Episode 25: Steve Sasson and the First Digital Camera

Episode 25 of the Camerosity Podcast steps away from film to explore the history of digital photography, centered on a conversation with Steve Sasson, who in 1975, at age 25 and working for Kodak, built the world's first digital camera. That prototype was a crude assembly consisting of a blue and metal box housing exposed electronics, a lens borrowed from a Kodak XL movie camera, and a cassette recorder used as the data storage device. Sasson recounts working essentially as a one-man skunkworks, building a camera that "didn't work until it was done" because no one had a blueprint for how to construct such a device. Notably, the prototype took 23 seconds to store a single image, and Sasson describes the Fairchild CCD sensor used as "horrible" by today's standards.

Joining Sasson are several guests who deepen the historical picture: Robert Shanebrook, a 35-year Kodak employee who worked in the same lab and shares firsthand memories of that era; Todd Gustavson, curator at the George Eastman Museum, who has access to and expertise on an extensive collection of early digital cameras; and Daniel Koons, a Kodak collector who meticulously built the world's only replica of Sasson's original prototype using high-resolution reference images supplied by Gustavson. The episode discusses whether the original prototype and Koons's replica still function, revealing that a Raspberry Pi has been incorporated into the replica. Returning callers Mark Faulkner, Mark Peterson, and Jon Gilchrist also contribute questions and personal experiences. The discussion ranges widely, touching on Kodak's internal awareness of digital as a threat to film, why Kodak never seriously pursued still-video formats like the Sony Mavica or Canon Xap Shot, Kodak's patent wars in the early 2000s, and the company's continued investment in film stocks into the 2000s even as digital rose, with a turning point noted after September 2003.

The overarching takeaway is that despite ultimately contributing to the decline of film, Kodak did more than almost any other company to advance digital photography, tracing a direct line from Sasson's clunky 1975 prototype to modern smartphone cameras. The episode also notes the irony that older digital cameras can be harder to get working today than 100-year-old film cameras, due to obsolete formats and hardware like SCSI cables. The episode closes with lighter discussion of digital camera collecting, bulk film preferences, and a recommendation to visit the camera collection at the George Eastman Museum.

AI-generated summary. May not capture every detail — read the full article below for the complete picture.

This week on episode 25 we go beyond the world of film and bring to you a whole episode talking about the history of digital cameras. In order to do that, we called upon a man who can speak to the earliest history of digital photography like no other, Steve Sasson.

In 1975, at the age of only 25 while working for Kodak, Steve created the world’s first digital camera. A crude looking blue and metal box with exposed electronics inside, a lens from a Kodak XL movie camera, and a cassette recorder as it’s data storage device, the camera worked, and set the world on a path that leads us to modern smartphones today.

Not to be outdone, Steve is joined by Robert Shanebrook who we have spoken with before as a 35 year employee of Eastman Kodak, Robert worked in the same lab with Steve and shares with us his memories of that time at Kodak and how things progressed from there.

Also, with us is Todd Gustavson, author and curator at the George Eastman Museum, Todd knows Kodak history like no one else, and has access to a whole collection of the earliest digital cameras.

Finally, Daniel Koons is a Kodak collector and early digital camera enthusiast who has meticulously built the world’s only replica of Steve’s prototype digital camera. Using high resolution images provided to him by Todd, Daniel was able to recreate the camera with an impressive level of precision and can speak to the inside workings of the camera second only to Steve.

It wouldn’t be an open source podcast without some callers, and this time we have returning guests, Mark Faulkner, Mark Peterson, and Jon Gilchrist who ask their own questions and share their own experiences.

Every episode, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are decided entirely upon you, so if you’d like to join us next time, be sure to look out for our next show announcement for Episode 26, which will be recorded on Monday, May 16th!

This Week’s Episode

Steve’s Introduction / How He Got Involved / One Man Skunkworks
The Camera Didn’t Work Until it Was Done / No One Knew How to Build It
It Took 23 Seconds to Store an Image / The Fairchild CCD Was Horrible
Why Would Anyone Want to Take Photos This Way? / There Was Never Any Paper on the Starship Enterprise
There Needs to be More Pixels / Kodak Wasn’t Ignorant That This Was a Threat to Film
When Will Digital Be a Viable Form of Photography? / Moore’s Law / The Boy Dog Wall
Portra Was Developed Without Any Constraints from Digital
What was the Evolution of the Original Concept to First Prototype? / Was a Modem Ever Considered?
Kodak Never Seriously Considered Still Video Photography (Sony Mavica / Canon Xap Shot)
Kodak ECAM / Kodak’s Patent Wars of the Early 2000s
Daniel Koons Makes an Exact Replica of Steven’s Camera / Please Return to Steve Sasson
Despite the Potential of Killing Film, Kodak Did More to Advance Digital Photography Than Almost Anybody
It is Harder Today to Shoot a 20 Year Old Digital Camera Than a 100 Year Old Film Camera
Kodak Kept Investing in New Film Stocks Into the 2000s Despite the Rise of Digital / After September 2003, Things Started to Change
Could You Take the Digital Image Off the Prototype and Into a Computer?
Does the Prototype Still Work? / Does Daniel’s Copy Work? / There’s a Raspberry Pi in There!
Todd Gustavson is a Curator at the Eastman Museum / Getting Old Digital Cameras Working / UF RAW
Digital Camera Collectors / SCSI Cables Are Hard to Find / Underwater Digital Photography
KingJim DaVinci Thermal Print Camera / Paul and Mark Are Shopping on eBay During This Podcast!
Paul Gets 10 Boxes of Cameras Today / Daniel’s Wish List / The Digicam Craze in Japan
Kodak Tech Pan / Modern Equivalent to Technidol
What’s Everyone’s Favorite Bulk Film? / Don’t Limit Yourself to B&W, C41 Processing is Easy Too
Go See the Collection of Cameras at the George Eastman Museum

Show Notes

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group or Instagram page, or email us at [email protected].

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

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Steve Sasson – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Sasson

Robert Shanebrook – http://www.makingkodakfilm.com, [email protected]

Daniel Koons (Norman Camera) – https://www.normancamera.com/

Todd Gustavson (George Eastman House) – https://www.eastman.org/

Mark Faulkner – https://thegashaus.com/

Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris

Anthony Rue – https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

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