Camera obscura
The first camera known to history is the camera obscura. Conceptual descriptions of camera obscura can be found in Chinese texts from 400 B.C. and in the writings of Aristotle, around 330 B.C. A camera obscura does not take photographs, but rather it focuses light through a lens (technically a small hole) and projects it onto a screen. Pinhole cameras are close variants on the camera obscura. These devices serve as precursors to everything from still photography to movie cameras and motion picture projectors.
