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| Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of
electronic photo detectors to capture images focused by a lens, as
opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The captured images are
digitized and stored as a computer file ready for further digital
processing, viewing, digital publishing or printing. Until the advent of
such technology, photographs were made by exposing light sensitive
photographic film and paper, which was processed in liquid chemical
solutions to develop and stabilize the image. Digital photographs are
typically created solely by computer-based photoelectric and mechanical
techniques, without wet bath chemical processing. The first consumer digital cameras were marketed in the late 1990s. Professionals gravitated to digital slowly, and were won over when their professional work required using digital files to fulfill the demands of employers and/or clients, for faster turn-around than conventional methods would allow. Starting around 2007, digital cameras were incorporated in cell phones and in the following years, cell phone cameras became widespread, particularly due to their connectivity to social media websites and email. Since 2010, the digital point-and-shoot and DSLR formats have also seen competition from the mirrorless digital camera format, which typically provides better image quality than the point-and-shoot or cell phone formats but comes in a smaller size and shape than the typical DSLR. Many mirrorless cameras accept interchangeable lenses and have advanced features through an electronic viewfinder, which replaces the through-the-lens finder image of the SLR format. While digital photography has only relatively recently become
mainstream, the late 20th century saw many small developments leading to
its creation. The first image of Mars was taken as the Mariner 4 flew by
it on July 15, 1965, with a camera system designed by NASA/JPL. While
not what we usually define as a digital camera, it used a comparable
process. It used a video camera tube, followed by a digitizer, rather
than a mosaic of solid state sensor elements. This produced a digital
image that was stored on tape for later slow transmission back to Earth. |
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