Forty Eight Years of Photographic Industry
What's happened in nearly fifty years of photographic history?
Rodney Bates, the founder and Sales Director of Firstcall Photographic Limited, recently had a birthday celebration at which point he was reminded that he had now continuously “served” the photographic trade for over forty-eight years.
Party conversations then led to exactly what the milestone events and product launches were that occurred during these years and how the industry had changed during his time.
What follows is his listing, a single development during each year, as to which were the most memorable events of consequence.
If you would like to agree (or disagree) in relevance to your own experiences, then please join the debate on our Twitter page to give your personal views.
Year Star Introduction or thoughts
1972 SX-70, a folding single lens reflex Land Camera is first produced by the Polaroid Corporation
1973 Kodak introduces the 110 format Pocket Instamatic
1974 Contax RTS 35mm SLR, camera forged between merging Yashica technology and Zeiss lenses
1975 Pentax K1000, 35mm SLR camera. Probably the world's most popular SLR even today
1976 Olympus Trip 35 advert by David Bailey - the camera is eight years old, but the advert is everlasting
1977 Konica C35 AF - the world's first production autofocus camera
1978 The Russian Zenit-E, 35mm SLR camera, makes hobbyist photography available to the masses
1979 Rollei 35T became the world's smallest 35mm
1980 Nikon introduces the F3 -, electronically controlled shutter, aperture-priority auto-exposure
1981 Sony Mavica heralds a new era in electronic photography
1982 Kodak debuts the Disc camera
1983 JVC GR-C1, the first VHS single-unit video camcorder.
1984 Leica introduces the M6 35mm rangefinder camera
1985 Minolta 7000, the fantastic first fully integrated autofocus SLR
1986 Fujifilm introduces the QuickSnap, the first single-use camera
1987 Canon introduces their first EOS camera, the 650, from which all Canon SLRs and DSLRs descend
1988 The Fuji DS-1P becomes the world's first fully digital camera
1989 Fujifilm's DS-X, the world's first digital camera to hold stored images on a flashcard
1990 Contax T2, the world's most fashionable 35mm film camera, is introduced
1991 Firstcall Photographic Limited Launched
1992 Kodak introduces Photo CD
1993 Ilford launches their last Cibachrome paper - Cibachrome Classic
1994 Kodak launches Ektapro their last carousel slide projector range
1995 Ilford introduce Multigrade IV darkroom paper
1996 Kodak, Agfa, Konica Canon and Nikon launch the APF film system
1997 Durst introduces the M670VC enlarger - more sold to schools and colleges than any other
1998 Canon introduces its first range of DV, digital video camcorders
1999 Single-use cameras become ubiquitous - Ilford launches the first HP5 b/w version
2000 Digital cameras become #1 on Christmas wish list - Fuji FinePix DX-10 is the best seller
2001 Sony launch their Mavica range of digital cameras using floppy disk or CD for storage
2002 Adobe introduces Photoshop Elements - image manipulation for the masses (PS7 for the pros)
2003 Fuji launches the Acros 100 - the finest grain black and white 100 ISO film so far
2004 Film scanners reach maximum sales - best seller is the new Minolta range like Dual Scan IV
2005 Epson's PictureMate makes printing quality 6x4 inch prints at home a reality
2006 Canon debuted their full-frame EOS 5D, 12.8mp at a £2300.
2007 Adobe lunches Photoshop Lightroom 1.0
2008 The year professional inkjet print quality matched traditional prints like with the Canon Pro 9000
2009 Video recording comes to SLR shooting like with the new Nikon D90
2010 Firstcall launch the unique transfer service of writing digital images back to photographic film
2011 Lytro releases their light-field camera, capable of refocusing images after they are taken
2012 Fujifilm launch their Premium Camera X-series with the X-Pro1
2013 Ilford launch MG Art 300 - the best silver gelatine monochrome paper ever
2014 Pro-level cameras point the way to the salvation of the photo trade with the launch of Nikon D750
2015 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark ll sensor-based 5-axis image stabilization for video as well as stills
2016 Action Cameras come of age with the launch of Go Pro Hero 4
2017 Resurgence in analogue photography with new launches from Bergger, Washi & CineStill
2018 Instant film sales hit new highs with Instax, Leica and Polaroid all with new camera launches
2019 LabBox from Ars Imago reinvents mobile film processing in the daylight
2020 Fujifilm's 102 mp GFX100 medium format camera captures stunning quality images-
Posted by Rodney Bates
30th July 2020
