system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How come some pictures from the 1920/30s have what looks like higher resolution than pictures from the 1950/60s?

ELI5: How come some pictures from the 1920/30s have what looks like higher resolution than pictures from the 1950/60s?

I've seen pictures from all of the decades and it just confuses me why there would be a better picture quality 40 years prior to the low res photo.

I know there's obvious explanations like the people in the later photo were moving or they had a worse camera than the one used in decades prior but that doesn't make sense to me.
gpt
The Kodak Instamatic.

Released in 1963, the Kodak Instamatic was a series of cheap, easy to use cameras. They generally had a fixed focus, minimal controls for aperture and shutter speed, and used very small negatives that were generally very "fast" (i.e. ISO 200 or 400). It was possible to take good pictures with an Instamatic, but just like older cameras you had to take the time to do it right: you had to have the right light, be exactly the right distance from the subject, stand still, etc. If any of those elements were off (especially the distance one) your photo would be blurry.

Prior to the Instamatic (and other easy to use cameras, like the Polaroid Land camera) taking a photo was a complicated process, and expensive. If you were going to take a picture, you took the time to set it up and do it right.