Dean M. Peterson

Dean McCormack Peterson (1931–2004) was an American inventor, responsible for two of consumer photography's largest revolutions: the Kodak Instamatic camera, introduced in 1963, and the panoply of "point-and-shoot" cameras introduced in the late 1970s. Both of these inventions had a huge impact on consumer photography, and nearly every snapshot taken since the mid-1960s, and virtually every photo of any kind since the 1980s, have benefited from Peterson's pioneering work.

Peterson was born and raised in South Dakota. He graduated from Aberdeen Central High School (South Dakota) in 1950 and attended Northern State College for two years before transferring to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He went to work for Eastman Kodak after earning a BS from Mines in 1954, marrying his high school sweetheart and serving two years in the Army at the end of the Korean War. He later received a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester (in 1963).

Peterson's invention and development of the Instamatic camera at Eastman Kodak in the 1960s heralded an unprecedented explosion in amateur snapshot photography. With over 70 million units sold by 1970, there were very few American households without an Instamatic. Based on the simple idea that loading and unloading the film in a camera ought to be a one-step process, the development of the drop-in film cartridge and a line of easy-to-use cameras for it created a phenomenon. Not since George Eastman's introduction of roll film had there been such a sales spike in the photo industry.

In the 1970s Peterson was principally responsible for the innovations that made possible the "point and shoot" camera revolution that extends into the 21st century. Autofocus, off-the-film metering, auto-film-advance and built-in self-quenching electronic flash: all were featured on the "Project Beehive" camera developed by Peterson and his team of engineers and introduced by Honeywell at photokina in 1972. The technologies from the "beehive" camera continue to resonate throughout the photography, digital photography, cinematography and video industries. Honeywell never introduced the camera to the market, but successfully sued other camera manufacturers who did so for infringement of Peterson's autofocus and light metering patents.

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