Camera Phones

The world's first camera phone, the J-SH04

The first cell phone with a built in camera was produced by Samsung in June 2000. It was called the SCH-V200 and was able to take 20 photos at 0.35 megapixels. However, in order to get hold of the images you had to plug the phone into your computer, so essentially it was less of a camera phone and more of a camera and a phone sharing a body. This is why it is often argued that the first real camera phone is the J-SH04, produced by Sharp in November 2000, as it could take photos on the camera phone and then send them electronically using your phone without the need for a computer.
These phones were released in South Korea and Japan respectively, however, camera phones only reached America in 2002 when the Sanyo SCP-5300 was released. It could capture 0.3 megapixel shots at 640 x 480 pixels and had a basic flash, white balance control, self-timer, digital zoom and various effects such as black and white or sepia. Although, America was slow to start producing camera phones they were incredibly popular and by the end of 2003 over 80 million had been sold worldwide.  
As the years went on, camera phones went from strength to strength as Nokia, Sony, Samsung and many other mobile phone companies contributed to improving the camera phone. Now in the smartphone age camera phones are better than ever, with many mobile companies competing to produce the best camera phone. Currently, it seems the iPhone 6 and the Nokia Lumia 1020 are the best camera phones available.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 

The iPhone 6

Not only have camera phones made it easier to get involved in photography it has also made social media much more popular. Instagram, the social media app focusing on sharing everyday pictures easily, now has more than 150 million users. Flickr another photo sharing site has 92 million users and snapchat has over 100 million users. All of these apps and social media sites focus on sharing photographs with friends, without the invention of the camera phone these would cease to exist as their main selling point is the ability to take a photo and instantly share with others worldwide. This clearly shows that camera phones on the world of social media.
However, I think their biggest impact was on the photography world as suddenly people no longer need a phone and a separate camera as camera phones are portable, easy to use and able to send pictures to anyone instantly. With the introduction of smartphones, I found that camera companies sales dropped massively as they are now competing with a device that can take great quality photos as well as being able to communicate with others, go online and play music, basically a device that does everything the consumer needs. For most people, it has created an easier way for them to capture every day moments on an easy to use device and allow others to get involved in photography without having to buy both a camera and a phone. Frankly, I think camera phones seem to be taking over the world of photography in an exciting and innovative fashion.

Bibliography: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/camera-phone-history/