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back to article First mass-produced camera heads to auction

An extremely rare model of the world’s first commercially produced camera will be auctioned later this year. Daguerreotype_01 The Daguerreotype originally cost 400 French Francs - an average yearly salary in 1839 The Giroux Daguerreotype camera was designed by Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre and produced in 1839. It will be …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    It would make a good web browser ...

    ... because it doesn't do flash. Or silverlight. Or other unnecessary web page annoyances.

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  2. lglethal Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Brilliant!

    Hats off to the man who invented this. Technology has to start somewhere and its brilliant to look back and see where it all started...

    Pity i dont have anywhere near €200,000 lying around... Hope this goes to a museum... =)

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  3. calagan
    Paris Hilton

    better than the iPad

    At least this thing has a camera... not like the iPad

    Paris, because it's trendy to bash on the iPad lately

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  4. David Gosnell

    "The photographer achieves a fixed focus"

    Unless there is only one position that gives a usable image (with a large depth of field), that doesn't sound like fixed focus to me, more like manual focus. Clumsy manual focus, certainly!

    Older readers and hacks may remember the days before autofocus came along and let any old idiot take a sharp photo!

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  5. Owen Sweeney
    Coat

    €700,000?

    A bit flash, don't you think? - that's me out then.

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  6. Henny
    Dead Vulture

    Blimey!

    If that's got a "front-mounted 15in “achromatic landscape lens”." that's a HUGE old camera... funny, it doesn't look that big from the picture...

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    1. Glesga Snapper
      Reply Icon
      Stop

      That would be...

      the focal length, rather than the diameter of the objective lens, methinks.

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  7. ITDirector
    Thumb Up

    Cool feature!

    It automatically removes people from street scenes(*) and landscapes etc, without all that tedious mucking about in Photoshop!

    (*) yes, I know that it's possible to stand still for 3+ minutes, but who does?

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  8. Reading Your E-mail
    Coat

    Flawed

    it's not very portable.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      IT Angle

      More portable than a Osborne 1!

      See? I got an IT angle in there!

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Is it an original or a model - big difference IMHO

    Given the wording I'm not clear that this is an original given the phrase "An extremely rare model of the world’s first commercially produced camera will be auctioned later this year." This could legaly imply that its a reproduction and as such somebody is onto a winner if they pull this scam of as with that wording it would stand as a valid sale.

    Also if you wish to buy flash powder for it, make sure you dont buy it in bulk or you will end up being visited by the `your a terrosist until you prove otherwise police`.

    Beer as its friday and I have a feeling.

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    name correction

    Just for the record - the auction house is called "WestLicht Photographica"

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  11. treboR

    Flash powder?

    If it has to burn for up to 30 minutes, that's one hell of a flash.

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  12. John H Woods Silver badge
    Happy

    "Unofficially referred to as the Daguerreotype"

    I take it that the oval metal plaque, screwed onto the case, which reads "Daguerreotype" is also unofficial?

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