We Do The Rest: The Kodak

The Kodak No.2.  Retrieved from http://www.vintagephoto.tv/no2kodak.shtml

We Do The Rest: the Kodak

In the late 1880’s and into the 1890’s, no single company more aggressively sought to bring photography to the common person than Eastman Dry Plate & Film Company.  The company introduced a number of small cameras, emphasizing convenience and shedding the need for chemistry and cumbersome equipment.

In 1888, Eastman Dry Plate & Film Company released the first Kodak camera.  For $25, the package included enough sensitized film for one hundred 2.5-inch circular images, a case and a shoulder strap (Time-Life 154).  When the photographer was done taking photos, he or she sent the camera, film still inside, back to Eastman.  There the film could be developed and prints made, and the camera loaded with a fresh roll of film, for $10.  The camera measured 6.75 x 3.75 inches and weighed 22 ounces, and its circular image frame created circular images. (Welling 321).  The shutter was fixed at 1/25 second so there was no need for long exposure time or a tripod (Hedgecoe 28), and the camera lens had a focal length of 8 feet, so anything further away would display reasonable clarity (Time-Life 154).

Over 13,000 Kodaks had been sold by September 1889, and by October of that year Eastman reported they were processing 60-75 rolls of film every day (Welling 321).  These numbers increased dramatically with major public events.  Welling cites the New York centennial celebration as an example, in which Eastman received 900 Kodak cameras for processing in a single week.

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The Kodak’s ease of use and freedom from the processes previously associated with developing prints made a dramatic impact on the photographic market.  (Gustavson 130.)  Kodak came to be associated with convenience and these early cameras, the first to use roll film, brought photography to the masses.  The Kodak name became globally identified with amateur photography.  As photography increased in popularity in American and Europe, photo magazines and camera clubs came into being (Craven 176).

By late 1889, George Eastman had introduced four more Kodaks (Gustavson 130).  The first Kodak was retroactively named the No. 1.

In 1891, Eastman introduced the Model A Daylight Kodak, a camera with special film that could be loaded in daylight.  Also in 1891 came the Ordinary Kodak, Models A, B, and C, which featured a plain wooden box and increased in complexity with the model.  The Model A was billed as the “Young Folk’s Kodak.” (Gustavson 136).

An attractive “pocket” model, the Pocket Kodak, was introduced in 1895.  It was available in red or black leather, fitted in the palm and could use either roll film or plates.

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The Competition:

Eastman is considered the biggest name in bringing photography to the masses, but the company was far from the only player on the scene.

The Detective Camera

 During the 1890’s, miniature cameras became very popular, as did designs to conceal their presence, such as a walking stick, a revolver (which used small plates that were loaded into the cylinder), a watch, or a book (Hedgecoe 29).  The police in London were the first to use these surreptitious cameras for surveillance, hence the dubbing “detective camera”.

1889: The Luzo

The success of the Kodak led many manufacturers to adopt roll film.  The Luzo, designed by Henry Redding, used the Kodak film but the design was altered for a smaller box.  The shutter was powered by a rubber band and its tension could be varied.  J. Robinson & Sons of London, who built the Luzo, did not offer the mail-in processing service offered by Eastman.  The photographer was left to her own devices (Gustavson 134).

1891: The Kamaret

In 1891 the Blair Camera Company of Boston introduced the Kamaret, a wooden box camera with a leather covering.  The Kamaret could produce twenty, fifty, or one hundred images on either dry plates or roll film, and the images measured 4x5 inches.  Smaller than the comparable No. 4 Kodak, the Kamaret sold for $40 (Gustavson 137).

1892: The Bull’s Eye

The Boston Camera Manufacturing Company introduced the Bull’s Eye in 1892.  The original Bull’s Eye was the first to employ a printed backing on the film and a small celluloid window in the camera so the frame numbers could be seen.  In 1895, Eastman produced a camera called the Bullet with a similar feature.  That same year, Eastman bought the Boston Camera Manufacturing Company and the right to produce the Bull’s-Eye camera, which sold for $7.50 (Gustavson 138).

The Photake.  Retrieved from http://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Chicago-Camera/Photake.html

ca. 1896: The Photake

Manufactured by the Chicago Camera Company, the Photake consisted of a cylindrical metal box four inches in diameter, with flashy copper swirls on a black ground.  The camera held five dry plates, arranged along its circumference, and the photographer rotated the cover to advance to the next plate.  Packaged in a wooden box with six dry plates and the supplies to make twelve prints, the Photake sold for $2.50 and was marketed as “An ideal Christmas gift.” (Gustavson 139.)

Works Cited

Craven, George M.  Object & Image: An Introduction to Photography.  3rd ed.  New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1990.  Print.

Gustavson, Todd.  Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital.  New York: Sterling, 2009.  Print.

Hedgecoe, John.  The Book of Photography.  2nd ed.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.   Print.

Time-Life Books, Editors.  The Camera.  New York: Time-Life Books, 1970.  Print. 

Welling, William.  Photography in America: The Formative Years: 1839-1900: A  Documentary History.  New York:        Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1978.  Print.