George Eastman

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George Eastman

While still a bank clerk , George Eastman began the research which laid the foundation for the present Eastman Kodak Company . Taking lessons in the wet-plate process , he became an enthusiastic amateur photographer His first experiments brought small results , but finally he found a coating of gelatin and silver that had all the necessary photographic qualities . The thought then came to him that other photographers must also be eager to rid

themselves of the cumbersome equipment required for taking pictures

By June 1879 he was making and marketing plates that were entirely successful , and a month later he got his first patent in England on a process for coating the plates . Experiment after experiment was made to improve both the emulsion and the machine in which the plates were coated . Meanwhile the demand for the product was increasing , and Eastman 's fame was spreading . Catastrophe was soon to strike , however Photographers began to complain that the Eastman plates were dead Recalling all the stock in the hands of dealers , Eastman began to search for a dependable emulsion . Four hundred and fifty-four attempts at mixing , cooking , and testing brought the same result--a "slight red fog and slight veil " Neither his own formula nor any other would produce a clear plate . After 18 more attempts he obtained an emulsion "free from red fog " but his success was fleeting the bottle broke , and he lost it all (Charadin Frank , 2003

Following a brief trip to England , Eastman resumed his experiments in Rochester . Very soon his plates were again "clear and good " The hundreds of unsuccessful experiments and the information obtained during his stay in England had given Eastman the clue to the difficulty , which lay not in his formula or machine but in the gelatin being received from the manufacturers . Thereafter he tested every chemical or ingredient before he purchased a supply (Charadin Frank , 2003

Although Eastman was not the first person who had had the idea of using some substance other than glass as a base for the emulsion , he now turned his efforts in that direction . Innumerable technical and chemical problems arose during the development of this new product , and the first commercial film was not made until March 26 , 1885 . Far from satisfied with this film , but convinced that he was on the right track , Eastman decided to obtain the services of a trained chemist . He consulted Professor Samuel Allan Lattimore , head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Rochester . Eastman 's confidence in research was justified . After trying one thing after another , Reichenbach eventually found what he sought--the formula for a transparent , flexible film which he patented December 10 , 1889 (Charadin Frank , 2003

Thus in 1888 , George Eastman introduced his first Kodak roll film camera , choosing a trade name that could be spelled and pronounced simply in any language and that began and ended with his favorite letter , K...