Nowadays everyone has them with them on their mobile phones: a powerful camera is in every modern smartphone. That was not always so. When did the lens actually get into the cell phone?
In the past, photo cameras were unwieldy devices; today they fit into every pocket when installed in a cell phone. The trend towards being able to take pictures with the device for making phone calls began shortly before the turn of the millennium. A look back on World Photo Day.
PHOTO: The world’s first photo sent on a cell phone was of a baby. In 1997, the software entrepreneur Philippe Kahn was waiting for his wife to give birth to their daughter. At the clinic in California, Kahn came up with the idea of developing a technology that would allow images to be shared instantly. He linked his digital camera to his flip-open cell phone. So he was able to capture the first moments of his daughter and immediately forward the photo by email.
CAMERA: It would take two years for the first cell phone with a built-in camera to hit the market. In 1999 Toshiba released its Camesse model, which was only available in Japan. The pioneer of a generation of smartphones with photo and video functions took pictures with a resolution of 0.1 megapixels (100,000 pixels). For comparison: The computer graphics standard VGA (Video Graphics Array) introduced by IBM in 1987 offered about three times as much with a maximum of 640 by 480 pixels. The modern 4k resolution (also called Ultra-HD) displays films with 3840 by 2160 pixels. A single still image is therefore around eight megapixels in size. With a slight delay, the trend towards integrated cameras also reached Germany in 2002 – with multimedia cell phones such as the Nokia 7650.
VIDEO: Just a year later, the mobile phone pictures learned to move. The Nokia 3650 presented at the technology fair Cebit in 2003 had a camcorder function, as it was called at the time. That means: In addition to photos, videos could also be recorded with the model. The integrated camera brought the surroundings into the mobile phone in VGA resolution. However, no sound could be recorded and the recordings ran at only ten frames per second with a maximum file size of 100 kilobytes. For comparison: streaming services today bring films with up to 60 frames per second in high-resolution 4k into the living room at home. Prerequisite: Fast Internet with at least 25 megabits per second – that is the equivalent of over 3000 kilobytes per second.
SELFIE: Towards the end of 2003, another provider launched another innovation – namely a front camera. At a time when self-portraits were mostly not referred to as selfies, Sony Ericsson released the Z1010, a cell phone with a camera between the screen and the keyboard. Both these front and rear optics captured images with 300,000 pixels – as VGA resolution. The actual intention behind the front camera was ahead of its time: Since the Z1010 also had a video function, the front camera was intended to address business customers who want to communicate via video telephony.
DOUBLE LENS: If you turn over a new cell phone today, you often see more than one lens. This trend began ten years ago, but had a different background with the first models with a double camera. Both LG with the Optimus 3D and HTC with the Evo 3D wanted to enable the user to record and play back three-dimensional videos. The 3D hype subsided, the double lenses remained – with both manufacturers: HTC relied on better image quality with the One M8 (2014), LG with the G5 (2016) on greater depth of field. The double lens also arrived at Apple in late 2016. The then flagship iPhone 7 Plus was the first model with two cameras. Current devices offer three (e.g. iPhone 12 Pro), four (Samsung Galaxy A72) or even five camera lenses (Nokia 9 PureView) on the back.
SOFTWARE / AI: For the first time, modern smartphones can take better pictures than normal cameras. This is made possible by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) built into the software. The camera then scans motifs and makes its own settings. That means: the AI automatically recognizes whether a house, a group of people or a moving athlete should be photographed. When shooting at night or in poor lighting conditions, photos can also be taken with the smartphone that previously required an expensive SLR camera. Google was a pioneer in this area with its Pixel series, and Apple has since followed suit with the iPhone 12 and other manufacturers. The AI software sometimes assembles a photo from several recordings.
HOLLYWOOD: The portfolio of cult director Steven Soderbergh includes films such as “Sex, Lies and Video”, “Traffic” and “Out of Sight”. In 2018, the American dared to do something new. The filmmaker shot the film “Unsane” exclusively with his smartphone. According to media reports, an iPhone 7 Plus was used. But Soderbergh was not a pioneer in this way of filming. In 2011, the South Korean director Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy”) shot his short film “Night Fishing”, which was awarded at the Berlinale, with an iPhone 4.
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
