The history of the digital camera.

CCD sensors.

Seven Seasons who in 1973 was a young 23-year-old engineer, began working at the famous multinational photography company Eastman Kodak. At that time, a new invention was circulating there: CCD sensors. So, he was assigned a new project, which consisted of somehow storing the electrical impulses coming from the CCD sensors. These worked by converting light into electricity.

Given that at that time there was no internet, nor the idea of a personal computer, it seemed strange that anyone would want to see their photos on a television screen.

After much research, Sasson concluded that the best way to store the information would be to digitize the electrical signal and store it on a RAM chip. The only possible storage medium was a digital cassette. So the invention consisted of several Motorola components, the lens from a Kodak film camera, and a CCD sensor. The prototype was "portable," weighing 3.6 kg. It also required carrying 16 nickel-cadmium batteries. And the only way to view the images was on a television.

This tape could store about 30 images of 0.01 megapixels, which seemed sufficient at the time, since the capacity of a conventional film roll was roughly 30 photos. (24, 36)

© Eastman Kodak

Initially, the idea wasn't to market the camera but to demonstrate its viability. So, without being entirely convinced, they allowed Sasson to continue his research; the digital camera patent would generate significant revenue for Kodak until 2007, when it expired.

«"Initially, the idea was not to market the camera, but to demonstrate that the idea was viable."»

Company executives asked Sasson for an estimate of the product's viability. He thought that to compete with film, the ideal size would be 2 megapixels, and that technology would have advanced enough to make this possible within 15 or 20 years.

Sasson brought the prototype to them for a test. He took a picture and showed it on a television in the room. To view the photo, you had to wait a minute.. The executives thought this idea wouldn't be well received by the end user: "Who's going to want to view their photos on a screen?" It didn't make sense to them; as we've said, the internet didn't exist back then, and the idea of the personal computer hadn't even been developed yet.

Which It could certainly have been a great future for Kodak., This marked the end for the multinational, as it represented a point of inflexibility in the manufacture of photographic film. And in 2012, they were forced to announce the company's closure.

If you want to know more about the history of the digital camera, Sasson explains it in the following video:

Remember that if you need to make a technical consultation, Or if you want to repair equipment, at DST we offer technical service for the repair of photographic equipment.

More details in the New York Times article: Kodak First Digital Moment.