INTRO
When was the first camera invented? Most people would say that the first camera was the light-sensitive box invented by Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Louis Daguerre in 1829, but if you look deeper, you’ll find that the answer is not nearly as simple as that.
The first camera was invented in 1814 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833) was a French inventor who is credited with inventing the world’s first camera. The world’s first known photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras, was created by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826.
The first camera was called the heliograph
In 1827, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the world’s first camera with a focused lens and paper coated with silver chloride. This model was called the heliograph, because it used sunlight to expose an image. A few years later, Niépce partnered up with Louis Daguerre and together they invented what would later come to be known as daguerreotype photography.
The first camera could only take very short exposures
The world’s first camera could only take very short exposures of about a second before having to reload. The first cameras were made in France and England, but we know that Joseph Nicephore Niepce was the inventor of the first permanent photographic image in 1827.
The first camera required a very long exposure time
If you’re wondering who invented the first camera, you may be surprised to learn that there is no one particular inventor. The world’s first camera was a device created by Muybridge in 1878 and it required a very long exposure time. Unlike modern cameras, it wasn’t able to capture a series of images in quick succession. Instead, Muybridge would place a series of still photographs on glass plates and then he would shine light from behind his subject.
The first camera was not very practical
A camera that could take a photo was invented by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1826. This first camera took eight hours to expose an image and it was not very practical for most purposes.
The world’s first camera, which was more suited for photography, was invented by Louis Daguerre in 1835. The pictures taken with this kind of camera were sharper and required less exposure time than those of Niepce.
The first camera was eventually replaced by more practical cameras
The first camera, invented by Charles-Jacques Daguerre in 1839, was a process that required 10 minutes of exposure. The world’s first camera was invented by Johann Heinrich Schulze in 1725. He used it to make sketches of his wife and daughter.
