American film
As American Film is called a transparent nitrocellulose -based celluloid film . It was developed by George Eastman in 1891 and manufactured by the Eastman Company , founded as the Eastman Dry Plate Company in 1881 and renamed the Eastman Company in 1889 .
functionality
American film could hold 50 or 100 photos . The photographer could not change the film strip himself because it was not cassette and the film cartridge in the form still used today was not developed by IG Farben until 1936 .
history
Eastman first presented in 1891 (according to other sources: 1885 or 1889) a coated roll film based on the celluloid developed by John Wesley Hyatt , the so-called American film ; He had developed this together with William Walker and Henry N. Reichenbach from 1888. Eastman's American Film is a further development of the 1884 Stripping film , a paper film .
However, the clergyman Hannibal Goodwin had already invented and patented roll film on celluloid basis for Edison in 1887 . There followed a legal battle that dragged on until 1898; in the meantime, Eastman was building his photographic empire.
After a long-standing priority dispute, Goodwin was granted the US patent on September 13, 1898 as valid; Eastman had to pay millions in compensation to Goodwin, but by then had established the photography industry.
The US patent for the American film was applied for on March 30, 1888 and granted on September 4, 1888; the English patent is dated May 9, 1888.
The easily inflammable celluloid film and thus also Eastman's American film was replaced from 1901 by the flame retardant safety film .
meaning
The often rumored assessment, the American Film or already of paper-based stripping film have the amateur photography triggered proves on closer inspection to be fotohistoriografischer legend; As the photo historian Timm Starl shows, for example , private image production by amateur photographers started much earlier. The claim that George Eastman invented roll film also turns out to be a legend launched by Kodak's marketing department.
See also
literature
- Scientific American. September 15, 1888.
Web links
- George Carroll: Eyes of the Navy - A History of Naval Photography
- History of Kodak: Milestones 1878-1929