This has been a fun list to compile, integrating some of the major digital elements into the timestream of what was once conventional photography. It is by no means an exhaustive list and there may be a few inaccuracies as conflicting histories are recorded but it's the best I could do with the information around. Don't take it as facts set in stone, rather see it as a rough guide to the way things have unfolded, and note from 2004 on the history is a bit sketchy - so many new developments have occurred that the list would probably be TWICE as long if I added 2004 - 2007
5th-4th Centuries B.C.Chinese and Greek philosophers seperately describe
the basic
principles of optics and the camera.
1604 Johannes Kepler was the first person to coin the phras Camera Obscura
and in 1609, Kepler further suggested the use of a lens to improve the
image projected by a Camera Obscura
1664-1666 Isaac Newton discovers that white light is composed of different
colors.
1727 Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon
exposure to light.
1814 Joseph Nic�phore Ni�pce achieves first photographic image with camera
obscura - however, thethe image required eight hours of light exposure and
later faded
1837 Daguerre's first daguerreotype - the first image that was fixed and
did not fade and needed under thirty minutes of light exposure.
1840 First American patent issued in photography to Alexander Wolcott for
his camera.
1841 William Henry Talbot patents the Calotype process - the first
negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies.
1843 First advertisement with a photograph made in Philadelphia.
1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process - images
required only two or three seconds of light exposure.
1857 George Eastman pays George Monroe $5 to teach him the photographic
process.
1859 Panoramic camera patented - the Sutton.
1861 Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer.
1861 First chemical means to color photography is explored.
1861 Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer.
1865 Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works
under copyright.
1867 "Actien Gesellschaft fur Anilin Fabrikation" or Agfa, a German dye
company is established
1869 Color photography, using the subtractive method is developed.
1871 Halftone process allows newspaper printing of pictures, pictures
published in 1880.
1871 Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide
process - negatives no longer had to be developed immediately.
1872 the young Emperor and Empress Meiji are photographed - the first time
a Japanese Emperor and Empress were photographed. Since viewing the face of
the Emperor by his subjects was forbidden the images were not circulated.
1873 Konishi-ya, forerunner of Konica, is established in Kojimachi, Tokyo.
It later moves to Honcho in 1876 and changes its name to Konishi Honten -
this is the first commercial film company in the world.
1873 Hermann Vogel discovered that coloured dyes could be incorporated in
photographic emulsions.
1875 In the U.S., Carey designs a selenium mosaic to transmit a picture
(the fax machine)
1878 English inventor and manufacturer, Frederick Wratten founded one of
the first photographic supply businesses, Wratten and Wainwright in 1878.
(later purchased by Kodak)
1878 Cathode ray tube is invented by Crookes, English chemist
1879 Ilford starts in Essex when Mr Alfred Hugh Harman set up a business
in the basement of his house on the corner of Cranbrook Road and Park
Avenue - His business expanded and in 1880 moved to Roden St, trading as
the Britannia Works Company, later called Ilford Ltd
1880 Eastman Dry Plate Company founded.
1884 Eastman invents flexible, paper-based photographic film.
1887 Flashlight Powder - Blitzlichtpulver or flashlight powder was
invented in Germany by Adolf Miethe and Johannes Gaedicke
1887 Celluloid film introduced - it will replace glass plate photography
in time
1888 Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera.
1888 Ferdinand Hurter and Vero Driffield pioneered the science of
sensitometry, film speed, and made the first exposure calculator - the
Actinograph
1896 X-ray photography developed.
1896 the first photographic magazine "Shashin Shinpo" is published by
Hakubundo in Japan. Production ceased after 84 editions
1896 Noted photographer ESAKI Reiji (Japan) succeeds in photographing
fireworks at night.
1898 Reverend Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film
1900 First mass-marketed camera- the Browny sells for $1.
1902 Germany's Zeiss invents the four-element Tessar camera lens
1903 Japans first portable camera, the The Cherry Portable is made by
Konishi Honten (Konica)
1904 A photograph is transmitted by wire in Germany
1907 Kuribayashi Seisakusho, the forerunner of Petri Camera, is founded
1908 a young mechanical engineering student from the Tokyo Institute of
Technology would return to Japan from Germany where he had spent three
years studying optical design and lens manufacturing. His name was Fujii
Ryuzo, and he founded the Fujii Lens Seizosho factory. In 1917 the company
would become the Nippon Kogaku Kogyo K.K. which was the forerunner of
Nikon.
1909 the Agfa Film Company was founded by Dr. Franz Oppenheim
1913 First 35mm still camera developed, the Leica (LEItz CAmera).
1919 Flip-flop circuit invented; will help computers to count.
1919 Takachiho Seisaku-sho, the forerunner of Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
(Olympus cameras) in Japan was established as a microscope manufacturer
1919 Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha (forerunner of Asahi Optical Company, Ltd.,
maker of Pentax cameras) is established in Tokyo by KAJIWARA Kumao as a
manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses
1921 The word "robot" enters the English language (Polish - 'slave')
1921 Nippon Kogaku Kogyo K.K. (later Nikon) hired eight German engineers
on a five year contract to design the lenses they hoped to make. One of
them, Heinrich Acht extended his stay until 1928. It was Acht who produced
the first photographic lens to come from the Nikon company--the Acht 5cm
f/4.8
1922 First 3-D movie, requires spectacles with one red and one green lens
(anaglyphic photography)
1927 General Electric invents the modern flash bulb.
1928 Baird demonstrates color TV on electro-mechanical system - video is
born.
1928 Tashima Kazuo established the Nichi-Doku Shashin Shokai company which
would later become known as the Minolta Camera Company. The company
produced the first Rokkor lens in 1940
1928 Baird invents a video disc to record television
1928 Agfa US and Ansco merge to form Agfa Ansco, which eventually became
AGFA
1929 Zworykin demonstrates cathode-ray tube "kinescope" receiver, 60 scan
lines resolution
1929 Konishiroku markets Sakura film
1930 Leopold D. Mannes and Leo Godowsky ("Man" and "God" as they were
known), both professional musicians and avid amateur photographers joined
Kodak and later would be instrumental in developing what would be known as
the Kodachrome process in 1935.. the intricate processing sequence is
timed to synchronise to the final movement of Brahms C-minor Symphony
1933 in Japan, Yoshida Goro (1900-1993) with his brother-in-law, Saburo
Uchida (1899-1982)established the Seiki Kogaku Kenkyusho company and in
three months produced the Kwanon 35mm camera. Later the company became
Canon (Kwanon is the Buddhist god of mercy, the camera cdo. name was
changed to avoid offending other religions)
1934 Associated Press starts wirephoto service
1934 the Fuji Photo Film Company was established to produce
photosensitized materials and motion picture film for the Japanese market
1935 Eastman Kodak markets Kodachrome film.
1935 German single lens reflex roll film camera synchronized for flash
bulbs
1936 Kine Exakta released - Generally agreed to be the first 35mm SLR
1936 Hansa Canon, Japan's first 35mm rangefinder camera with a focal-plane
shutter is produced by Seiki Kogaku Kenkyusho (Canon)
1940 Ilford launched the world's first true 'MULTIGRADE' photographic
paper, but it wasn't a success
1940 Konishiroku (Konica) markets the "Sakura Tennen-shoku Film R35" film,
Japan's first coupler-in-developer color slide film with multi-layer
emulsion.
1940 camera production was restricted for military purposes only, stunting
Japanese camera development and production.
1941 Eastman Kodak introduces Kodak's Kodacolor negative film.
1942 Chester Carlson receives patent for electric photography
(xerography).
1943 Chino Hirishi established Sanshin Seisakusho which, in 1973, became
Chinon Industries. The company makes lens barrels and mounts for cameras
such as Olympus, Ricoh, and Yashica. It would be 11 more years before the
company would make its first lenses. the company was killed off by hostile
takover by kodak in 1997 when they finally gained a 50.1% share holding.
(laws were enacted in the US but not Japan to prevent Kodak's habit of
buying and killing companies - Agfa and Gaevert merged to prevent a hostile
Kodak takeover, as did Ciba and Ilford, others were not so lucky)
1945 Wolfen factories in Germany continue operations under the name ORWO
for ORiginal WOlfen. It still exists after the reunification of Germany.
1945 Hiroshima's mushroom cloud is photographed by YAMADA Seizo outside
the city as well as by a junior high school student named FUKADA Toshio
(four successive photos). MATSUSHIGE Yoshito photographs the Hiroshima
victims near the epicenter right after the explosion
1945 army photographer YAMAHATA Yosuke photographs the aftermath in
Nagasaki. His photos still receive high acclaim today
1947 Hungarian engineer in England invents holography
1947 Ilford announce their second camera, the sophisticated 35mm
interchangeable lens rangefinder camera called the "Witness"
1948 Edwin Land markets the Polaroid camera.
1948 American Photography magazine forsee the massive sales increase in
'superior' American cameras to Japan after trade sanctions are dropped.
Withing 20 years the majority of American camera manufacturers had ceased
to exist.
1948 the first Nikon 35mm camera was released
1948 The Hasselblad 1600F was introduced
1949 Contax S - First *successful* 35mm Single Lens Reflex with eyelevel
pentaprism viewfinder
1950 More than 100,000 "Made in Occupied Japan" cameras were made but
priced beyond the reach of most Japanese due to a high taxation. For the
masses, there were cheap mini-cameras which used 14mm-width roll film
1950 David Duncan during a visit to New York goes public with the news of
how Nikkor lenses were superior to German lenses. A camera column in the
Dec. 10, 1950 edition of The New York Times and the Feb. and March 1951
issues of Popular Photography feature stories about Duncan's use of Nikkor
lenses when he covered the Korean War. Nippon Kogaku and Nikkor become then
famous outside Japan. This boosted the Japanese camera industry
1951 Highly flammable cellulose nitrate film base is replaced by acetate
film stock -"safety film"
1951 Computers are sold commercially.
1951 Still camera get built-in flash units.
1951 Bing Crosby laboratories introduces the first video tape recorder
(VTR) captured live images from television cameras by converting the
information into electrical impulses (digital) and saving the information
onto magnetic tape. Digital camera technology is directly related to and
evolved from the same technology that recorded television images.
1952 Agfa and Gavaert merge
1954 Eastman Kodak introduces high speed Tri-X film.
1957 3M (Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing) or Scotch begin film production
1957 The largest camera in the world is nearly 3 meters high, 3 meters
wide and 14 meters long. It uses a 1600mm APO lens and has a bellows
extension of 7.5 meters. It tips the scales at 27 000 kg and was built by
Rolls-Royce
1958 the Minolta SR-2 was the first SLR camera with an automatic diaphragm
which maintained maximum aperture for brightest viewing and stopped down
only when the picture was taken.
1959 The microchip is invented - Bob Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor set
the stage for the entire computer revolution to begin by printing an entire
electronic circuit on a single microchip of silicon using a photographic
process.
1959 Zenza Bronica was the first Japanese 6x6cm format camera with
interchangeable lenses and film backs
1959 The Widelux 35mm-format panoramic camera by Panon Camera Co. is
introduced with a 140-degree horizontal coverage and 55-degree vertical
coverage
1959 Canon markets its first SLR camera, the Canonflex. Although it was as
good or better than the Nikon F, it was not promoted well in the U.S. and
became forgotten. Canon's underestimation of the SLR's popularity in the
'60s led to its dwindling fortunes in the camera market. This however,
spurred them to diversify its product lines (especially office machines).
It did not concentrate so much on the small, professional segment of the
market like Nikon did until much later.
1960 EG&G develops extreme depth underwater camera for U.S. Navy.
1959 The Nikon F is introduced - the most significant 35mm SLR of all time
because it combined, Fully auto diaphragm, rapid-return mirror, rapid wind
lever, interchangeable viewfinders, interchangeable focusing screens,
interchangeable backs, an add on motor drive and a full line of lenses,
from 21-1000mm
1960 Konica F camera has the fastest SLR shutter speed at 1/2000 sec and
the world's first focal plane shutter with metal curtains. It had a
built-in, selenium photocell, exposure meter
1960 Omega produced about 12,000 4x5 enlargers per year with a workforce
of about 75 employees
1963 Polaroid introduces instant color film.
1963 Ciba-Geigy announced the Cibacolor Silver Dye-Bleach process for
printing color negatives and the Cibachrome process - Cibacolor, which was
far superior in stability to Kodak's Ektacolor, was never marketed.
1963 Kodak introduced the 126 film cartridge with easy-loading film
cartridge. They bring photography into the hands of many more amateurs,
kids and adults alike
1963 The Topcon RE Super was introduced, the first SLR with a TTL exposure
system (a Konica subsiduary, later to become Horseman).
1964 The Pentax SP is introduced, mistakenly assumed to be the first ttl
camera
1965 The first Japanese cameras incorporating electronic shutters are
introduced. They include the Yashica Electro Half, Olympus 35 EM, and
Olympus 35 LE
1965 Konica Auto Reflex - first SLR with an auto exposure - Shutter
priority AE
1965 Canon's Canonet QL 17 compact camera is the world's first camera with
a Quick Loading feature for 35mm film
1966 Kodak released the E-4 process for transparency films
1968 Photograph of the Earth from the moon.
1967 The Asahi Pentax 6x7 medium-format camera is introduced, the first
6x7cm format camera in the world to feature an eye-level pentaprism
1968 Konica Autoreflex T- first SLR with TTL autoexposure - Shutter
priority AE
1968 The Yashica Lynx 5000 sold as the first camera to employ ICs
(integrated circuits).
1971: Intel builds the microprocessor, "a computer on a chip."
1972 Kodak 110 Pocket Instamatic is sold
1972 Sony's Port-a-Pak, a portable video recorder is released.
1973 Polaroid introduces one-step instant photography with the SX-70
camera.
1975 At the major Japanese camera manufacturers, sales of photographic
equipment fall below 50 percent of total sales. Sales from office
automation equipment and other electronic devices start accounting for
majority sales
1975 The Olympus OM-2 camera is introduced. Light sensors meter from the
the shutter curtain and film plane.
1975 The microcomputer, in kit form, reaches the U.S. home market
1976 Canon AE-1 - Microprocessor used for the first time in an SLR.
1976 Fuji marketed the world's first ISO 400 color negative
film--Fujicolor FII400
1977 George Eastman and Edwin Land inducted into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame.
1977 Kodak released the E-6 process for transparency films
1977 Konica introduces first autofocus camera the C35 AF
1979 Canon A-1 - Programmed exposure with the use of computerized software
is introduced
1979 From Holland comes the digital videodisc read by laser
1979 Konica introduces the FS-1, the first SLR with a built in winder.
1980 Sony demonstrates first consumer camcorder.
1980 Ilford attributed for creating the first chromogenic film. XP1
(Agfa's Vario-XL XP2 400 was released at the same time, with Kodak's 400,
Professional Portra 400BW and T-Max T400 CN to follow - Konica's Monochrome
VX 400 was re-released after meeting abyssmal market acceptance though it's
original date of release is obscure, it was prior to 1980)
1981 Sony announces the Mavica, an electronic camera which used a CCD to
record images electronically
1981 Japanese camera production peaked at 7.67 million units
1981 The laptop computer is introduced.
1982 Kodak Disc - Manufacturing of camera ended in 1990
1982 The Polaroid VideoPrinter was introduced and used to display instant
color hard copy of such things as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
diagnostic imaging.
1982 the Nikon FM-2 was the first camera with a top shutter speed of
1/4000 sec.
1983 35mm SLR production falls to 5.37 million units, down by more than 30
percent from 1981's peak production of 7.67 million units. Demand for SLRs
continue to fall while compact cameras become the mainstream market.
1984 Fuji Photo Film marketed Fujicolour HR1600 color negative film, the
world's first ISO 1600 film
1984 Canon demonstrates their first video still camera, later to be called
"digital' cameras.
1984 Canon T80, with a 50mm lens, a 35-70 zoom, and a 75- 200 zoom - the
worlds first AF SLR
1984 Minolta Maxxum 7000 -wrongly claimed to be the first AF SLR 35 mm
camera.
1985 Pixar introduces digital imaging processor. (editing stills bit by
bit)
1985 CD-ROM can put 270,000 papers of text on a CD record
1986 Fuji introduce the first single use camera.
1986 Minolta Maxxum 9000, its first professional autofocus camera.
1987 Konishiroku Shashin Kogyo changed its corporate name to Konica
1987 Konica produces the worlds fastest print film, SRG 3200
1987 Kodak announced the 1.4Mp CCD for digital cameras
1988 PhotoMac was the first image program for the Macintosh computer.
1988 Nippon Kogaku changed its corporate name to Nikon
1989 Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame, owns the world's
largest scanner. He's been taking pictures long before he became a singer
and he has been doing digital imaging since this date
1990 Eastman Kodak announces Photo CD as a digital image storage medium.
1990 Adobe's Photoshop Version 1.0 became available for the Macintosh
computer
1993 Adobe's Photoshop was available for MS-DOS/Windows platforms
1996 Advanced Photo System (APS) cameras and film were released by the
consortium of Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Kodak, and Fuji. APS uses 24mm wide
film and includes film, cameras, and photofinishing equipment.
1997 Konica conducted a survey to find out the photography habits of
Japanese female high schoolers. By far, the most popular type of camera was
single-use cameras (color, B/W, or sepia film). Only 14% used a compact
camera, and only 1% an SLR. They also spent about 1/4 their average monthly
allowance on photography
1998 Canon marketed the EOS-3 autofocus SLR camera with new technologies
that surpass the top of the line EOS-1N
1999 Gustave Le Gray's photograph "The Great Wave, Sete (1857)" sells for
�567,500 making it the world's most expensive photograph to date.
1999 The Japan EIDA reports that about 1.45 million digital cameras were
sold in Japan in 1999, a 21 percent increase from 1998. Meanwhile, the
Japan Camera Industry Association reveals that domestic sales of film-based
cameras in fiscal 1999 fell by 4.5 percent to 4.18 million units. In the
case of Nikon, digital camera sales account for 30 percent of its total
camera sales. It is also spending about half its R&D budget on digital
cameras.
1999 Sony introduces the DSC505 - first camera to be able to focus
accurately in zero light by projecting a lazer hologram.
2000 Kodak introduces digital color screen previewer for a film based APS
2000 Helmut Newton's giant photo book titled Sumo Book goes on sale at
major bookstores for $1,500 in the US.. the book's size (50x70 cm) and
weight (30 kg) warrants it's own dedicated stand
2000 Casio Computer Co. markets the WQV-1 Wrist Camera, the world's first
digital camera that can be worn like a wristwatch. It weighs 32 grams
2001 Japanese camera makers sold a total of 13.24 million film-based still
cameras in the domestic and overseas markets. This was an 11% decrease from
the preceding year. Sales of digital still cameras continued upward at 5.91
million units sold. This includes a 86% increase in domestic sales and a
34% increase in exports.
2001 J-Phone introduced a cell phones having a built-in camera.
2001 Asahi Pentax LX professional SLR manual-focus, mechanical camera is
discontinued after being in production since June 1980.
2001 Nikon withdraw the Nikonos underwater camera, in production since
1984
2003 Konica and Minolta merged.
2004 Kodak shipped 1.47 million p&S digital cameras in the United
States -- 80 percent more than in the first half of 2003 - its market share
jumping to 18.3 percent. Sony shipped 1.73 million cameras, up 48 percent,
its slice of the U.S. market slipped from 21.9 percent to 21.5 percent,
Canon moved into third place with a 14.7 percent, Olympus fell back to 11.8
percent. Next were Fuji with 8.7 percent, Hewlett-Packard with 7 percent
and Nikon with 5.7 percent.
2004 Kodak shuts it's most profitable factory, winner of many trade awards
in Melbourne Australia despite record production increases and record sales
of RA4 paper. A new factory costing billions is opened in China.
2004 Leitz introduce a digital/film Leica hybrid
2004 Samsung announce the 5Mp camera-in-a-mobile phone. Also includes
television, MP3 player, portable hard drive and radio - doomsayers predict
the end of the cheap SLR manufacturers
2005 Sony sensors in Sony, Konica/Minolta, Canon and Nikon are found to have faults, millions of cameras worldwide are recalled for free repairs
2006 Konica Minolta are aquired by Sony, Konica film production ceases
2006 Sony manufactured LiIon batteries which have caused fire and explosions in cameras, laptops, phones and other devices prompt a worldwide recalled.
52007 Kodak discontinues the range of B&W Infra Red film
4:05 p.m. - 2007-12-11
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