Kodak

Associated With

George Eastman and the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company - associated person, creator or operator

Defining Feature

A hand-held roll-film camera supplied for 100 exposures and returned for processing

Status

Active - The company continues; its original camera system is a preserved historical record

Overview

The 1888 Kodak camera arrived as a hand-held model loaded with flexible roll film for 100 photographs.

Its simple controls allowed owners to take pictures without processing the film themselves. After completing the roll, they sent the entire camera back to Rochester.

The factory developed the film, made prints and reloaded the camera before returning it. Photography was presented as a complete service rather than only a piece of equipment.

Why It Mattered

Kodak turned photography from a specialist process into a service ordinary people could use. Simple controls, flexible roll film and factory processing moved much of the difficult work away from the person taking the picture.

Camera and Pricing

• The portable, hand-held camera carried film for 100 exposures.
• Kodak priced the camera at $25 and the processing-and-reload service at $10.

Patented Roll-Film Mechanism

• Eastman's 1888 camera patent describes a light-tight box with a lens, cylindrical shutter and detachable roll holder.
• The roll holder used a supply spool, guide rollers, a platen and a winding roller.

Factory Processing Service

• Customers returned the loaded camera rather than processing the film themselves.
• The factory developed the film, made prints, reloaded the camera and sent it back.

Gallery