The Creation of Digital Photography

Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)  

After film photography, of course, came the era of digital photography and although it seems like very new medium, digital imaging has actually been around for a few decades.

On October 17, 1969, George Smith and Willard Boyle invented the charge-coupled device (CCD) at Bell Labs. In 1970 the inventors built a CCD into the first solid-state video camera.

A digital image sensor like the CCD works similarly to film in that it records light that is exposed, however, instead of physically storing the resulting latent image, the sensor will transfer the recorded light into a digital reading.

Today, CCD technology is pervasive not only in photography but also in video applications that range from endoscopy to high-definition television. Facsimile machines, copying machines, image scanners, digital still cameras, and bar code readers also have employed CCDs to turn patterns of light into useful information.

Sony Mavica (1981)

However, it wasn’t until 1981 that Sony Corporation released the first prototype digital camera. The Sony Mavica (at this stage labeled the first electronic camera) used two CCD chips to record images onto a floppy disk that held a total of 25 images. While the Mavica wasn’t technically the digital camera that we know today, it did spark interest in digital image making.

Dycam Model 1 (1990)

The first commercially available digital camera was released in 1990, the Dycam Model 1. It used a CCD image sensor, stored pictures digitally, and connected directly to a computer for download. The Dycam Model 1 had a fixed focus f/4.5 lens, shot at a non-variable 200 ISO and produced only Black and White images. Although 20 years since it’s production, the Dycam seems like ancient technology, this camera put digital photography in the hands of the public and helped start the digital revolution.

Today it is almost impossible to be a professional photographer without having the capability to work with digital technology. Over 40 years after the invention of the CCD sensor, humanity has witnessed an astronomical leap in the way photographs are captured and stored, no body truly knows what the future holds for photography as a profession.