Digital Photography

History of Photography:

• Timeline: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/photographpreservationprogram/harvards-history-photography-timeline

History of Digital Photography:

• 1920’s:
  • Utilizes the telegraphic printer system technology to produce a negative on receiving end, then printed as a positive.
  • They were digital in that the images were coded into discrete values and reconstructed using five levels of grey.
  • Transmitted digital information of an image across the Atlantic ocean between London and New York
  • Developed by Bartholomew and MacFarlane.
  • Video: https://transatlantic-cultures.org/en/catalog/wirephoto
• 1951:
  • the first digital signals were saved to magnetic tape via the first video tape recorder.
  • Six years later, the first digital image was produced through a computer by Russel Kirsch.
  • Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2437615
• 1970s:
  • The first semiconductor image sensor was the charge-coupled device (CCD), invented by physicists Willard Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs in 1969.
  • link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10997676
• 1975:
  • Steven Sasson, engineer at Eastman Kodak, develops the first digital camera.
  • Resolution of 0.01 megapixel
  • 23 seconds to snap first digital photograph
  • link: https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/history-of-digital-cameras-from-70s-prototypes-to-iphone-and-galaxys-everyday-wonders/

Fundamental Camera Components:

• Parts of a DSLR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera
• Parts of a mirrorless: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrorless_camera

Fundamental Camera Settings (Check your manual for information specific to your camera):

• Focal length range
• Shutter speed range
• Aperture range
• ISO and ISO Sensitivity range
• Camera modes (P, A, S, M)
• File quality

Exposure Triangle:

• How much and how quickly light is captured by the image sensor is managed by three fundamental camera elements:
  • Aperture
  • ISO
  • Shutter speed
• When using the fully automatic mode (P or AUTO modes, naming conventions may differ among brands), the camera takes control of all elements of the exposure triangle.

Aperture (meaning: open space):

• The space within the lens that allows light to reach the sensor.
• Aperture is also known as:
  • F-Stop
  • F-Number
  • F-Ratio
  • Focal Ratio
  • Relative Aperture
  • Lens-light-gathering ability
  • Speed
• Typically denoted on the camera lens as follows:
  • … 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, …
• The higher the aperture number, the narrower the aperture. (Think of this number as a ratio.)
• The lower the aperture number, the wider the aperture.