Despite being as important as the camera body, lenses seem to get less attention.

Sure some extremely large or expensive lenses are mentioned every once in a while, but looking back how much do you really know about lenses? Not that much I assume, but you probably know who invented the first camera and at least a few milestones in its history.

Here to level the playing field is John Hess from Filmmaker IQ, with a 25-minute long video covering the history of the lens from its early beginning as a fire starting tool to the modern designs common today.

The video is a bit scientific at times, but it includes a bunch of interesting tidbits about lens and their development.

Watch the video below to learn when and how the anti-reflective coating was developed, when fast prime lenses came to be and why Japanese companies dominate the photographic market.

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