Ryan Nagelhout 
Problem with Early Cameras [PDF ebook] 

Early commercial cameras were big, boxy, and you had to actually give your camera back to the camera maker to develop your photos. Before that, making photographs was actually even more difficult. Complex chemicals and long hours in darkrooms were required to develop even a single shot. Readers take a journey through photography’s history, from solutions and glass plates to point-and-shoot cameras. The story is complex and amazing-just the like the cameras we use today.