What is the history of the camera?

The first permanent photograph was made in 1826 by Joseph Nicore Nipece using a sliding wooden box camera made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris. However, while this was the birth of photography, the camera itself can be traced back much further.
The first type of camera/imaging device is called the camera obscura. This was an optical device used in drawing, and one of the ancestral threads leading to the invention of photography.
The principles of the camera obscura have been known since antiquity. Its potential as a drawing aid may have been familiar to artists by as early as the 15th century; Leonardo da Vinci once described the camera obscura. See links below for more information. 

The first camera that was small and portable enough to be practical for photography was built by Johann Zahn in 1685, though it would be almost 150 years before technology caught up to the point where this was possible. Early photographic cameras were essentially similar to Zahn's model, though usually with the addition of sliding boxes for focusing. Before each exposure a sensitized plate would be inserted in front of the viewing screen to record the image. Jacques Daguerre's popular daguerreotype process utilized copper plates, while the calotype process invented by William Talbot recorded images on paper.
Modern times
However, one of the first and most easily recognized types, popular and easy- to-use for consumer too, was the single lens reflex (SLR) camera. This type was and is most commonly used from around 1959 to present. One of the most successful, easy-to-use and professional models of this type was the Nikon F.  

Daguerre announced the latest perfection of the Daguerreotype, after years of experimentation, in 1839, with the French Academy of Sciences announcing the process on January 9 of that year. Daguerre's patent was acquired by the French Government, and, on August 19, 1839, the French Government announced the invention was a gift "Free to the World."  

Actually the first 'camera' was designed before Columbus. It was by simple deduction that an artist noticed a faint image on the opposing wall of a small building where a small hole was in the lighted side of the building. He worked on a lens that could be placed in a similar hole of another building and he noticed that the image on the opposite wall was rather clear, color and all, although upside down. He then proceeded to use oil paints that were in use to paint portraits at the time. He simply mixed the oils to match the colors and painted directly onto the image he was looking at. Today's cameras do the same thing minus the oil paint. Film cameras have replaced the oils with both silver halide salts and dyes. Digital cameras simply use super miniature diodes that are photo etched onto silicone slices (chips)and translates different ranges of the color spectrum into binary or machine language digital code.  

George Eastman (July 12, 1854 ? March 14, 1932) founded the Eastman Kodak Co. and invented roll film, which brought photography to the common man. The roll film was also the basis for the invention of the motion picture film, used by early filmmakers Thomas Edison, the Lumi Brothers and Georges M
The first permanent photograph was made in 1826 by Joseph Nicore Nie using a sliding wooden box camera made by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in Paris. However, while this was the birth of photography, the camera itself can be traced back much further. Before the invention of photography, there was no way to preserve the images produced by these cameras apart from manually tracing them.
The first camera that was small and portable enough to be practical for photography was built by Johann Zahn in 1685, though it would be almost 150 years before technology caught up to the point where this was possible. Early photographic cameras were essentially similar to Zahn's model, though usually with the addition of sliding boxes for focusing. Before each exposure a sensitized plate would be inserted in front of the viewing screen to record the image. Jacques Daguerre's popular daguerreotype process utilized copper plates, while the calotype process invented by William Fox Talbot recorded images on paper.
The development of the collodion wet plate process by Frederick Scott Archer in 1850 cut exposure times dramatically, but required photographers to prepare and develop their glass plates on the spot, usually in a mobile darkroom. Despite their complexity, the wet-plate ambrotype and tintype processes were in widespread use in the latter half of the 19th century. Wet plate cameras were little different from previous designs, though there were some models (such as the sophisticated Dubroni of 1864) where the sensitizing and developing of the plates could be carried out inside the camera itself rather than in a separate darkroom. Other cameras were fitted with multiple lenses for making cartes de visite. It was during the wet plate era that the use of bellows for focusing became widespread.  

George Eastman invented the camera in 1888.   
Ibn Haytham, a Muslim scientist was known the Father of Optics, He invented the first telescope and optic's concept. why so many claims without proves ? almost All modern sciences are comes from Muslim scientists.

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Invention of the Camera

The camera came in increments ... light (lens):
4th - 5th Centuries B.C. - Chinese and Greek philosophers describe the basic principles of optics and the camera.
1664 - 1666 - Isaac Newton discovered that white light is composed of different colors.
1727 - Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure to light.
1794 - First Panorama opens, the forerunner of the movie house invented by Robert Barker.
1814 - Joseph Nicephore Niepce achieves first photographic image with camera obscura. However, the image required 8 hours of light exposure and later faded.
1837 - Daguerr'es first dauerroetype, the first image that was fixed and did not fade and needed under 30 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 2 - 3 seconds of light exposure.
1859 - Panoramic camera patented - the Sutton
1861 - Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer.
1865 - Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works under copyright.
1871 - Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process - negatives no longer had to be developed immediately.
1880 - Eastman Dry Plate Company founded.
1884 - Eastman invents flexible, paper-based photographic film.
1888 - Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera.
1898 - Reverend Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film.
1900 - First mass-marketed camera - the Brownie.
1913/1914 - First 35 mm still camera developed.
Here is more input:

• In 1839 by Jon Bradford Eagle

• Actually, the word "Camera" comes from the Arabic word "Kamra" which means "Dark room". The Camera was invented by a Muslim Astronomer/Physicist/Mathematician Alhazen. Europeans have taken a lot of inventions by Muslim scientists and called them their own. the camera is one of many.

• The above 'Muslim-Centric' poster needs to check their facts. Alhazen did NOT invent the actual camera, he was merely a mathmetician and a comsmetician that copied scientific texts to enhance his income when he lived in Cairo. He took other discoveries and copied them for his own monetary gains. He did do an essay on Optics but his essay had nothing to do with the physical invention of the modern Camera. The term 'Camera' is derived from the latin words 'Camera Obscura'. The word you mention (which you did not spell correctly) 'Kamara' means 'Vaulted Chamber', not 'Dark Room' as you so incorrectly stated. Please check your facts before you post your incorrect and obviously one sided views. As for Europeans taking a lot from Muslims, you need to understand that many discoveries in this world were taught and handed down to others and expanded upon. It is that idea of SHARING that makes this modern world a fun place to live. Please do not disparage the rest of the world with your racist isolationist beliefs. Something that benefits all mankind should be shared, not greedily kept 'yours'.

• To the best of my knowledge the negative / positive photographic process was first pioneered in England by an inventor called William Fox Talbot (1800 - 1877) in a abbey called Lacock.

• Did you also know that to this day filmmakers can't resolve the problem of car or wagon wheels going backwards in a movie? Next time you watch a movie, take a close look at the car's wheels.

• This backwards wheel effect might be due to the limits of the film (modern films are 24 frames a second, earlier films were less) producing this effect on your eye. I believe the human eye can process 28 frames per second but this discrepancy on film might be due to the slower rate. It also does this on propellers of airplanes in films.

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Exposure and rendering

Exposure and rendering

Camera controls are interrelated. The total amount of light reaching the film plane (the 'exposure') changes with the duration of exposure, aperture of the lens, and on the effective focal length of the lens (which in variable focal length lenses, can force a change in aperture as the lens is zoomed). Changing any of these controls can alter the exposure. Many cameras may be set to adjust most or all of these controls automatically. This automatic functionality is useful for occasional photographers in many situations.

The duration of an exposure is referred to as shutter speed, often even in cameras that do not have a physical shutter, and is typically measured in fractions of a second. It is quite possible to have exposures from one up to several seconds, usually for still-life subjects, and for night scenes exposure times can be several hours.

The effective aperture is expressed by an f-number or f-stop (derived from focal ratio), which is proportional to the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture. Longer lenses will pass less light even though the diameter of the aperture is the same due to the greater distance the light has to travel: shorter lenses (a shorter focal length) will be brighter with the same size of aperture.

The smaller the f/number, the larger the effective aperture. The present system of f/numbers to give the effective aperture of a lens was standardized by an international convention. There were earlier, different series of numbers in older cameras.

If the f-number is decreased by a factor of , the aperture diameter is increased by the same factor, and its area is increased by a factor of 2. The f-stops that might be found on a typical lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, where going up "one stop" (using lower f-stop numbers) doubles the amount of light reaching the film, and stopping down one stop halves the amount of light.

Image capture can be achieved through various combinations of shutter speed, aperture, and film or sensor speed. Different (but related) settings of aperture and shutter speed enable photographs to be taken under various conditions of film or sensor speed, lighting and motion of subjects and/or camera, and desired depth of field. A slower speed film will exhibit less "grain", and a slower speed setting on an electronic sensor will exhibit less "noise", while higher film and sensor speeds allow for a faster shutter speed, which reduces motion blur or allows the use of a smaller aperture to increase the depth of field. For example, a wider aperture is used for lower light and a lower aperture for more light. If a subject is in motion, then a high shutter speed may be needed. A tripod can also be helpful in that it enables a slower shutter speed to be used.

For example, f/8 at 8 ms (1/125 of a second) and f/5.6 at 4 ms (1/250 of a second) yield the same amount of light. The chosen combination has an impact on the final result. The aperture and focal length of the lens determine the depth of field, which refers to the range of distances from the lens that will be in focus. A longer lens or a wider aperture will result in "shallow" depth of field (i.e. only a small plane of the image will be in sharp focus). This is often useful for isolating subjects from backgrounds as in individual portraits or macro photography. Conversely, a shorter lens, or a smaller aperture, will result in more of the image being in focus. This is generally more desirable when photographing landscapes or groups of people. With very small apertures, such as pinholes, a wide range of distance can be brought into focus, but sharpness is severely degraded by diffraction with such small apertures. Generally, the highest degree of "sharpness" is achieved at an aperture near the middle of a lens's range (for example, f/8 for a lens with available apertures of f/2.8 to f/16). However, as lens technology improves, lenses are becoming capable of making increasingly sharp images at wider apertures.

Image capture is only part of the image forming process. Regardless of material, some process must be employed to render the latent image captured by the camera into a viewable image. With slide film, the developed film is just mounted for projection. Print film requires the developed film negative to be printed onto photographic paper ortransparency. Digital images may be uploaded to an image server (e.g., a photo-sharing web site), viewed on a television, or transferred to a computer or digital photo frame.

A photographer using a tripod for greater stability during long exposure.

Prior to the rendering of a viewable image, modifications can be made using several controls. Many of these controls are similar to controls during image capture, while some are exclusive to the rendering process. Most printing controls have equivalent digital concepts, but some create different effects. For example, dodging and burning controls are different between digital and film processes. Other printing modifications include:

• Chemicals and process used during film development
• Duration of print exposure – equivalent to shutter speed
• Printing aperture – equivalent to aperture, but has no effect on depth of field
• Contrast – changing the visual properties of objects in an image to make them distinguishable from other objects and the background
• Dodging – reduces exposure of certain print areas, resulting in lighter areas
• Burning in – increases exposure of certain areas, resulting in darker areas
• Paper texture – glossy, matte, etc.
• Paper type – resin-coated (RC) or fiber-based (FB)
• Paper size
• Toners – used to add warm or cold tones to black-and-white prints

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Function

Function

The camera is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.^[6]

Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Digital cameras use an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.

The camera (or 'camera obscura') is a dark room or chamber from which, as far as possible, all light is excluded except the light that forms the image. The subject being photographed, however, must be illuminated. Cameras can range from small to very large, a whole room that is kept dark while the object to be photographed is in another room where it is properly illuminated. This was common for reproduction photography of flat copy when large film negatives were used (see Process camera). A general principle known from the birth of photography is that the smaller the camera, the brighter the image. This meant that as soon as photographic materials became sensitive enough (fast enough) to take candid or what were called genre pictures, small detective cameras were used, some of them disguised as a tie pin that was really a lens, as a piece of luggage or even a pocket watch (the Ticka camera).

The discovery of the 'camera obscura' that provides an image of a scene is very old, dating back to ancient China. Leonardo da Vinci mentions natural camera obscuras that are formed by dark caves on the edge of a sunlit valley. A hole in the cave wall will act as a pinhole camera and project a laterally reversed, upside down image on a piece of paper. So the invention of photography was really concerned with finding a means to fix and retain the image in the camera obscura. This in fact occurred first using the reproduction of images without a camera when Josiah Wedgewood, from the famous family of potters, obtained copies of paintings on leather using silver salts. As he had no way of fixing them, that is to say to stabilize the image by washing out the non-exposed silver salts, they turned completely black in the light and had to be kept in a dark room for viewing.

Renaissance painters used the camera obscura which, in fact, gives the optical rendering in color that dominates Western Art. The camera obscura literally means "dark chamber" in Latin. It is a box with a hole in it which allows light to go through and create an image onto the piece of paper.

The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and brain merge the separate pictures together to create the illusion of motion.^[7]

In all but certain specialized cameras, the process of obtaining a usable exposure must involve the use, manually or automatically, of a few controls to ensure the photograph is clear, sharp and well illuminated. The controls usually include but are not limited to the following:

Control	Description
Focus	The position of a viewed object or the adjustment of an optical device necessary to produce a clear image: in focus; out of focus.[8]
Aperture	Adjustment of the lens opening, measured as f-number, which controls the amount of light passing through the lens. Aperture also has an effect on depth of field and diffraction – the higher the f-number, the smaller the opening, the less light, the greater the depth of field, and the more the diffraction blur. The focal length divided by the f-number gives the effective aperture diameter.
Shutter speed	Adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an angle, with mechanical shutters) of the shutter to control the amount of time during which the imaging medium is exposed to light for each exposure. Shutter speed may be used to control the amount of light striking the image plane; 'faster' shutter speeds (that is, those of shorter duration) decrease both the amount of light and the amount of image blurring from motion of the subject and/or camera.
White balance	On digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated with a given set of lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such on the imaging chip and therefore that the colors in the frame will appear natural. On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by the operator's choice of film stock or with color correction filters. In addition to using white balance to register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a warm color temperature.
Metering	Measurement of exposure so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras meter and set exposure automatically. Before automatic exposure, correct exposure was accomplished with the use of a separate light metering device or by the photographer's knowledge and experience of gauging correct settings. To translate the amount of light into a usable aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to adjust for the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. This is done by setting the "film speed" or ISO sensitivity into the meter.
ISO speed	Traditionally used to "tell the camera" the film speed of the selected film on film cameras, ISO speeds are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of the system's gain from light to numerical output and to control the automatic exposure system. The higher the ISO number the greater the film sensitivity to light, whereas with a lower ISO number, the film is less sensitive to light. A correct combination of ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed leads to an image that is neither too dark nor too light, hence it is 'correctly exposed', indicated by a centered meter.
Autofocuspoint	On some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR) feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder.

Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:

• Focal length and type of lens (normal, long focus, wide angle, telephoto, macro, fisheye, or zoom)
• Filters placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or behind the lens
• Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.
• The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in pixels or grains of silver halide.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic

Cross processing

History

A digital cross process effect photo, notice the normally black areas now have a blue-ish hue.

The effect of cross processing has been well known since at least the early 1960s. Kodak published instructions and precautions for E-4 process in C-22 long ago. The National Geographic pictures of the astronaut Alan Shepard were taken on HS Ektachrome and pushed in C22. They were then masked and corrected for printing in Life magazine and National Geographic.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Processes

Traditionally, cross processing color slide film in C-41 process chemicals is most common. Some commercial-level photography/darkroom merchants will perform this developing process. However, cross processing can take place in many other forms, such as negative color print film and/or positive color reversal film in a black and white developer.

Other interesting effects can be obtained by bleaching color films processed in black and white chemistry using an hydrochloric acid dichromate mixture or using potassium triiodide (KI₃) solution. If these bleached films are then re-exposed to light and re-processed in their intended color chemistry, subtle, relatively low contrast, pastel effects are obtained.^[1]

Color cross processed photographs are often characterized by unnatural colors and high contrast. The results of cross processing differ from case to case, as the results are determined by many factors such as the make and type of the film used, the amount of light exposed onto the film and the chemical used to develop the film.

Cross processing effects can be simulated in digital photography by a number of techniques involving the manipulation of contrast/brightness, hue/saturation and curves in image editors such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP; specific settings and/or commands for "cross processing" are found in several such programs, including Photoshop and Picnik. However, these digital tools lack the unpredictable nature of regular cross processed images.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_processing

Processing apparatus

Processing apparatus

Before processing, the film must be removed from the camera and from its cassette, spool or holder in a light-proof room or container.

[edit]Small scale processing

A cut-away illustration of a typical light-trap tank used in small scale developing.

In amateur processing, the film is removed from the camera and wound onto a reel in complete darkness (usually inside a darkroom with the safelight turned off or a lightproof bag with arm holes). The reel holds the film in a spiral shape, with space between each successive loop so the chemicals may flow freely across the film's surfaces. The reel is placed in a specially designed light-proof tank (called daylight processing tank or a light-trap tank) where it is retained until final washing is complete.

Sheet films can be processed in trays, in hangers (which are used in deep tanks), or rotary processing drums. Each sheet can be developed individually for special requirements. Stand development, long development in dilute developer without agitation, is occasionally used.

[edit]Commercial processing

In commercial processing, the film is removed automatically or by an operator handling the film in a light proof bag from which it is fed into the processing machine. The processing machinery is generally run on a continuous basis with films spliced together in a continuous line. All the processing steps are carried out within a single processing machine with automatically controlled time, temperature and solution replenishment rate. The film or prints emerge washed and dry and ready to be cut by hand. Some modern machines also cut films and prints automatically, sometimes resulting in negatives cut across the middle of the frame where the space between frames is very thin or the frame edge is indistinct, as in an image taken in low light.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_processing