Watch 100 years of the camera’s evolution in less than 10 seconds

By Les Shu April 17, 2015

watch 100 years of evolution the camera in less than 10 seconds ebay deals — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Youngsters born in the digital age might think the camera is a modern invention, but most of us know its history dates back more than a hundred years. Sure, digital cameras contain mini computers inside them, but the general concept – using a lens to capture light – hasn’t changed.

To show the evolution of the camera, the team at eBay Deals created several fun animated GIFs for eight popular brands.

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“We wanted to unveil the shifts in camera technology over the past 100 years,” eBay Deals’ Ashlea Green tells us. “In order to get a full range of the type of cameras formerly and currently in circulation, we selected popular consumer brands from five different camera categories: DSLR, SLR, 35mm Rangefinder, Instant, and Point & Shoot. We used morphing software to track these changes and trace the evolution of some of the world’s most iconic camera brands in history. To keep the morphs consistent, we made sure each camera type featured 10 models on average – from the first rangefinder camera in 1916 to Sony’s first DSLR.”

The animations were created to complement a blog post detailing the evolution of the modern camera. The story starts off with how the first camera, the camera obscura, works, and details its history, trivia, and pros and cons of using one. The post then moves onto the various types of cameras that came after: the 35mm rangefinder M-series from Leica, the 35mm SLR from Nikon and Pentax, the Polaroid and Fujifim Instax instant cameras, the Olympus point-and-shoot, and the Canon and Sony DSLR.

Of course, if you’re looking to buy vintage cameras, eBay is a popular destination to find them.

Related: Digital camera reviews

Canon

Sony

Polaroid

Pentax

Olympus

Nikon

Leica

Fujifilm (Instax)

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I am formerly a senior editor at Digital Trends. I bring with me more than a decade of tech and lifestyle journalism…

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