The BBC has been sharing footage from its archives on YouTube, and one video caught our attention. The clip is from the Tomorrow’s World programme, and it was originally broadcast on BBC One on February 22, 1990. In it, three broadcasters look back at some of the cameras they’d covered in the past that were meant to change photography, and how successful they ended up being.
The segment walks through different types of camera innovations, starting with a digital “video stills” camera that recorded images on floppy disks and Minolta’s hybrid camera that supported film and video stills using a very bulky detachable back. They also walk through 3D cameras, autofocus and disposable cameras.
It’s a fascinating look back at some of the technology that lead to (and, in video stills’ case, was eventually supplanted by) the digital cameras we rely on today. There are plenty of modern videos that look back at old technology, but I think it’s especially interesting to see footage like this when it was contemporary and looked like it could be the future, as predicted in 1990.
The BBC also shared a separate video that looks back at when cameras first appeared on phones. It was a move by cell phone makers to boost sales, and was considered a bold move that we now know paid off big time. Interestingly, the cameras in those phones were based on technology originally developed for NASA, which you can learn more about in another video we shared.
Our DPREVIEW Tribute:
After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview closed on 10 April 2023. This difficult decision was part of the annual operating plan review that parent company, Amazon, shared earlier this year.
Over the course of 25 years, DP Review built up a reputation as being one of the most informative places to go for information about that new camera or lens you’re after. DP Review began as an independent reviews site based in the UK in 1998, the brainchild of Philip and Joanna Askey, but it was eventually purchased by Amazon in 2007 and relocated over to Seattle in the USA in 2010.
Cheers DPReview – thanks for the great work and content that guided photographers, videographers and techno junkies the world over!