Frank A. Brownell

The first photographic camera developed for commercial manufacture was a daguerreotype camera, built by Alphonse Giroux in 1839. Giroux signed a contract with Daguerre and Isidore Niépce to produce the cameras in France, with each device and accessories costing 400 francs.

In 1989, Fujifilm released the FUJIX DS-X, the first fully digital camera to be commercially released. In 1996, Toshiba’s 40 MB flash memory card was adopted for several digital cameras. The first commercial camera phone was the Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, released in Japan in May 1999.

introduction by Eastman

• In Eastman Kodak Company. …in 1888 he introduced the Kodak camera, the first camera that was simple and portable enough to be used by large numbers of amateur photographers.
• In George Eastman. The first Kodak (a name he coined) camera was placed on the market in 1888.

A vintage Kodak Retina II 35mm camera with leather case sold for about $220. A very clean and stylish Art Deco Kodak Beau Brownie in turquoise and in working condition sold for about $750. An untested Kodak Brownie Hawkeye in questionable working condition sold for only about $5.

How much are classic cameras worth? Classic camera values range from worthless up to $8,000 or more, depending on factors like brand, condition, film format and popularity. Many are worth around $15, though it’s impossible to place an average value on classic cameras.

Anyway, a box camera is worth maybe $10 (USD). There are a ton of them for sale on eBay. There were dozens of models of “Brownie” box cameras made over the years, and different ones command slightly different prices. But most are still in the $10 range….Latest buying guides.

The first Kodak model sold for $25, or around two week’s worth of wages, which was still quite expensive. After shooting the 100 exposures that were built into the camera, customers would return the entire device to the factory for processing and printing.

Kodak Eastman: Tourist II

Kodak Eastman: Retinette (017)

Kodak Eastman: Retina IIIc (028/N)

Parts of the camera Hold the RETINA in your hand and push the button (1) towards the word ‘Kodak. At the same time pull open the baseboard (2) until it audibly clicks into position. The camera is now ready to shoot. Before you close the camera, remember to set the focusing scale (10) to inf.

To take the picture, just press the shutter release button that is on the right side of the camera. To get sharper images, do not jam or slam the button – push it slightly until You can feel some resistance, then just apply a bit more force until You can hear the shutter go.

Kodak Eastman: Brownie Flash Six-20

Kodak Eastman: Brownie 127 (1953-1959)

The Brownie camera was offered for $1 in 1900. It sold 10 million units in just five years, a success beyond the company’s wildest expectations.

Despite everyone considering full frame a massive sensor size and 35mm film a cheap medium, it was actually considered so small they named it ‘miniature’ and sold it at extreme cost. The cheapest model was $250eq and the most expensive was $900eq.

DSLR and SLR cameras both reflect light that enters through the lens using a mirror so that an image can be seen in a viewfinder. However, an SLR camera uses a film made of plastic, gelatin and other material to record the image – a DSLR captures the image digitally, on a memory card.