Although theyre well known today (possibly due to Bradys Civil War images), daguerreotypes were merely one of several competing formats in nineteenth-century photography. They were introduced by Louis Daguerre in 1839 and remained popular into the 1860s.

Are daguerreotypes still used?

Daguerreotype also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839, the daguerreotype was almost completely superseded by 1860 with new, less expensive processes, such as Ambrotype, that yield more readily viewable images.

What is the modern equivalent of daguerreotype?

tintype The tintype replaced the daguerreotype in the 1860s because it developed much more quickly. A daguerreotype might take several hours to develop, but a tintype could be given to the sitter within minutes.

What are the disadvantages of daguerreotype?

Disadvantages. The Daguerreotype had several problems: There was no negative; each individual exposure made only one Daguerreotype - copies or enlargements were not possible except by photographing a new, inferior, Daguerreotype of the original. Some Daguerreotypes were engraved to make printing plates.