Who Invented the First Camera in the World

Mixi December 03, 2020 | 19:44

The world's first camera was so big that 15 people were needed to lift it, but today science has made so much progress that today's cameras are not visible. Follow this article to explore more!

Alexander Walcott. Photo: Britannica

Who Invented the First Camera?

The first portable camera was designed by Johann Zahn in 1685. Not much progress was made in the development for up to approximately 130 years later. Most of the attempts to make cameras in between were futile. It was not until the year 1814 when Joseph Nicephore Niepce clicked the first photograph. The credit for the invention of the first camera is therefore co-shared between Johann Zahn and Joseph Nicephore Niepce. The photo taken by Nicephore was not permanent. It was taken using a camera he made on his own, on a paper coated with silver chloride. The regions that were not exposed to light on the paper became dark.

Louis Daguerre is given the credits for inventing the first ever practical photography in 1829. It took Daquerre over a decade attempting to come up with an effective method for the photography. All the progress Daquerre made was in partnership with the Nicephore. The ownership rights were sold to the French Government, which in turn took the responsibility of developing daquerreo type studios in different parts of the country. Alexander Walcott invented the first camera that produced photos that did not fade quickly.

From this point onwards, several people were involved in developing the methods and camera for superior quality images. The progress made involved invention of less blurred and colored photography, negatives, and smaller cameras, Worldphotography cites.

World's first camera

Photo: Modern Legends - WordPress

The first camera in the whole world was made in 1900. It was created by photographer Georges Lawrence. This camera was made to capture the photo of the biggest train running in Alton Railway. Size 8x4.5 feet could be photographed with this camera. Whenever it was to be photographed, 15 people were required to run it.

In terms of price too, this camera was very expensive, its price was 5,000 thousand US dollars, that is, about 3 lakh 52 thousand 542 rupees in India which were considered crores in those days.

The world's largest camera is being built until now

The evolution of the camera. Photo: Worldatlas

Today when we talk about 2019, our scientists are making such a camera that will take such pictures of space which no camera could take till today. Work on this camera has been underway in Chile since 2015, probably to be completed by 2022. This camera will have a lens of 3.2 GHz pixels (3200 megapixels). To see a photo of it, 1500 high definition display will be required. This camera is named Critical Decision 3, according to Dailyhunt.

The Beginning of Photography

It all began with camera obscura. Camera obscura is derived from Latin, meaning “darkened room”.

Before photography could become a technique, we needed to understand optics and how we perceive images when manipulated by light.

Way back when, it was discovered that when an image on the opposite side of a screen is cast through a pinhole, the image gets completely flipped around.

Technically speaking, the image becomes inverted. It is completely reversed and upside down.

Why discovery of camera is as important as other discoveries?

The camera helps us to take pictures of what we cannot express in drawings or maybe also what we can. However, with the camera, we erase all the happy memories one had before as he/she would not remember it as time pass by. However, with presence of a camera, we can always take photos of our special things/times and keep it with us all the time. That is why discovery of camera is important in our life.