Imaging Beyond the Pinhole Camera (Computational Imaging and Vision)2006

“ I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about eve- thing.” John Steinbeck (1902 - 1968) The world’s ?rst photograph was taken by Joseph Nicephore Ni´ epce (1775–1833) in 1826 on his country estate near Chalon-sur-Saˆ one, France. The photo shows parts of farm buildings and some sky. Exposure time was eight hours. Ni´ epce used a pinhole camera, known as camera obscura, and utilized pewter plates as the support medium for the photographic process. The camera obscura, the basic projection model of pinhole cameras, was ?rst reported by the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti (5th century BC): light rayspassingthroughapinholeintoadarkenedroomcreateanupside-down image of the outside world. Cameras used since Ni´ epce are basically following the pinhole camera principle. The quality of...