History of photography

Shopping Cart

Your Cart is currently empty.

Home

A History of Photography

with thanks to the Kodak people; Share moments, share life

Before George Eastman

Centuries of discoveries had to take place before George Eastman could give the world the first mass produced camera. Consider these milestones:

	1664-1666	Isaac Newton's discovery that white light is composed of different colors.
	1727	Johann Heinrich Schulze's discovery that silver nitrate darkens upon exposure to light.
	1794	The forerunner of the movie house (called the Panarama) was invented by Robert Barker.
	1814	Camera obscura -- Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photographic image -- the image required eight hours of light exposure to make the image. Later it faded.
	1837	Daguerreotype - the first image that was fixed, did not fade and needed under thirty minutes of light exposure.
	1840	Alexander Wolcott receives the first American patent for a camera.
	1841	Calotype process -- William Henry Talbot patents the first negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies.
	1843	First advertisement with a photograph made in Philadelphia.
	1851	Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process - images required only two or three seconds of light exposure.
	1859	Panoramic camera patented - the Sutton.
	1861	Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer.
	1865	Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works under copyright.
	1871	Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process - negatives no longer had to be developed immediately.
	1884	George Eastman invents flexible, paper-based photographic film.

George Eastman & Kodak

	1888	The name "Kodak" was born and the KODAK camera was placed on the market, with the slogan, "You press the button - we do the rest." This was the birth of snapshot photography.
	1889	The first commercial transparent roll film, perfected by Eastman and his research chemist, was put on the market. The availability of this flexible film made possible the development of Thomas Edison's motion picture camera in 1891
	1891	The company marketed its first daylight-loading camera, which meant that the photographer could now reload the camera without using a darkroom.
	1892	The company became Eastman Kodak Company of New York.
	1898	Kodak marketed the Folding Pocket KODAK Camera, now considered the ancestor of all modern roll-film cameras. It produced a 2 1/4-inch by 3 1/4-inch negative, which remained the standard size for decades.
	1900	The first of the famous Brownie Camera was introduced. It sold for $1 and used film that sold for 15 cents a roll. For the first time, the hobby of photography was within the financial reach of virtually everyone.
	1907	Kodak's worldwide employment passed the 5,000 mark.
	1912	Dr. C.E. Kenneth Mees, a British scientist, was hired by George Eastman to organize and head a research laboratory in Rochester, one of the first industrial research centers in the U.S. ♦ Kodak employees received their first Wage Dividend, a profit sharing program that continues in the U.S. today.
	1914	A 16-story office building, the company's present worldwide headquarters, was completed at 343 State Street, in Rochester. Three more stories were added in 1930.
	1917	Kodak developed aerial cameras and trained aerial photographers for the U.S. Signal Corps during World War I.
	1923	Kodak made amateur motion pictures practical with the introduction of 16 mm reversal film on cellulose acetate (safety) base, the first 16 mm CINE-KODAK Motion Picture Camera, and the KODASCOPE Projector. The immediate popularity of 16 mm movies resulted in a network of Kodak processing laboratories throughout the world.v
	1929	The company introduced its first motion picture film designed especially for making the then–new sound motion pictures.
	1932	George Eastman died on March 14, 1932

Kodak after George Eastman

1933 -

Kodak and Western Electric jointly commercialized high-speed industrial photography with a high-speed camera, synchronized with an electric timer.

1935

KODACHROME Film was introduced and became the first commercially successful amateur color film. It was initially offered in 16 mm format for motion pictures; 35 mm slides and 8 mm home movies followed in 1936.

1936

Kodak introduced a new home movie camera - the 16 mm Magazine CINE-KODAK Camera - that used film in magazines instead of rolls. A year later, Kodak introduced its first 16 mm sound-on-film projector, the Sound KODASCOPE Special Projector.

1938

The first camera with built-in photoelectric exposure control was developed - the Super KODAK Six-20 Camera

1941

Kodak marketed the versatile KODAK EKTRA Camera, with a shutter-speed range from

1/1000 to 1 second. ♦ Airgraph, or "V-Mail," was developed by Kodak as a system for microfilming letters to conserve shipping space during World War II.

1942

KODACOLOR Film for prints, the world's first true color negative film, was announced.

1946

Kodak employment worldwide passed the 60,000 mark.

1947

Kodak introduced the EASTMAN Television Recording Camera, in cooperation with DuMont Laboratories and NBC, for recording images from a television screen.

1948

Kodak announced a 35 mm tri-acetate safety base film for the motion picture industry to replace the flammable cellulose nitrate base - and received an "Oscar" for it two years later.

♦ Fully automatic processing of snapshots was made possible by the KODAK Continuous Paper Processor. The machine produced 2,400 finished snapshots an hour.

1951

The low-priced BROWNIE 8 mm Movie Camera was introduced.

1954

KODAK TRI-X Film, a high-speed black-and-white film, was introduced.

1955

Kodak began selling color films without the cost of processing included, as the result of a consent decree signed in 1954. The long-term result was the creation of a new market for Kodak, providing products and services to independent photofinishers. ♦ The company's employment throughout the world reach 73,000.

1956

KODAK VERICHROME Pan Film was introduced, a black-and-white film that replaced the popular KODAK VERICHROME Film launched in 1931.

1961

The company introduced the first in its very successful line of KODAK CAROUSEL Projectors,

which featured a round tray holding 80 slides.

1962

The company's U.S. consolidated sales exceeded $1 billion for the first time and worldwide employment passed the 75,000 mark.

1963

The line of KODAK INSTAMATIC Cameras was introduced, featuring easy-to-use cartridge-loading film, which eventually brought amateur photography to new heights of popularity. More than 50 million INSTAMATIC Cameras were produced by 1970.

1966

The KODAK 2620 Color Printer incorporated an electronic memory to produce 2,000 to 3,000 prints an hour. ♦ Combined sales of all Kodak units around the world surpassed $4 billion, and Kodak employment throughout the world passed the 100,000 mark.

1969

A very special stereo camera made by Kodak accompanied astronauts Aldrin and Armstrong when they set foot on the moon.

1973

The company unveiled sound home movies using a magnetic stripe for sound recording.

♦ Worldwide employment passed the 120,000 mark.

1980

Kodak celebrated its 100th anniversary.

1981

Company sales surpassed the $10 billion mark.

1984

Kodak entered the video market with the KODAVISION Series 2000 8 mm video system and introduced KODAK Videotape Cassettes in 8 mm, Beta, and VHS formats.

1987

Kodak announced its first one-time-use camera, the KODAK FLING Camera, which contained a 110 KODACOLOR Film Cartridge.

1989

Kodak celebrated the 100th anniversary of motion pictures by introducing EASTMAN EXR Color Negative Films.

1991

The KODAK Professional Digital Camera System (DCS) was introduced, enabling photojournalists to take electronic pictures with a Nikon F-3 camera equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 megapixel sensor.

1991

Crystal Magic Inc. licenses U.S. Patent No. 5,206,496 covering the making, using, selling or other disposition of Sub Surfaced laser engraved products.

1992

New digital products included the KODAK Professional DCS 200 Digital Camera.

1993

Kodak introduced a portable Photo CD player.

1994

Kodak announced the KODAK Creation Station, an easy-to-use walk-up center for making digital prints from negatives, slides, prints and Photo CD images.

1995

Kodak introduced its Internet website, kodak.com.

1996

In June the company unveiled the first in a series of pocket-sized digital cameras for the rapidly growing consumer digital market.

1997

♦ By February, Kodak had recycled more than 100 million one-time-use cameras since the program began in 1990. ♦ The KODAK PICTURE NETWORK was announced, enabling people to view their photos, order reprints, and share their pictures with friends and family around the world via the Internet.

♦ Kodak unveiled the KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE DC120 Zoom Digital Camera, the firstpoint-and-shoot megapixel quality digital camera under $1,000.

1998

America Online and Kodak announced "You've Got Pictures!" a service where AOL members could have their processed pictures delivered online.

2002

Kodak introduces digital photo processing to consumers. By individually scanning and digitally processing each picture, KODAK PERFECT TOUCH Processing removes dark shadows, reveals richer detail, improves sharpness and contrast, and reveals more vibrant color in pictures.

2003

Kodak introduced the KODAK EASYSHARE LS633 zoom digital camera, the first digital camera to feature an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

If you've read the Five Love Languages, you will realize that gift giving is a love language. Gift giving is a form of communication. As you prepare to give the gift, think about what the gift says about you and your romantic relationship. The secret of giving the perfect romantic love gift is not the cost; the secret is the amount of thought and love you put into it.

Be creative when choosing and when wrapping your gift. Below are some ideas for unique romantic personalized love gifts.

Here is another inexpensive gift idea -- your picture laser engraved within optically pure crystal glass on a keychain.

You email us a digital photo. We can laser engrave it WITHIN a slab of optically pure crystal glass; the surface of the crystal remains smooth. See samples of our work below.