Early Use of Digital Cameras

Early Use of Digital Cameras

The news media were the first to adopt this new form of photography; the cost was reduced by the ability to send images over telephone lines. The low resolution of newspaper graphics offset the low quality of the images taken by these early digital cameras. During the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989, the ability to transmit images without a satellite link was very useful.

In 1988 consumers had access to the first analog camera, and several analog cameras were produced that year. Images were recorded in grayscale and were comparable to film cameras in newspaper print. They resembled the more modern digital single-lens reflex camera.

True digital cameras, which recorded images as a computerized file, may have reached the consumer in the same year. A 16 MB memory card that required a battery was used to keep the data stored; however, it was never marketed in the United States. In 1991 the first truly digital camera for commercial use was developed. The development of JPEG and MPEG standards in 1988 helped the move to digital formats. This allowed video and image files to be compressed for storage.

The first camera available to consumers with an LCD display was introduced in 1995 and the first use of the compactflash was developed in 1996. The first digital cameras were low resolution and had been built for utility. The first megapixel cameras were marketed for consumers in 1997.

In 1999 a 2.74-megapixel camera was introduced for under $6,000.00 and was therefore affordable to professionals and high-end consumers. The camera also used an F-mount lens, which allowed the use of many of the lenses these consumers already owned. The first 6-megapixel camera developed and marketed to consumers for less than $1,000.00 was introduced in 2003.