George Eastman
the invention of film rolls & the handheld camera
George Eastman, 1854-1932
Drawing of the original Kodak camera
Photo taken with the Kodak camera, 1909
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In the mid-1880’s, George Eastman, an inventor, began producing film on rolls. The art of photography became accessible to amateur photographers as a popular hobby. He was the first American to contribute to the advancement of photographic technology.
Prior to Eastman’s inventions, photography was expensive and tedious. It involved a heavy camera and burdensome equipment, such as chemicals, a water container, heavy glass pieces, and a tent. The film was created by coating paper with gelatin and photographic chemicals. With his advancements, cameras were much lighter and easier to work with, as opposed to the hefty glass pieces, and they allowed for quicker photos that could be taken in a series. In 1888, Eastman designed an elementary camera for even the non-professional photographer. For 25 dollars, customers could purchase their own camera with a 100 exposure roll of film. It was so simple to use compared to previous cameras that he marketed the first handheld camera with the slogan “You press the button, we do the rest!” For an additional 10 dollars, his customers could send their camera back to the manufacturer, after which they received their prints and their reloaded camera. One problem with the early film was that they resulted in very low quality photos. The introduction of celluloid, a year later, would drastically improve the photos. The idea of film would result in the standard form of photography until the development of the digital camera. Eastman’s roll film development also made the way for Thomas Edison’s invention of the motion picture camera in 1891. Sources History.com: http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-crucial-innovations-in-the-invention-of-photography Inventors.about.com http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventors/ss/George_Eastman.htm#showall NotableBiographies.com http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Eastman-George.html |