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Old 04-09-2018, 08:14 PM
gary
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Cool 130 years ago today - George Eastman patents Kodak camera - 4 Sep 1888

U.S Patent No. 388,850 Sept 4, 1888 :-

https://patentimages.storage.googlea...0/US388850.pdf

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vaclav Smil, IEEE Spectrum
By 1888, photographers had been fixing images on plates for more than six decades, and some of them produced impressive portraits, photojournalism, and landscapes. But no one could do such things easily.

The first prerequisite for effortless picture taking came in 1871, when Richard Maddox invented highly sensitive dry plates—glass coated with gelatin emulsion. That step eliminated the awkward coating-exposure-processing sequence that had to be done on-site when using the wet-plate process.

But an entire suite of improvements still needed to be made, and they came from an unlikely innovator: George Eastman, a bank clerk in Rochester, N.Y. In 1877, Eastman bought a camera and wet-plate gear to use on a trip to Santo Domingo. The trip fell through, but it prompted Eastman to experiment with new emulsion coatings, and in 1879 he patented a coating machine. In 1884 he replaced the glass support with a negative stripping film made of three layers—paper, soluble gelatin, and gelatin emulsion. In 1885 he added a convenient roll holder.

The final step came 130 years ago, on 4 September 1888, when Eastman was awarded U.S. Patent No. 388,850 for a small, handheld, easy-to-use camera. His company had already begun making it three months earlier.

Eastman called the camera a Kodak because he liked the ring of it.
Full story here :-
https://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-e...s-kodak-camera
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