Daguerreotype
Morse met the inventor of the daguerreotype, Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, in Paris in January 1839 when Daguerre's invention was announced [2]. While the daguerreotype fascinated Morse, he was concerned about how the new invention would compete with his telegraph. However, Morse's viewing of the daguerreotype alleviated his fears when he saw how revolutionary its technology was. Morse wrote a letter to his brother Sidney describing Daguerre's invention, which Sidney then published in the New-York Observer on April 20, 1839. While this was not the first report of the daguerreotype to appear in America, it was the first in-person report to appear in the United States.
René Dagron
He grew up in rural France but he left for Paris at an early age. In Paris he distinguished himself in the study of Physics and Chemistry. As a chemistry student Dagron became interested in Daguerrotypes when the process of producing them was announced on 19 August 1839. After graduation, Dagron established a photographic portrait studio in Paris. While in Paris Dagron became familiar with the collodion wet plate and collodio-albumen dry plate processes which he would later adapt to his microfilm techniques.