Over the years, and especially today, camera design and technology continues to evolve. Simpler, cheaper, and more capable of producing higher-quality results, there is now a camera available to fit the needs of almost everyone.

In the 1930s and 1940s, photo imaging made a giant leap forward. Color transparency film was introduced in 1935, and color negative film came along in 1942. The debut of the Polaroid Land Camera in 1947 made it possible to take a picture and develop it on the spot in a minute or less.

FIGURE 1-1 The classic Graflex camera was marketed from 1952 to 1955 and had a Graftar 85mm f/3.5 lens. A reversed image was cast on a ground glass viewer on top of the camera.

The cameras most widely used in the latter half of the twentieth century were the small 35mm handheld cameras used by both professional photographers and the general public, but Polaroid cameras were also popular. The Polaroid required less skill to operate and was less expensive than the average 35mm and was used widely for decades, despite the fact that there was no negative and if fixative was not applied to the image correctly, fading and yellowing would inevitably occur quite rapidly.

The very end of the twentieth century saw the invention of disposable or single-use cameras, an innovation which rapidly became one of the best-selling point-and-shoots on the market. These inexpensive cameras took a lot of the stress out of picture taking for the casual photographer. The film was preloaded, the batteries preinstalled, and the buttons and controls simplified down to two or three easy-to-understand controls: the shutter, the film advance, and possibly a flash on/off button. Best of all, the disposable camera could be dropped off at the photofinisher without the picture taker ever having to touch it. It was amazingly convenient; even if you forgot to bring a camera, you could still get some shots. These cameras provided a virtually risk-free way to jump into the world of photography.