Klee M. answered • 06/11/19
Animation/Photography Professor
The first instrument that people used for processing pictures was called the Camera Obscura (which is Latin for the Dark Room) and it was around for a few centuries before photography came along.
The first portable cameras were boxes with lenses on the front over apertures and plates at the back. The plates were flat and covered with light-sensitive materials. By removing the cover over the lens, light entered the box and was focused by the lens on the rear plate. Early exposures took from several seconds to a number of minutes because the sensitivity of the plates was so poor.
The digital still camera introduced in 1995 stores approximately 100 pictures electronically. Instead of a viewfinder or eyepiece, the camera has a color LCD screen similar to the view-type screen on some video cameras, so photos can be viewed instantly. It can be connected by cables to a computer, television, or VCR, so pictures can be transferred to screen, tape, or digitized electronically.
