The first permanent photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 using a process he invented called heliography. Niépce smeared light-sensitive plates with bitumen and exposed them to sunlight in a camera obscura for hours, producing the first permanent photograph. Niépce partnered with Louis Daguerre to improve the process, but died before publicly revealing the invention, which Daguerre then presented as the Daguerreotype process. Cameras can be analog, using chemical development, or digital, capturing images electronically. Major brands include Nikon, Kodak, and Canon.