Steven Sasson

Steven Sasson invented the first self-contained digital camera at Eastman Kodak in 1975.[3] It weighed 8 pounds (3.6 kg) and had only 100 × 100 resolution (0.01 megapixels). The image was recorded onto a cassette tape and this process took 23 seconds. His camera took images in black-and-white. As he set out on his design project, what he envisioned for the future was a camera without mechanical moving parts (although his device did have moving parts, such as the tape drive).[4]

Sasson's patent claimed an arrangement that allowed the CCD to be read out quickly ("in real time") into a temporary buffer of random-access memory, and then written to storage at the lower speed of the storage device;[5] essentially all modern digital cameras still use such an arrangement. His was not the first camera that produced digital images, but was the first hand-held digital camera.[3] Earlier examples of digital cameras included some cameras used for satellite photography, experimental devices by Michael Francis Tompsett et al., and the commercial product and hobbyist camera called the Cromemco Cyclops.

Sasson was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Ragnhild Tomine (Endresen) and John Vincent Sasson. His mother was Norwegian.[6] His invention began in 1975 with a broad assignment from his supervisor at Eastman Kodak Company, Gareth A. Lloyd: to attempt to build an electronic camera using a charge coupled device (CCD).[7] The resulting camera invention was awarded the U.S. patent number 4,131,919.[5]

Sasson continues to work for the Eastman Kodak Company, now working in an intellectual property protection role.[7]

On November 17, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama awarded Sasson the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.[8] This is the highest honor awarded by the US government to scientists, engineers, and inventors.[9] On September 6, 2012 The Royal Photographic Society awarded Sasson its Progress Medal and Honorary Fellowship "in recognition of any invention, research, publication or other contribution that has resulted in an important advance in the scientific or technological development of photography or imaging in the widest sense."[10]

Leica Camera AG honored Sasson by presenting to him a limited edition 18-megapixel Leica M9 Titanium camera at the Photokina 2010 trade show event.[11]

Sasson was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011.

• U.S. Patent 4,131,919 Patent – Electronic Still camera

• The Dawn of Digital Photography - interview with Steven Sasson on the invention of the digital camera
• Disruptive Innovation: The Story of the First Digital Camera, lecture by Steven Sasson at the Linda Hall Library (October 26, 2011)