What was a major drawback of the daguerreotype photographic process?

The daguerreotype process, developed in the early 19th century, had a significant limitation in that it was costly to produce and could only yield a single, unique image for each exposure. This was primarily due to the way the process worked, involving the use of a metal plate that was coated with light-sensitive chemicals. Once an image was captured on that plate, it could not be reproduced, which made creating additional copies a challenge. This singularity made the daguerreotype less accessible to the general public, as only those who could afford the process could possess a portrait or scene captured in this manner.

Additionally, while factors like lighting conditions and setup times were important considerations in photography, they were not as defining of the daguerreotype process’s limitations as the cost and lack of reproducibility. The unique nature of each daguerreotype, along with its price point, created barriers for widespread use compared to later photographic methods that allowed for multiple copies and were more economical.