The birth of the camera
Kircher's camera obscura, which was sectional, was getting smaller and more portable.
A lens, which is used instead of a small hole, has the capability to collect light efficiently so that clearer pictures can be obtained.
This was mostly used for sketches by painters. But if it had had a capability to fix an image on something, it would have been a camera.
The camera obscura was the direct ancestor of the camera.