History of Digital Photography

Early Protoypes and Models

• In 1981, Sony built the first digital camera prototype, called the Mavica. While it was more of a video-type camera that could capture still images, the Mavica used CCD technology to save low-resolution images to two-inch floppy disks. This camera was not available to consumers, and its images were best seen through a television monitor instead of a printer.
• The next player on the digital camera scene was built by Kodak and Nikon, who in 1986 jointly created the first megapixel camera as we know it today. This camera could take high quality 5" x 7" photos - much better than the Mavica's low-quality images.
• The first digital camera to actually sell in the United States was the Kodak DCS-100, available in 1990. This professional grade 1.3 megapixel camera retailed for over $13,000 and was marketed towards photojournalists.
• In 1994, Apple produced the first digital camera that could be hooked to a computer. Available long before USB had been developed for the home market, the Quicktake 100 connected to your PC via the serial port.

Modern Digital Photography

• In 1994, Epson produced the world's first consumer level photo printer, which printed at a whopping 720dpi. This model paved the way for many more household printers by companies such as Hewlett Packard, Canon, and Lexmark; the advent of home photo printers helped digital photography explode in the home market over the next decade.
• Next up were a series of two and three megapixel cameras that not only took amazing photos, but were getting small enough to be easily portable by consumers. First out of the gate in this arena was Nikon, with its Coolpix line in 1999. The Coolpix 700 had a fixed focal length lens, while the advanced 950 model sported a zoom feature.
• The year 2003 marked the beginning of the consumer-based digital SLR era. Before this point, digital SLRs were expensive affairs mostly intended for professional photographers. However, with the advances made in digital photography technology, it was only a matter of time until these cameras made their way into our homes. Canon's release of the Digital Rebel, the first lightweight affordable digital SLR, allowed amateurs and home users to finally take professional-grade images without spending thousands of dollars.

Today, digital cameras sell for as cheap as $10. High end consumer models are equipped with photosensors that capture up to 22 million pixels. That's quite a long way from the $13,000 Kodak available in 1986!