured on "tintypes" or even on glass. In the late 1800's, George Eastman produced a paper on which an image could be developed. This allowed for the creation of permanent photographs on paper, as well as the entire film and movie industry. In 1900, Eastman went a step further and created the "Brownie," a hand-held camera.

The Brownie was inexpensive, and it remained popular until the 1960's. Over time, cameras have gotten smaller and now images can be stored digitally. Today, many people don't even have a regular "camera." Instead they just use the ones that are built into their cell phones!