The Digital Camera

A digital camera takes photos and saves them on a memory card instead of film. You can see your pictures right away on a little screen. Digital cameras changed the way people take and share photos.

How Digital Cameras Were Invented

The first digital camera was built in 1975 by an engineer named Steven Sasson at Kodak. It was as big as a toaster and weighed about 8 pounds. It took 23 seconds to save one black-and-white photo.

Over the years, digital cameras got smaller, faster, and better. By the 2000s, most people switched from film cameras to digital ones. Today, the best digital cameras can take millions of photos without running out of space.

Digital Cameras Today

Today, digital cameras are in almost every phone and tablet. You can take a photo and share it with friends in seconds. Professional photographers still use big digital cameras for the best picture quality.

Digital cameras also record video. Action cameras like GoPros can be strapped to helmets and bikes. Some cameras are even waterproof so you can take pictures underwater.

Fun Facts

• The first digital camera photo took 23 seconds to save.
• People take about 1.4 trillion digital photos every year.
• The first digital camera weighed 8 pounds, about as heavy as a newborn baby.

Did You Know?

The company that invented the first digital camera, Kodak, was actually a film camera company that was afraid digital cameras would hurt its business.