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Decade 03 / 21

1840s

9 effects · The decade marks introduction, breakthrough or wide use

  • 10

    Calotype

    Patented in 1841, influential in the 1840s

  • 11

    Cyanotype

    Invented in 1842, Atkins' picture books from 1843 onwards.

  • 12

    Salted Paper Print

    From 1840 onwards; widespread before albumen paper

  • 13

    Anthotype

    1842, Sir John Herschel's experiments with plant juices

  • 14

    Petzval Swirl Bokeh

    1840, Josef Petzval's portrait objective

  • 15

    Dissolving Views

    1830s-1840s, Henry Langdon Childe's magic lantern shows

  • 16

    Harmonograph

    1840s; invention often attributed to Hugh Blackburn in 1844

  • 17

    Astrophotography

    1840, John W. Draper's daguerreotype of the Moon

  • 18

    Photomicrography

    1840s, early work by Alfred Donné and William Henry Fox Talbot

← 1830s
1850s →
LETZ.AI

504 effects — 321 historical, 183 machine. Dates mark introduction, breakthrough or wide use, not always invention.

The History of Visual Effects · 1820–2026

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