Nikon DSLR History

April 2012        More Nikon Tests

Introduction

links to individual reviews for details and comparisons.

A year in digital cameras is equal to 25 regular years. A camera introduced 2-1/2 years ago may as well be 62 years old. It's completely obsolete. A new D5100 for $675 has far better image quality than the old Nikon D2Xs which sold for $5,000 a few years before.

Contrast this to film cameras where my 4x5" Linhof Technika and150mm lens are over 50 years old, and still in the prime of their useful life.

This article reads backwards. The newest is on top.

Generations

There are vast differences in real image quality between Nikon's two generations of digital cameras.

Like most marketing organizations and repressive governments, camera makers keep most people in the dark by keeping them worrying about easy-to-understand things which make no difference, like pixels and ISOs which are easy to describe with just one number, instead of trying to teach people what really matters, which are the subtleties of how a picture actually looks.

Because camera makers have the masses worrying about pixels and bit depths, when Nikon makes significant advances, they're usually not obvious behind all the fluff.

The difference between generations is so significant that the best Gen 1 camera, the D2Xs, can't make pictures as good as the cheapest Gen 2 camera, the D90, in most real picture-taking situations.

First Generation

Nikon's first generation of digital SLRs started with the D1 of 1999 and continues in 2008 with the D40.

The first generation has only primitive picture and white balance adjustments.

Gen 1 cameras have an Optimize Image menu with crude controls allowing only two rudimentary options of "Enhance (+)" or "Moderate (-)" for saturation, and WB trims that extend only to ±3. There is no green/magenta adjustment for WB.

There were meaningless mentions of undefined modes I, II and III in the Optimize Image menu, but no clever dynamic range management as Gen 2 adds.

Gen 1 cameras are the D1 and D2 series, D40, D40x, D50, D70, D70s, D80, D100 and D200.

Second Generation

Nikon's second generation DSLRs started coming out in 2007 with the D3 and D300.

Second generation cameras offer the potential of significantly better real image quality because Gen 2 cameras add Nikon's Adaptive Dynamic Range (ADR).

Presuming its turned on, ADR allows Gen 2 cameras to render most real scenes much closer to the way our eyes see them, without all added contrast, blown highlights and blocked shadows common on film and Gen 1 cameras for most people.

If you're a pro who knows how, and actually controls his lighting perfectly, then you can get great results on Gen 1 cameras, but for most people who don't, Gen 2 cameras will give significantly better pictures.

The D90 has ADR on by default, and the D3, D700 and D300 need it turned on in the menus. I always shoot my cameras with ADR in NORMAL (or AUTO if available) for every shot.

Gen 2 cameras also are Nikon's first cameras to allow a full range of saturation and other image adjustments. Saturation and other values are set in direct units of up to ±3. These are set in the Picture Controls menus.

Gen 2 cameras have WB trims which extend 6 units in each direction, marked in blue and amber (not + and -) and allow green/magenta adjustment.

Gen 2 cameras offer five manual preset (gray card) WB storage settings, complete with icons and notes.

Gen 2 cameras magically and automatically correct color fringes caused by most lenses. If you're a tweaker, this alone significantly improves corner sharpness.

	The Gen 2 D90 is far, far better than the Gen 1 D200. I didn't have a D2Xs for comparison, but it would be the same as the D200. These shots are crops from the corner with the 18-200mm VR at 18mm. The D90 is as sharp as the D300. The D90 was focused elsewhere in this example.

Gen 2 cameras are using the increased in-camera processing horsepower to do all these tricks. If you're wasting your time shooting raw, you will have to hope that whatever software you're using to open raw files is as smart as what Nikon is building into these cameras for free. Many off-brands of software can't do any of this.

There was never much reason for raw, and in Gen 2, even less. It's quite likely that using raw with a Gen 2 camera and most, if not all, software, will throw you back into Gen 1 quality. It's not 2006 anymore. Most raw software does not do any of the clever things, like ADR, expanded color controls or totally automatic lens corrections, that are done in-camera.

Gen 2 cameras also have a super-sharp new 3" LCD screen.

Gen 2 cameras are the D3, D700, D300 and D90.

The D60 has ADR, but its stuck with the old Optimize Image menu and none of the other Gen 2 additions, so call it Gen 1.1 if you insist. I'm calling it Gen 1.

The D3000 has ADR and Gen II Picture Controls, but it has a crummier 3" LCD screen and does not correct lateral color fringes, so I'll call it Gen 1.5.

2012

Nikon D3200.

19 April 2012: 24 MP DX, $700 with 18-55mm VR, 4 FPS, 3" LCD, 1080p video, --- oz. (---g) with battery and SD card.

Nikon D800.

07 February 2012: 36MP FX, $3,000, 4 FPS, 3.2" LCD, 1080p video, 35.3 oz. (1,000g) with battery and SD card.

The D800 completely rewrites the book, and obsoletes most of Nikon's DSLR line. Yipee!

Nikon D4.

06 January 2012: 16MP FX, 10 FPS, $6,000. Pretty much only a D3¼ with less weight, more FPS, no big deal. What can be a big deal is the removal of the rear AF-area mode switch, replacing it with a button and dials instead.

2011

Nikon D5100.

05 April 2011: Nikon D5100. 16MP DX, 4 FPS, 3" flippy LCD, 1080p movies. $799.95, available May 2011.

An updated D5000.

2010

Nikon D7000.

15 September 2010: Nikon D7000. 16MP DX, 6 FPS, 3" LCD, movies. $1,199.95, available mid-October 2010.

New in the D7000 is two SD card slots, Nikon's first 2,016-segment RGB meter, two new programmable mode-dial positions, U1 and U2 (as copied from Canon's C1 and C2 instant-recall settings), a 39-point AF system, and two types of Auto White Balance.

Nikon D3100.

19 August 2010: Nikon D3100. 14MP DX, 3 FPS, 3" LCD, movies. $699.95 with 18-55mm VR, available mid-September 2010.

2009

Nikon D3s.

14 October 2009: The Nikon D3s is just a mid-product-cycle freshening of the D3. Both are FX 12MP 9FPS cameras. Price is $5,200.

THe D3s adds video, a sensor cleaner, an additional 1.2x 8MP crop mode, dedicated INFO and Live View buttons, Quiet Mode, stupid-high ISOs to ISO 102,000, and $300 to the price of the D3.

Nikon D300s.

30 July 2009: The Nikon D300s adds movies, a dedicated INFO button and the QUIET mode to the D300.

Nikon D3000.

30 July 2009: The Nikon D3000 has a low-resolution 3" LCD and 10MP for $599, including an excellent 18-55mm VR lens. It's the worst Nikon DSLR ever made because it has very slow operation in most use, and has poor performance at high ISOs. TheD40 of 2006 is superior and costs less.

Nikon D5000.

14 April 2009: The Nikon D5000 adds a flippy LCD screen, movies and 12MP DX for $730. It's slotted below the D90 but above the D40 from 2006.

2008

Nikon D3X.

01 December 2008: The D3X is announced. It's identical to the original D3, except with 24.4MP and only 5FPS and lower ISOs.

Nikon D90.

27 August 2008: The D90, a 12MP DX mid-line DSLR for $999. Replaces D80, and is a huge improvement over the D80 because it jumps to Gen 2.

Nikon D700.

01 July 2008: The D700, a 12MP FX DSLR for $2,999.95. It's Nikon's top amateur camera.

Nikon D60

January 28, 2008: Nikon D60 announced. Replaces D40x.

2007

Nikon D3

23 August 2007: The D300 and D3 are announced for November sale. Both have new 3" LCDs with live viewing.

The D3 is another milestone with Nikon's first 24x36mm sensor, dubbed FX. It runs 9FPS for $5,000. The D3 replaces the D2Xs. Nikon's press release on the D3.

Nikon D300

The D300 is an evolution of the D200, now with a 12MP DX sensor and 6-8 FPS for $1,800. $1,800 oddly is a price increase $300 over the D200. The D300 replaces the D200. Nikon's press release on the D300.

Nikon D40x

05 March 2007: The D40x is announced to fill a vacant price point in Nikon's line. It is the same as the excellent D40, but with 10MP instead of 6MP, but a slower sync speed of 1/200 vs. 1/500, a slower default ISO of 100 vs. 200, and a $200 higher price than the D40. The D40x was introduced to let Nikon fill in a price point in its camera line for competitive purposes. Personally I prefer the less expensive D40. See also theMegapixel Myth.

2006

Nikon D40

16 November 2006: The D40 is announced for Christmas at $599 with included excellent 18-55mm II lens. It is the smallest, lightest and least expensive Nikon DSLR ever. It started shipping on November 30th, 2006.

Nikon D80

09 August, 2006: The D80 is announced. 10 MP, 3 FPS for $999. The D80 is a D70 body and mechanics with the sensor and LCD of the D200.

Nikon D2Xs

June 2006: The D2Xs is announced, a slight improvement to the D2X. Same 12 MP and 5FPS and weird crop mode. $4,700.

2005

Nikon D200

01 November 2005: the D200 is announced. It's a groundbreaker at 10MP and 5 FPS at $1,699. It shipped in December 2005 as promised. It was on backorder until about October 2006. The D200 starts a new level in the Nikon line between the plastic D70 and the pro D2X.

Nikon D70s

Nikon D50

22 April 2005: The D70s and D50 are introduced. The D70s is a D70 with slightly larger screen. The D50 is a D70 with a couple of features removed. The D50 is still 6MP but only 2.5 FPS.

The D70, D70s and D50 are great cameras new or used, but replaced by the two-year-newer D80 of late 2006.

Nikon D2Hs

February, 2005: The D2Hs is announced. It's a minor revision of the D2H at a bargain price of $3,500. This makes a used D2H or new D2HS a great buy for sports. They are the same as the more expensive D2Xs, just faster with a few less pixels.

2004

Nikon D2X

16 September, 2004: the D2X is announced. 12MP, 5 FPS, $5,000. The D2X also has a bizarre cropped 7 MP, 8 FPS mode. Most of what the D2X does is replaced by the D200 in 2005. I'd get a used D2X if the price was right. It's Nikon's top of the line. I prefer the D200 for smaller size and a couple of more features.

Nikon D70

February 2004: Nikon shows the D70 at PMA. It's lightweight, 6MP, 3 FPS and a groundbreaker at $999. The D70 is a huge improvement over the D100 in almost every way except having no accessory vertical grip. All this, and it's priced less, too! The D70 fixes the dust problem by moving the CCD filter further away from the CCD. This throws dust out of focus and makes it much less of an annoyance than on the D1 series cameras.

The D70 replaced the D100.

Nikon was going to discontinue the D100, but instead decided to keep making the D100 because they discovered they could get a higher price than the D70 just because of the model number. People who equated price with quality kept buying D100s because they cost more.

2003

December, 2003: Nikon announced the development of the D70. Nikon had little to say other than the D70 would be cheap. Nikon was still inventing the D70 and had none to sell. Nikon made the announcement to get people to wait instead of fleeing from Nikon to Canon's inexpensive Digital Rebel.

Nikon D2H

22 July, 2003: The D2H is announced. 4.1 MP, 8 FPS, $5,000. The D2H was a new design with a much improved Li-Ion battery and a new flash exposure system. The D2H is a bargain used and a fantastic camera for sports.

2002

Nikon D100

21 February, 2002: The D100 is announced. It's 6 MP and 3 FPS for $1,999. This is Nikon's first lightweight amateur DSLR camera. It was an N80 with digital guts. It wasn't available for sale until June, 2002. It was a sellout with long waiting lists for a year after its introduction.

In May 2003 the D100 dropped to $1,699. In December 2003 it dropped to $1,499 where it stayed for a year or two. In May 2005 it dropped to $999.

Forget the D100, but snap one up if you can get a screaming deal.. The newer D70 and D50 work better. The D100 required messing with a wheel and knob to make critical adjustments. The newer cameras have direct entry buttons. The newer cameras have two years of extra wisdom in their firmware and just do everything better. Flash exposure isn't very good on the D100. See a comparison here. The D100 used the same EN-EL3 Li-Ion battery of the D50 and D70.

2001

Nikon D1H. Nikon D1X looks the same except for model number.

05 February 2001: Nikon announces the D1X and D1H, improvements to the D1. Performance was honed, a few features were added and price remained at $5,000.

They both replaced the numerical menu system with easy to understand menus in English.

The D1H kept the 2.7 MP sensor and increased speed to 5 FPS.

The D1X slowed to 3 FPS, but increased resolution to 5.3 MP. The resolution of the D1X is still decent in 2006. It used a bizarre CCD with twice the horizontal pixel density of the D1. Image quality was, and still is, extremely good because it had 4,024 horizontal pixels on the CCD. It had to do less Bayer interpolation and thus has much better image quality than one would expect in its 3,008 x 2,000 pixel images.

Don't buy either of these today regardless of price. They had awful battery systems. I had a D1H. They only run for about 250 shots on a charge. The batteries are huge, heavy Ni-MH packs which require constant babying in charging. The packs have protuberances which make them painful to carry in a pocket. They lose charge if left unused. Even a freshly charged battery would indicate almost dead after a few shots. Most D1, D1H and D1X users including myself lived with the viewfinder indications turning off, indicating almost dead battery, after just a few shots. They also had awful flash exposure. Many photographers had to revert to non-TTL exposure modes because the TTL mode was so flaky. Dust was a horrible problem because the CCD cover filter was too close to the CCD. At almost any aperture you'd see dust clearly on the image. They were state of the art in their era (2001 - 2003), but that era is long gone.

1999:World's First Practical DSLR

Nikon D1.

15 February 1999: Nikon announced it was working on "a new professional class, high-quality digital Single Lens Reflex Camera."

15 June, 1999: Nikon announces the D1, the world's first practical DSLR. It is the first practical DSLR because it's the first DSLR with good enough image quality for print (2.7 MP), fast enough (4.5 FPS) and priced low enough ($5,000) and functional enough to be sensible to use daily as a primary camera. It's also the first DSLR made with Nikon electronics in a Nikon body, by Nikon.

It replaced film at forward-looking newspapers.

Forget about it today, regardless of price. For the same price you can get the greatly improved D1H or D1X, neither of which are worthwhile today either. The D1 is confined to the dumpster of history (and collectors) because its battery system is a pain, and its menu structure requires interpreting numerical custom functions. It requires a cheat sheet to decipher. Flash exposure performance is awful. Get one only as a landmark camera to collect. The D1 is the landmark. The D1 is the camera that replaced film at newspapers.

The D1 is unique in having a 1/16,000 top shutter speed, since its shutter is also electronic. That's how it gets a 1/500 sync speed. If you use the PC sync terminal or a non-dedicated flash so the D1 doesn't know you've got a flash attached; sync goes all the way to 1/16,000!

Nikon announced no new DSLRs for a couple of years.

1998

The similar E3 and E3S came out, still based on a big klunky Fuji body. They were still only 1.3 MP (1,280 x 1,000 pixels). SCSI interface. Still about $20,000.

These relics are worth about $300 in 2006. Don't bother using them for serious photography.

1996

A minor upgrade, the E2N and E2NS came out and was still about $20,000.

These relics are worth about $300 in 2006. Don't bother using them for serious photography.

1995

Digital SLRs are still science experiments, but in series production for special events. Nikon finally makes its first commercialized DSLR, over twenty years after America invented digital cameras.

It was called the Nikon E2 and E2S. They weren't Nikon bodies at all. They were hacked out of Fuji bodies with Nikon electronics! Bizarre internal reduction optics helped restore the field of view, with weird effective apertures. PCMCIA card memory. About $20,000 and only 1.3 megapixels, which is why they don't count as practical cameras.

These relics are worth about $300 in 2006. Don't bother using them for serious photography.

1991

Digital SLRs are still custom built laboratory experiments. NASA had some Texans hack an F4 to fly on the STS-48 shuttle mission. It had a 1MP black-and-white sensor and recorded to a Texas-sized hard drive hacked to the bottom of the F4. See it here. Nikon had nothing to do with this as far as I know. It was the Texans who played Frankenstein with a stock F4 body.

Kodak sold the $13,000 1.3 MP DCS-100, hacked into an F3HP body.

1990

Kodak shows a hacked Nikon body with a Kodak sensor at Photokina called the DCS. It was 1 MP and cost $25,000. It shipped in 1991.

Kodak kept trying through about 2003, and gave up after the 14n.

These and later model Kodaks were popular for some news events, but most newspapers that had them threw them away when the D1 came out in 1999.

1973

Kodak created the first digital camera in Rochester, New York, USA. It was big and scary and certainly didn't run on batteries. Nikon had nothing to do with this, although Kodak probably used a Nikkor lens.

Brief History of Nikon Cameras

How do you achieve success in cameras? Superb engineering, uncompromising quality lenses and listening to your customers. Before the managerial gurus in the West had "discovered" these principles, the engineers and managers of Nippon Kogaku K.K. (renamed to Nikon Corporation in April 1988) were embodying them in the Nikon cameras they were putting out.
Nikon I [One], 1948
The first Nikon camera.
This camera began development in 1945 and was eventually released March 1948. It was beset by various problems and the Nikon M was released in October 1949 which fixed the problems.
Nikon SP, 1957
In their search for the best of the best, the engineers looked all over the world for the leading ideas and solutions. Leica was the undisputed leader in 35mm rangefinder camera and many camera manufacturers tried to copy their cameras. Nikon had the courage to take the best and improve the rest. After coming out with different models of 35mm rangefinder cameras, they eventually put out the Nikon SP (regarded as the "Best of Nikon") in September of 1957, followed by the S3 in March 1958 and S4 in March 1959.
Nikon F, 1959
In May of 1959, the Nikon F single-lens reflex (SLR) camera was introduced and quickly became the unconfirmed standard of photo journalists and other professional photographers. In introducing the F, with its interchangeable viewfinders, focusing screens and lenses, Nikon bypassed Leica in one bound as the new leader.
Nikon F2, 1971
The Nikon F2 was easily the dream camera to own. It had everything a professional photographer would ever want in a SLR camera, and more than he or she could ever afford to own. Professional photographers used it almost exclusively. The ads that Nikon ran were easily the best at the time and established the F2 as the standard bearer in professional photography. It was a beautiful camera, well proportioned, and the attention to detail was exquisite. It was the first camera I fell in love with.
Nikon Photomic FTN, Apollo 15
When the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wanted a more portable camera for its space missions, it went to Nikon. The challenges of producing a camera that worked safely and conveniently for astronauts in space are many, including having controls that are large enough to operate for astronauts wearing bulky gloves. The camera must also be able to function flawlessly in zero-gravity situations, in the vacuum of space, and while being roasted by the intensely hot rays of the Sun in outer space.

Nikon F3, 1980 / F4, 1988 / F5, 1996

The Nikon F3 body was designed by a world famous industrial designer, Girogetto Giugiaro, and introduced in 1980. Again, NASA tapped Nikon for a space camera and the F3 sailed into outer space. The F4 was introduced in 1988, and the F5 in 1996. There were a lot of improvements in exposure metering, autofocus, flash syncronization, motor drive, etc.
By offering what users want -- and need -- to capture sensational pictures, Nikon cameras have continued to be the standards against which all other cameras are measured.
If you have any anecdote about any of the above cameras that you think might be interesting to share with other readers, please send them to us.

Strobist Photography Basics

What is a Strobist?

A strobist is a photographer who uses off-camera flash (OCF) to take pictures. Instead of the usual pop-up flash or speedlight attached on top of the camera, strobists use OCF to achieve more pleasing and more dynamic photographs. This is a result of the placement of the light, since it is not limited to one direction, i.e. the top of the lens. With off-camera flashes, you can experiment to achieve better results.

Strobist Gear

First, get a camera that has a good x-sync speed. Sync speed is the threshold at which the shutter can still get the light from the strobe without the black bars . 1/200 is good (most cameras) but 1/500 is better (Nikon D40) . For example, let’s say that the exposure of a scene is 1/200, f/8, ISO 100. You want to have a shallow depth of field by using a lower f-stop, so you bring the aperture to f/5.6. This means that you must use a faster shutter speed to compensate for this change in aperture. However, you’re at the limit already (1/200) and going overboard means you won’t get the light coming from the flash. And that’s why it’s better to have a higher x-sync speed. You get more flexibility resulting in more creative leeway.

Second, you’ll need a camera flash that has manual control for the power output. Most flashes by Canon and Nikon have this feature. You can set the flash power to full, 1/1, or to the lowest setting which is 1/128. So, why do we need this? Let’s say that you’re using a flash that has no manual control. The output of the flash is always at 1/1. You’re going to take a portrait of a model. You have already figured out the perfect exposure and the strobe light is the only element missing. You press the shutter and the strobe goes off, but the picture is overexposed. You go to flash and change the settings. But wait! It has no manual control. So you go back to your camera and increase the shutter speed, use a narrower aperture or decrease the ISO. But, sometimes, you can’t change any of those settings anymore. You’re at the x-sync speed already, f/8 would make the background details clear, or ISO 100 is the lowest ISO possible for your camera. Having the option to change the output of light via manual control is the same as having a better x-sync speed. You get more options. And more options mean more creative juices flowing.

Third and last, you might want to get accessories. This is not necessarily needed but it will greatly aid you in getting the perfect shot. Some examples are light stands, modifiers, reflectors, snoots, gobos, etc. You don’t need to buy all of these, but if you’re going to get some, consider buying a light stand and a light modifier (umbrella or softbox).

Why be a Strobist?

Why be a strobist? Instead of using just your camera, you have to lug around a light stand and a flash. You have to carry extra weight. Sometimes, you even have to get someone to assist you since the wind might knock out your light setup, when shooting outdoors. What I’m saying is that you have to put more effort in taking the shot when you can just press the shutter without the use of strobist gear.

Better pictures. That’s the reason why most people get into using strobes. Light is the language of photography. Without light there are no photos. With strobes, you add more light to the picture, and thus will have more control over the final product. It’s like knowing more words when writing a novel. Adding a single light can introduce drama in a picture. It can show more detail or hide some. The extra work you put into making the shot, greatly affects the output.

Getting your strobist gear is just the beginning of the journey. Wait for the next article where I’ll show you why and how to use strobes. Keep on shooting and embrace the light!

Here are some examples of strobist photography

Photo by evan hunter

Photo by Doha Sam

Photo by A4gpa

Read more: http://www.photopoly.net/strobist-photography-basics/#ixzz1thF6T3Z6

History of Photography

"Photography" is derived from the Greek words photos ("light") and graphein ("to draw") The word was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1839. It is a method of recording images by the action of light, or related radiation, on a sensitive material.

Pinhole Camera

Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham), a great authority on optics in the Middle Ages who lived around 1000AD, invented the first pinhole camera, (also called the Camera Obscura} and was able to explain why the images were upside down. The first casual reference to the optic laws that made pinhole cameras possible, was observed and noted by Aristotle around 330 BC, who questioned why the sun could make a circular image when it shined through a square hole.

The First Photograph

On a summer day in 1827, Joseph Nicephore Niepce made the first photographic image with a camera obscura. Prior to Niepce people just used the camera obscura for viewing or drawing purposes not for making photographs. Joseph Nicephore Niepce'sheliographs or sun prints as they were called were the prototype for the modern photograph, by letting light draw the picture.

Niepce placed an engraving onto a metal plate coated in bitumen, and then exposed it to light. The shadowy areas of the engraving blocked light, but the whiter areas permitted light to react with the chemicals on the plate. When Niepce placed the metal plate in a solvent, gradually an image, until then invisible, appeared. However, Niepce's photograph required eight hours of light exposure to create and after appearing would soon fade away.

Louis Daguerre

Fellow Frenchman, Louis Daguerre was also experimenting to find a way to capture an image, but it would take him another dozen years before Daguerre was able to reduce exposure time to less than 30 minutes and keep the image from disappearing afterwards.

The Birth of Modern Photography

Louis Daguerre was the inventor of the first practical process of photography. In 1829, he formed a partnership with Joseph Nicephore Niepce to improve the process Niepce had developed.

In 1839 after several years of experimentation and Niepce's death, Daguerre developed a more convenient and effective method of photography, naming it after himself - the daguerreotype.

Daguerre's process 'fixed' the images onto a sheet of silver-plated copper. He polished the silver and coated it in iodine, creating a surface that was sensitive to light. Then, he put the plate in a camera and exposed it for a few minutes. After the image was painted by light, Daguerre bathed the plate in a solution of silver chloride. This process created a lasting image, one that would not change if exposed to light.

In 1839, Daguerre and Niepce's son sold the rights for the daguerreotype to the French government and published a booklet describing the process. The daguerreotype gained popularity quickly; by 1850, there were over seventy daguerreotype studios in New York City alone.

Negative to Postive Process

The inventor of the first negative from which multiple postive prints were made was Henry Fox Talbot, an English botanist and mathematician and a contemporary of Daguerre.

Talbot sensitized paper to light with a silver salt solution. He then exposed the paper to light. The background became black, and the subject was rendered in gradations of grey. This was a negative image, and from the paper negative, Talbot made contact prints, reversing the light and shadows to create a detailed picture. In 1841, he perfected this paper-negative process and called it a calotype, Greek for beautiful picture.

Tintypes

Tintypes, patented in 1856 by Hamilton Smith, were another medium that heralded the birth of photography. A thin sheet of iron was used to provide a base for light-sensitive material, yielding a positive image.

Wet Plate Negatives

In 1851, Frederick Scoff Archer, an English sculptor, invented the wet plate negative. Using a viscous solution of collodion, he coated glass with light-sensitive silver salts. Because it was glass and not paper, this wet plate created a more stable and detailed negative.

Photography advanced considerably when sensitized materials could be coated on plate glass. However, wet plates had to be developed quickly before the emulsion dried. In the field this meant carrying along a portable darkroom.

Dry Plate Negatives & Hand-held Cameras

In 1879, the dry plate was invented, a glass negative plate with a dried gelatin emulsion. Dry plates could be stored for a period of time. Photographers no longer needed portable darkrooms and could now hire technicians to develop their photographs. Dry processes absorbed light quickly so rapidly that the hand-held camera was now possible.

Flexible Roll Film

In 1889, George Eastman invented film with a base that was flexible, unbreakable, and could be rolled. Emulsions coated on a cellulose nitrate film base, such as Eastman's, made the mass-produced box camera a reality.

Color Photographs

In the early 1940s, commercially viable color films (except Kodachrome, introduced in 1935) were brought to the market. These films used the modern technology of dye-coupled colors in which a chemical process connects the three dye layers together to create an apparent color image.

Photographic Films

The first flexible roll films, dating to 1889, were made of cellulose nitrate, which is chemically similar to guncotton. A nitrate-based film will deteriorate over time, releasing oxidants and acidic gasses. It is also highly flammable. Special storage for this film is required.

Nitrate film is historically important because it allowed for the development of roll films. The first flexible movie films measured 35-mm wide and came in long rolls on a spool. In the mid-1920s, using this technology, 35-mm roll film was developed for thecamera. By the late 1920s, medium-format roll film was created. It measured six centimeters wide and had a paper backing making it easy to handle in daylight. This led to the development of the twin-lens-reflex camera in 1929. Nitrate film was produced in sheets (4 x 5-inches) ending the need for fragile glass plates.

Triacetate film came later and was more stable, flexible, and fireproof. Most films produced up to the 1970s were based on this technology. Since the 1960s, polyester polymers have been used for gelatin base films. The plastic film base is far more stable than cellulose and is not a fire hazard.

Today, technology has produced film with T-grain emulsions. These films use light-sensitive silver halides (grains) that are T-shaped, thus rendering a much finer grain pattern. Films like this offer greater detail and higher resolution, meaning sharper images.

• Film Speed (ISO) — An arbitrary number placed on film that tells how much light is needed to expose the film to the correct density. Generally, the lower the ISO number, the finer grained and slower a film. ISO means International Standards Organization. This term replaces the old ASA speed indicator. The slower the film, the more light is needed to expose it.

Photographic Prints

Traditionally, linen rag papers were used as the base for making photographic prints. Prints on this fiber-base paper coated with a gelatin emulsion are quite stable when properly processed. Their stability is enhanced if the print is toned with either sepia (brown tone) or selenium (light, silvery tone).

Paper will dry out and crack under poor archival conditions. Loss of the image can also be due to high humidity, but the real enemy of paper is chemical residue left by photographic fixer. In addition, contaminants in the water used for processing and washing can cause damage. If a print is not fully washed to remove all traces of fixer, the result will be discoloration and image loss.

• Fixer (Hypo)—A chemical, sodium thiosulfate, used to remove residual silver halides (grain) from films and prints when processing them. Fixer "fixes" the remaining silver halides in place on either film or prints. Fixer is also called hypo.

The next innovation in photographic papers was resin-coating, or water-resistant paper. The idea is to use normal linen fiber-base paper and coat it with a plastic (polyethylene) material, making the paper water-resistant. The emulsion is placed on a plastic covered base paper. The problem with resin-coated papers is that the image rides on the plastic coating, and is susceptible to fading.

At first color prints were not stable because organic dyes were used to make the color image. The image would literally disappear from the film or paper base as the dyes deteriorate. Kodachrome, dating to the first third of the 20th century, was the first color film to produce prints that could last half a century. Now, new techniques are creating permanent color prints lasting 200 years or more. New printing methods using computer-generated digital images and highly stable pigments, offer permanency for color photographs.

By definition a camera is a lightproof object, with a lens, that captures incoming light and directs the light and resulting image towards film (optical camera) or the imaging device (digital camera).

All camera technology is based on the law of optics first discovered by Aristotle. By the mid-1500s a sketching device for artists, thecamera obscura (dark chamber) was common. The camera obscura was a lightproof box with a pinhole (later lens were used) on one side and a translucent screen on the other. This screen was used for tracing by the artists of the inverted image transmitted through the pinhole.

Around 1600, Della Porta reinvented the pinhole camera. Apparently he was the first European to publish any information on the pinhole camera and is sometimes incorrectly credited with its invention.

Johannes Kepler was the first person to coin the phrase Camera Obscura in 1604, and in 1609, Kepler further suggested the use of a lens to improve the image projected by a Camera Obscura.

Daguerreotype Cameras

The earliest cameras used in the daguerreotype process were made by opticians and instrument makers, or sometimes even by the photographers themselves. The most popular cameras utilized a sliding-box design. The lens was placed in the front box. A second, slightly smaller box, slid into the back of the larger box. The focus was controlled by sliding the rear box forward or backwards. A laterally reversed image would be obtained unless the camera was fitted with a mirror or prism to correct this effect. When the sensitized plate was placed in the camera, the lens cap would be removed to start the exposure.

Box Camera

George Eastman. a dry plate manufacturer from Rochester, New York, invented the Kodak camera. For $22.00, an amateur could purchase a camera with enough film for 100 shots. After use, it was sent back to the company, which then processed the film. The ad slogan read, "You press the button, we do the rest." A year later, the delicate paper film was changed to a plastic base, so that photographers could do their own processing.

Eastman's first simple camera in 1888 was a wooden, light-tight box with a simple lens and shutter that was factory-filled with film. The photographer pushed a button to produce a negative. Once the film was used up, the photographer mailed the camera with the film still in it to the Kodak factory where the film was removed from the camera, processed, and printed. The camera was then reloaded with film and returned.

Flashlight Powder

Blitzlichtpulver or flashlight powder was invented in Germany in 1887 by Adolf Miethe and Johannes Gaedicke. Lycopodium powder (the waxy spores from club moss) was used in early flash powder.

Flashbulbs

The first modern photoflash bulb or flashbulb was invented by Austrian, Paul Vierkotter. Vierkotter used magnesium-coated wire in an evacuated glass globe. Magnesium-coated wire was soon replaced by aluminum foil in oxygen. On September 23, 1930, the first commercially available photoflash bulb was patented by German, Johannes Ostermeier. These flashbulbs were named the Vacublitz. General Electric made a flashbulb called the Sashalite.

Filters - Frederick Charles Luther Wratten (1840-1926)

English inventor and manufacturer, Frederick Wratten founded one of the first photographic supply businesses, Wratten and Wainwright in 1878. Wratten and Wainwright manufactured and sold collodion glass plates and gelatin dry plates.

In 1878, Wratten invented the "noodling process" of silver-bromide gelatin emulsions before washing. In 1906, Wratten with the assistance of Dr. C.E. Kenneth Mees (E.C.K Mees) invented and produced the first panchromatic plates in England. Wratten is best known for the photographic filters that he invented and are still named after him - Wratten Filters. Eastman Kodak purchased his company in 1912.

35mm Cameras

As early as 1905, Oskar Barnack had the idea of reducing the format of film negatives and then enlarging the photographs after they had been exposed. As development manager at Leica, he was able to put his theory into practice. He took an instrument for taking exposure samples for cinema film and turned it into the world's first 35 mm camera: the 'Ur-Leica'.

Polaroid or Instant Photos

Polaroid photography was invented by Edwin Herbert Land. Land was the American inventor and physicist whose one-step process for developing and printing photos created instant photography. The first Polaroid camera was sold to the public in November, 1948.

Disposable Camera

Fuji introduced the disposable camera in 1986. We call them disposables but the people who make these cameras want you to know that they're committed to recycling the parts, a message they've attempted to convey by calling their products "single-use cameras."

Digital Camera

In 1984, Canon demonstrated first digital electronic still camera.