Electronic imagery first appeared in research laboratories in the 1980s. By the turn of the 21st century, the revolution in photographic practice that would spell the gradual end of silver-based photography was well underway. Combining the potentialities of computer science and photography, it enabled an entirely new treatment of the image: its storage in miniaturised memories, its modification by data processing and its cloning without information loss. In 1991 Kodak produced its Digital Camera System for professionals. It comprised a Nikon reflex camera, whose back has been replaced by Charge Coupled Device sensors, and a temporary digital storage unit connected to a computer. The image formed on the photographic lens is projected onto sensors (photoelectric cells) replacing the silver-based film’s light-sensitive surface, which are then analysed and converted into digital data.
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