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98-522: The company traces its history back to 1873 (pre-dating Kodak in the photography business) when pharmacist Rokusaburo Sugiura began selling photographic materials at his shop in Konishiya Rokubē, the biggest pharmacy trader in Tokyo at that time. In 1878, Rokusaburō succeeded to his family and renamed Rokuemon VI (Rokudaime Rokuemon). He gave the original shop to his younger brother and launched

196-525: A CPU enabled lens; the aperture of G designated lenses cannot be controlled without an electronic camera body; non-AI lenses (manufactured prior to 1977) can cause mechanical damage to later model bodies unless they are modified to meet the AI specification; and AF-P lenses (introduced in 2016) will not focus, even manually, on cameras introduced before roughly 2013. Many manual focus lenses can be converted to allow metering with consumer Nikon bodies by adding

294-570: A Dandelion chip to the lens. Most Nikon F-mount lenses cover a minimum of the standard 36×24   mm area of 35mm format and the Nikon FX format , while DX designated lenses cover the 24×16   mm area of the Nikon DX format , and industrial F-mount lenses have varying coverage. DX lenses may produce vignetting when used on film and FX cameras. However, Nikon lenses designed for film cameras will work on Nikon digital system cameras with

392-628: A Fortune 500 company in its own right. A key component of the incremental strategy was Kodak's line of digital self-service kiosks installed in retail locations, where consumers could upload and edit photos, as a replacement for traditional photo developers. Kodak also began manufacturing digital cameras, such as the Apple QuickTake . Film sales continued to rise during the 1990s, delaying the digital transition from occurring faster. In 2001, film sales began to fall. Under Daniel Carp , Fisher's successor as CEO, Kodak made an aggressive move in

490-519: A Medium format -camera Pearl . From 1964 until 1975 Konica manufactured Medium format Omega-cameras, which used Konica's Hexanon-lenses; they were named Koni-Omega for the global market. Two models were named Konica Press for the Japanese market. Konica's single lens reflex cameras pioneered auto-exposure in cameras with focal-plane shutters and fully interchangeable lenses. The Konica Autoreflex of 1965 used an external light meter cell to set

588-650: A 7% stake, diluted to 4.5% by subsequent share issues, in prominent Unix systems vendor Sun Microsystems . Interactive's role in Kodak's strategy was to deliver Unix-based imaging products and to support Kodak's introduction of Photo CD . Interactive planned to release a distribution of Unix System V Release 4 featuring comprehensive support for imaging peripherals such as scanners and printers, along with facilities for colour management and colourspace conversion. Later in 1991, however, Kodak put Interactive up for sale, attracting interest from various technology companies including

686-832: A 9.6% share, and by 2010, had dropped to a 7% share, in seventh place behind Canon , Sony , Nikon , and others, according to research firm IDC. An ever-smaller share of digital pictures were being taken on dedicated digital cameras, being gradually displaced by cameras on cellphones, smartphones , and tablets . Digital camera sales peaked in 2007 and declined afterwards. Kodak began another strategy shift after Antonio Pérez became CEO in 2005. While Kodak had previously done all development and manufacturing in-house, Pérez shut down factories and outsourced or eliminated manufacturing divisions. Kodak agreed to divest its digital camera manufacturing operations to Flextronics in August 2006, including assembly, production and testing. The company exited

784-406: A PC-E lens operates like a PC lens. The PC Micro-Nikkor 85   mm f / 2.8D lens offers only preset aperture control, actuated mechanically by pressing a plunger. In July 1962, Nikon released the first interchangeable perspective-control lens available for a single-lens reflex camera , the 35mm f / 3.5 PC-Nikkor. This was followed in 1968 by a redesigned 35mm f / 2.8 PC-Nikkor in which

882-456: A broad range of focal lengths in lens tests conducted by several photographic publications over the years. Hexanon lenses were used by the Japanese government as the standard against which all other lenses were measured. Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company , referred to simply as Kodak ( / ˈ k oʊ d æ k / ), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company

980-516: A complete shift to digital photography would occur by 2010. However, company executives were reluctant to make a strong pivot towards digital technology, since it would require heavy investment, make the core business of film unprofitable, and put the company into direct competition with established firms in the computer hardware industry. Under CEOs Colby Chandler and Kay Whitmore, Kodak instead attempted to diversify its chemical operations. Although these new operations were given large budgets, there

1078-538: A deadline of February 15, 2013, to produce a reorganization plan. In January 2013, the Court approved financing for Kodak to emerge from bankruptcy by mid 2013. During bankruptcy proceedings, Kodak sold many of its patents for approximately $ 525 million to a group of companies (including Apple , Google , Facebook , Amazon , Microsoft , Samsung , Adobe Systems , and HTC ) under the names Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation . Kodak announced that it would end

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1176-545: A form of paper film he called "American film". Eastman would continue experimenting with cameras and hired chemist Henry Reichenbach to improve the film. These experiments would culminate in an 1889 patent for nitrocellulose film. As the company continued to grow, it was re-incorporated several more times. In November 1889, it was renamed the Eastman Company and 10,000 shares of stock were issued for $ 100. On May 23, 1892, another round of capitalization occurred and it

1274-420: A future digital shift. Kodak sought to establish a presence in the information systems market, acquiring Unix developer Interactive Systems Corporation in early 1988 to operate as a subsidiary of Kodak's newly established software systems division. Kodak's resources enabled Interactive to expand their business, but this raised issues with regard to Kodak's strategy, since the company had previously acquired

1372-476: A high poverty rate in the city. Between 2007 and 2018, real GDP losses from Kodak canceled out the growth in all other sectors in Rochester. On March 12, 2014, Kodak announced that Jeffrey J. Clarke had been named as chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors. At the end of 2016, Kodak reported its first annual profit since bankruptcy. In recent years, Kodak has licensed its brand to

1470-458: A high-margin printer ink business to replace falling film sales, a move which was widely criticized due to the amount of competition present in the printer market, which would make expansion difficult. Kodak's ink strategy rejected the razor and blades business model used by dominant market leader Hewlett-Packard by selling expensive printers with cheaper ink cartridges. In 2011, these new lines of inkjet printers were said to be on verge of turning

1568-437: A large portion of his stock to company employees below market value. The expansion of benefits continued after Eastman; in 1928, the company began offering life insurance , disability benefits, and retirement annuity plans for employees, at the behest of company statistician Marion Folsom . Many other employers in the Rochester area took cues from Kodak and increased their own wages and benefits in order to remain competitive in

1666-535: A new optical design. This was the last of the completely manual PC-Nikkors to be offered. Nikkor lenses designated AF-S, AF-I and AF-P have integrated autofocus motors, but other manufacturers included in the list do not designate it as clearly. These lenses are needed for autofocus on certain newer low-end Nikon cameras which lack an autofocus motor . Without autofocus motor are the Nikon D40 , D40X , D60 , D3xxx (most recent: D3500 ), D5xxx (most recent: D5600 ),

1764-421: A new roll of film. Additional rolls were also sold for $ 2 to professional photographers who wished to develop their own photographs. By unburdening the photographer from the complicated and expensive process of film development, photography became more accessible than ever before. The camera was an immediate success with the public and launched a fad of amateur photography. Eastman's advertising slogan, " You Press

1862-627: A new shop, Konishi Honten (Konishi Main Shop) in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo. In 1882, Konishi launched a project to produce photography related materials in Japan: those products were imported at that time. In 1902, Konishi began to sell the "Cherry Portable Camera" (チェリー手提用暗函), the first Japanese produced end-user oriented camera. New products were released respectively, and Konishi Main Shop became

1960-461: A number of other companies. The California-based company JK Imaging has manufactured Micro Four-Thirds cameras under the Kodak brand since 2013. The Kodak Ektra , a smartphone , was designed by the Bullitt Group and launched in 2016. Digital tablets were announced with Archos in 2017. In 2018, Kodak announced two failed cryptocurrency products; the cryptocurrency KodakCoin , which

2058-663: A partnership with Edwin Land to supply polarized lenses, after briefly considering an offer to purchase Land's patents. Land would later launch the Polaroid Corporation and invented the first instant camera using emulsions supplied by Kodak. Frank Lovejoy succeeded William Stuber as company president in 1934, and Thomas J. Hargrave became president in 1941. After the American entry into World War II , Kodak ceased its production of amateur film and began supplying

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2156-792: A petition with the US Commerce Department under section 301 of the Commerce Act arguing that its poor performance in the Japanese market was a direct result of unfair practices adopted by Fuji. The complaint was lodged by the United States with the World Trade Organization . On January 30, 1998, the WTO announced a "sweeping rejection of Kodak's complaints" about the film market in Japan. A price war between

2254-410: A photograph, an inner rope was tightened and the exposure began. Once the photograph had been taken, the user had to rotate the upper key to change the selected frame within the celluloid tape. The $ 25 camera came pre-loaded with a film roll of 100 exposures, and could be mailed to Eastman's headquarters in Rochester with $ 10 for processing . The camera would be returned with prints, negatives , and

2352-498: A profit, although some analysts were skeptical as printouts had been replaced gradually by electronic copies on computers, tablets, and smartphones. Inkjet printers continued to be viewed as one of the company's anchors after it entered bankruptcy proceedings. However, in September 2012 declining sales forced Kodak to announce an exit from the consumer inkjet market. Kodak's finances and stock value continued to decline, and in 2009

2450-600: A separate class from other workers in Rochester, and "From the cradle infants are impressed with the fact that 'daddy is a Kodak man'; inferentially this compares with 'our father is a 33rd degree mason '". A 1989 New York Times article compared Rochester to a company town . Kodak's business model changed little from the 1930s to the 1970s, as the company's dominant position made change unnecessary and it made no mergers or acquisitions which might bring new perspectives. Research and development remained focused on products related to film production and development, which caused

2548-529: Is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35mm format single-lens reflex cameras . The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three-lug bayonet mount with a 44   mm throat and a flange to focal plane distance of 46.5   mm. The company continues, with the 2020 D6 model, to use variations of the same lens mount specification for its film and digital SLR cameras . The Nikon F-mount successor

2646-524: Is headquartered in Rochester, New York , and is incorporated in New Jersey . It is best known for photographic film products, which it brought to a mass market for the first time. Kodak began as a partnership between George Eastman and Henry A. Strong to develop a film roll camera. After the release of the Kodak camera, Eastman Kodak was incorporated on May 23, 1892. Under Eastman's direction,

2744-523: Is opposite of the direction normally used by Canon . F-mount lenses also typically have aperture rings that turn clockwise to close. The aperture rings have two sets of f-stop numbers. On cameras equipped with Nikon's Aperture Direct Readout (ADR) system, a small window under the pentaprism reads the smaller scale and displays the selected f-stop in the viewfinder . Nikon has introduced many proprietary designations for F-mount Nikkor lenses, reflecting design variations and developments both in lenses and

2842-432: Is quoted as saying, "it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter ." He and his mother, Maria, devised the name Kodak using an Anagrams set. Eastman said that there were three principal concepts he used in creating the name: it should be short, easy to pronounce, and not resemble any other name or be associated with anything else. According to a 1920 ad, the name "was simply invented – made up from letters of

2940-637: Is the Nikon Z-mount . The Nikon F-mount is one of only two SLR lens mounts (the other being the Pentax K-mount ) which were not abandoned by their associated manufacturer upon the introduction of autofocus , but rather extended to meet new requirements related to metering , autofocus , and aperture control. The large variety of F-mount compatible lenses makes it the largest system of interchangeable flange-mount photographic lenses in history. Over 400 different Nikkor lenses are compatible with

3038-490: The Eastman Chemical Company . Henry Strong died in 1919, after which Eastman became the company president. Eastman began to wind down his involvement in the daily management of the company in the mid-1920s, and formally retired in 1925, although he remained on the board of directors. William Stuber succeeded him as president, and managed the company along with Frank Lovejoy. In 1912, Kodak established

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3136-677: The National Reconnaissance Office to produce cameras for surveillance satellites such as the KH-7 Gambit and KH-9 Hexagon . Between 1963 and 1970, Kodak engineers worked on the cancelled Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, designing optical sensors for a crewed reconnaissance satellite. The company later performed a study for NASA on the astronomical uses of the equipment developed for MOL. Kodak doubled its number of employees worldwide between 1936 and 1966. The majority remained employed in Rochester, where it

3234-497: The Nikon 1 series with FT1 adapter and the Nikon Z-mount cameras with FTZ adapter. Zeiss ZF series lenses are manual-focus designs Nikon AI-S type aperture indexing. They are manufactured by Cosina to Zeiss specifications. Four design variations are designated ZF, ZF.2, ZF-I, and ZF-IR. ZF is the original product line. ZF.2 lenses are CPU-enabled (similar to Nikon AI-P lenses) offering full metering compatibility with

3332-551: The Trinity test site. After this discovery, Kodak officials became concerned that fallout would contaminate more of their film, and began monitoring atmospheric radiation levels with rainwater collection at Kodak Park. In 1951, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began providing Kodak with a schedule of nuclear tests in exchange for its silence after the company threatened to sue

3430-573: The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York . In September 2013, the company emerged from bankruptcy, having shed its large legacy liabilities, restructured, and exited several businesses. Since emerging from bankruptcy, Kodak has continued to provide commercial digital printing products and services, motion picture film , and still film, the last of which is distributed through

3528-468: The lens diaphragm automatically after the user selected a shutter speed . With the Autoreflex T of 1968, Konica improved this design into a through-the-lens meter , using the same automation system (the user could also set the exposure manually on these cameras). Other camera makers eventually adopted auto-exposure as well, but Konica was the first. When Konishiroku got the new name Konica in 1987,

3626-699: The 1970s, Kodak published important research in dye lasers , and patented the Bayer Filter method of RGB arrangement on photosensors. During the Cold War , Kodak participated in a number of clandestine government projects. Beginning in 1955 they were contracted by the CIA to design cameras and develop film for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft under the Bridgehead Program. Kodak was also contracted by

3724-591: The American war effort at the direction of the War Production Board . The company produced film, cameras, microfilm , pontoons , synthetic fibers , RDX , variable-time fuses , and hand grenades for the government. Kodak's European subsidiaries continued to operate during the war. Kodak AG, the German subsidiary, was transferred to two trustees in 1941 to allow the company to continue operating in

3822-554: The Button, We Do the Rest ", soon entered the public lexicon, and was referenced by Chauncey Depew in a speech and Gilbert and Sullivan in their opera Utopia, Limited . In the 1890s and early 1900s, Kodak grew rapidly and outmaneuvered competitors through a combination of innovation, acquisitions, and exclusive contracts. Eastman recognized that film would return more profit than the cameras that used them, and focused on control of

3920-643: The F-mount in non-photographic imaging applications. The F-mount has a significant degree of both backward and forward compatibility . Many current autofocus F-mount lenses can be used on the original Nikon F , and the earliest manual-focus F-mount lenses of the 1960s and early 1970s can, with some modification, still be used to their fullest on all professional-class Nikon cameras. Incompatibilities do exist, however, and adventurous F-mount users should consult product documentation in order to avoid problems. For example, many electronic camera bodies cannot meter without

4018-484: The F-mount itself. There are also "unofficial" designations used by collectors and dealers to differentiate similar lenses. Nikon PC lenses, like other perspective control lenses , offer adjustments that duplicate certain view camera movements . The 28mm and 35mm PC lenses support shifting the lens in relation to the film or sensor plane, while Nikon's 19mm, 24mm, 45mm, and 85mm PC-E lenses also support tilting . Nikon currently offers four different PC lenses for sale:

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4116-561: The Kodak Research Laboratories at Building 3 in Kodak Park, with Kenneth Mees as director. Research primarily focused on film emulsions for color photography and radiography . In 1915, Kodak began selling Kodachrome, a two-color film developed by John Capstaff at the research lab. Another two-color film duplitized film was marketed for photography of X-rays as it had a short exposure time and could reduce

4214-511: The Konica chemical factory. Konica was a major producer of 35mm film and related products, including film development processors and printing technology. While never equal to giants like Kodak or Fujifilm , the recognized quality of Konica film ensured general presence on market. Originally Konica film and paper was sold under the brand name of " Sakura " meaning Cherry Blossom in English. In

4312-673: The SunSoft subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, on whose Solaris operating system Interactive had undertaken development work. SunSoft eventually acquired the systems products division of Interactive in early 1992, leaving the services and technologies division with Kodak, until its eventual sale to SHL Systemhouse in 1993. Kodak would continue its relationship with Sun as a notable customer, integrating various Sun technologies in its document management products. Kodak would later sue Sun for infringing three software patents acquired by Kodak in 1997 from Wang Laboratories . In 1993, Whitmore announced

4410-542: The alphabet to meet our trade-mark requirements. It was short and euphonious and likely to stick in the public mind." The Kodak name was trademarked by Eastman in 1888. There was also a rumor that the name Kodak came from the sound made by the Kodak camera's shutter. Eastman entered a partnership with Henry Strong in 1880 and the Eastman Dry Plate Company was founded on January 1, 1881, with Strong as president and Eastman as treasurer. Initially,

4508-428: The company became one of the world's largest film and camera manufacturers, and also developed a model of welfare capitalism and a close relationship with the city of Rochester. During most of the 20th century, Kodak held a dominant position in photographic film, and produced a number of technological innovations through heavy investment in research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories. Kodak produced some of

4606-402: The company began cutting benefits and making large layoffs to save money. Despite the competition, Kodak's revenues and profits continued to increase during the 1990s, due to the strategy changes and an overall expansion of the global market. Under CEO George M. C. Fisher , Kodak's annual revenue peaked at $ 16 billion in 1996 and profits peaked at $ 2.5 billion in 1999. In May 1995, Kodak filed

4704-443: The company could enter bankruptcy followed by an auction of its patents, as it was reported to be in talks with Citigroup to provide debtor-in-possession financing . This was confirmed on January 19, 2012, when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and obtained a $ 950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to enable it to continue operations. Under the terms of its bankruptcy protection, Kodak had

4802-580: The company employed about 4,935 people. In the 1990s Konica signed its first major contract with Los Angeles County providing leasing of copiers to the Los Angeles Superior Court . This resulted in a major shift in the industry that had sold only copiers before. The County initial order of 250 copiers required Konica to redirect all of it inventory throughout North America to the county. On 5 August 2003, Konica merged with Minolta to form Konica Minolta . In 2006, Konica Minolta exited

4900-475: The company negotiated a $ 300 million loan from KKR . A number of divisions were sold off to repay debts from previous investments, most notably the Kodak Health Group, one of the company's profitable units. Kodak used the $ 2.35 billion from the sale to fully repay its approximately $ 1.15 billion of secured term debt. Around 8,100 employees from the Kodak Health Group transferred to Onex, which

4998-515: The company sold dry plates for cameras, but Eastman's interest turned to replacing glass plates altogether with a new roll film process. On October 1, 1884, the company was re-incorporated as the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company. In 1885, Eastman patented the first practical film roll holder with William Walker, which would allow dry plate cameras to store multiple exposures in a camera simultaneously. That same year, Eastman patented

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5096-409: The company to fall behind rivals Polaroid and Xerox in the development of instant cameras and photocopiers . Kodak would begin selling its own versions of each in the mid-1970s, but neither became popular. Both product lines would be abandoned in the 1990s. Japanese competitor Fujifilm entered the U.S. market with lower-priced film and supplies in the 1980s. Fuji defeated Kodak in a bid to become

5194-416: The company would restructure, and he was succeeded by George M. C. Fisher, a former Motorola CEO, later that year. Under Fisher, the company abandoned diversification in chemicals and focused on an incremental shift to digital technology. Tennessee Eastman was spun off as Eastman Chemical on January 1, 1994, and Sterling Drug's remaining operations were sold in August 1994. Eastman Chemical later became

5292-507: The concept of an industrial community that Eastman sought to create. These practices were not seriously challenged until after World War II . As a consequence of this shared background and the robust company benefits, Kodak employees formed a close community that viewed unions as outsiders, and no attempt to organize workers at Kodak succeeded during the 20th century. Kodak was hard-hit by the Great Depression , although Rochester

5390-506: The digital camera market with its EasyShare family of digital cameras. By 2005, Kodak ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in digital camera sales, which surged 40% to $ 5.7 billion. The company also began selling digital medical image systems after acquiring the Israel-based companies Algotec Systems and OREX Computed Radiography. Despite the initial high growth in sales, digital cameras had low profit margins due to strong competition, and

5488-403: The dosage of radiation needed to take a photo. Kodak became closely tied to Rochester, where most of its employees resided, and was at the vanguard of welfare capitalism during the 1910s and 1920s. Eastman implemented a number of worker benefit programs, including a welfare fund to provide workmen's compensation in 1910 and a profit-sharing program for all employees in 1912. In 1919, he sold

5586-438: The earlier Konica F lens mount had (40.5 mm), but it has a larger diameter of 47 mm. Konica SLR interchangeable lenses were named Hexanon . The optical quality of most Hexanon lenses is regarded as truly superb, particularly the older fixed-focal length (prime) lenses. Many camera manufacturers of interchangeable lenses produce a few great lenses among their line, but Konica managed to achieve near excellent quality over

5684-514: The emerging motion picture industry . When Thomas Edison and other film producers formed the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, Eastman negotiated for Kodak to be sole supplier of film to the industry. In 1914, Kodak built its current headquarters on State Street. By 1922, the company was the second-largest purchaser of silver in the United States, behind the U.S. Treasury . Beginning on July 18, 1930, Kodak

5782-546: The event of war between Germany and the United States. The company produced film, fuses, triggers , detonators , and other material. Slave labor was employed at Kodak AG's Stuttgart and Berlin-Kopenick plants. During the German occupation of France, Kodak-Pathé facilities in Severan and Vincennes were also used to support the German war effort. Kodak continued to import goods to the United States purchased from Nazi Germany through neutral nations such as Switzerland. This practice

5880-423: The federal government for damage caused to film products. Kodak was later contracted to create emulsions for radiation tests of fallout from nuclear tests. Kodak reached its zenith in the post-war era , as the usage of film for amateur, commercial, and government purposes all increased. In 1948, Tennessee Eastman created a working acetate film , which quickly replaced nitrate film in the movie industry because it

5978-556: The film camera market altogether, and began to end the production of film products. In total, 13 film plants and 130 photo finishing facilities were closed, and 50,000 employees laid off between 2004 and 2007. In 2009, Kodak announced that it would cease selling Kodachrome color film, ending 74 years of production, after a dramatic decline in sales. Pérez invested heavily in digital technologies and new services that capitalized on its technology innovation to boost profit margins. He also spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build up

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6076-655: The film market. This razor and blades model of sales would change little for several decades. Larger facilities were soon needed in Rochester, and the construction of Kodak Park began in 1890. Kodak purchased and opened several shops and factories in Europe , particularly in the United Kingdom . The British holdings were initially organized under the Eastman Photographic Materials Company. Beginning in 1898, they were placed under

6174-457: The four PC-E Nikkors (2008 and 2016), and the 85mm PC-Nikkor (1999). The 45   mm and 85   mm "Micro" lenses offer close focus (0.5 magnification) for macrophotography . The PC- E lenses (the "E" designates an electromagnetic diaphragm) offer automatic aperture control with all DSLRs with CMOS image sensor except the Nikon D90 . With earlier DSLRs and all "analog" film camera models,

6272-449: The full range of AF Nikon SLR cameras. ZF-I lenses add mechanical locks for focus and aperture, and additional environmental sealing, for industrial applications. ZF-IR lenses are adapted to infrared imaging, with coatings that transmit wavelengths up to 1100 nm, and focus scales marked for infrared. CP.2 lenses are a series of Zeiss "CompactPrime" cinema lenses which present F-mount as one of three mounting options. The lenses cover

6370-514: The holding company Kodak Limited. An Australian subsidiary, Australia Kodak Limited, was established in 1908. In 1931, Kodak-Pathé was established in France and Kodak AG was formed in Germany following the acquisition of Nagel . The Brownie camera, marketed to children, was first released in 1900, and further expanded the amateur photography market. One of the largest markets for film became

6468-453: The labor market. Eastman believed that offering these benefits served the interests of the company. He feared labor unions and believed that offering better compensation than that received by union workers would deter union organizing and avoid the potential costs of a company strike . Selling his stock to employees would simultaneously make it more appealing to investors, who were wary to purchase shares because of his large stake, and lower

6566-444: The leading camera company in Japan. In 1921, Konishi had his elder son succeed to the family and thus company head with the name, and in this occasion Konishi Honten was turned into a company Konishiroku Honten. The name Konishiroku was taken from the abbreviation of their names, Konishi Roku emon. Konishiroku released their "Konica I" type camera in 1948, after which they would name their own company in 1987. Since 1949 Konica produced

6664-403: The limitations noted above. F-mount lenses lock by turning counter-clockwise (when looking at the front of lens) and unlock clockwise. Nearly all F-mount lenses have zoom and focus controls that rotate in the clockwise direction (as viewed from behind the camera) to increase focal length and focus distance respectively. This convention is also used in Pentax K-mount and Sony A-mount lenses but

6762-409: The market rapidly matured. Its digital cameras soon were undercut by Asian competitors that could produce and sell cheaper products. Many digital cameras were sold at a loss as a result. The film business, where Kodak enjoyed high profit margins, also continued to fall. The combination of these two factors caused a decline in profits. By 2007, Kodak had dropped to No. 4 in U.S. digital camera sales with

6860-404: The mid-1980s, Konica launched its SR range of film, then SR-V (1987), SR-G (1989), Super SR (1991), Super XG (1993), VX and finally "Centuria" in 1999. The first series of Konica single-lens reflex cameras used the Konica F lens mount , named after the first camera to use it. This was a bayonet mount, and is not compatible with later Konica lens mounts. The flange focal distance of the F-mount

6958-462: The most popular camera models of the 20th century, including the Brownie and Instamatic . The company's ubiquity was such that its " Kodak moment " tagline entered the common lexicon to describe a personal event that deserved to be recorded for posterity. Kodak began to struggle financially in the late 1990s as a result of increasing competition from Fujifilm . The company also struggled with

7056-501: The motion picture industry after signing new agreements with major studios in 2015 and 2020. In 2022, Kodak announced it would hire new film technicians after film photography experienced a revival among hobbyists. Kodak is currently arranged in four business reporting segments: Traditional Print, Digital Print, Advanced Material & Chemicals (including Motion Picture) and Brand (Brand licensing of consumer products produced by third parties). Nikon F-mount The Nikon F-mount

7154-507: The official film of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics , which gave it a permanent foothold in the market. Fuji opened a film plant in the U.S. and its aggressive marketing and price cutting began taking market share from Kodak, rising from a 10% share in the early 1990s to 17% in 1997. Fuji also made headway into the professional market with specialty transparency films such as Velvia and Provia , which competed with Kodak's signature professional product, Kodachrome . Encouraged by shareholders,

7252-486: The photography business. In March 2006, the merged company closed down its photo imaging division, which produced color film , color paper, photo chemicals and digital minilab machines. Its digital SLR camera section was transferred to Sony , currently known as the Sony Alpha line. Dai Nippon (DNP) purchased Konica's Odawara factory site and continues to produce paper under its own brand, while Seapac acquired

7350-660: The price of the stock, which would keep anti-trust lawyers from investigating the company. Because Kodak was a capital-intensive industry with a low labor-cost ratio , employee benefits contributed less to the company's expenses than they would in other industries. Employment opportunities were not extended to all Rochesterians. The company almost exclusively hired workers of an Anglo-Saxon background under Eastman, and excluded Catholic immigrants, African-Americans , and Jews . Approximately one-third of employees were female. A system of family hiring, where children of employees would be hired to follow their parents, reinforced

7448-489: The production of several products, including digital cameras, pocket video cameras, digital picture frames, and inkjet printers. As part of a settlement with the UK-based Kodak Pension Plan, Kodak agreed to sell its photographic film , commercial scanners, and photo kiosk operations, which were reorganized as a spinoff company, Kodak Alaris . The Image Sensor Solutions (ISS) division of Kodak

7546-459: The program. Research projects led to a number of new Kodak products in the 1930s. At Kodak Research Laboratories, Leopold Godowsky Jr. and Leopold Mannes invented a three-color film which would be commercially viable. In 1935, the product was launched as Kodachrome . The company also produced industrial high-speed cameras and began to diversify its chemical operations by producing vitamin concentrates and plastics . In 1934, Kodak entered

7644-477: The shifting portion of the lens was further from the camera's body, in order to clear the new "Photomic" meters. The last optical redesign of this 35mm lens was released in 1980. The 35mm PC-Nikkor did not meet the need of photographers for a wider-angle lens, so in July 1975 Nikon released the 28mm f / 4 PC-Nikkor. In February 1981 Nikon released an improved version of this lens, the 28mm f / 3.5 PC-Nikkor, with

7742-508: The spinoff company Kodak Alaris . The company has licensed the Kodak brand to several products produced by other companies, such as the PIXPRO line of digital cameras manufactured by JK Imaging. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kodak announced in late July that year it would begin production of pharmaceutical materials. The letter k was a favorite of George Eastman 's; he

7840-600: The system. The F-mount is also popular in scientific and industrial applications, most notably machine vision . The F-mount has been in production for over 60 years, the only SLR lens mount with such longevity. In addition to Nikon's own range of " Nikkor " lenses, brands of F-mount photographic lenses include Zeiss , Voigtländer , Schneider , Angénieux , Samyang , Sigma , Tokina , Tamron , Hartblei , Kiev-Arsenal , Lensbaby , and Vivitar . F-mount cameras include current models from Nikon , Fujifilm , Sinar , JVC , Kenko and Horseman. Numerous other manufacturers employ

7938-495: The transition from film to digital photography , although Kodak had developed the first self-contained digital camera . Attempts to diversify its chemical operations failed, and as a turnaround strategy in the 2000s, Kodak instead made an aggressive turn to digital photography and digital printing . These strategies failed to improve the company's finances, and in January 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in

8036-465: The two companies began in 1997, eating into Kodak's profits. Kodak's financial results for 1997 showed that the company's revenues dropped from $ 15.97 billion in 1996 to $ 14.36 billion in 1997, a fall of more than 10%; its net earnings went from $ 1.29 billion to just $ 5 million for the same period. Kodak's market share declined from 80.1% to 74.7% in the United States, a one-year drop of five percentage points. Fuji and Kodak recognized

8134-408: The upcoming threat of digital photography, and although both sought to diversify as a mitigation strategy, Fuji was more successful at diversification. Fuji stopped production of motion picture film in 2013, leaving Kodak as the last major producer. Kodak employee Steven Sasson developed the first handheld digital camera in 1975. Larry Matteson, another employee, wrote a report in 1979 predicting

8232-414: The war. In 1945, a batch of X-ray film that the company processed mysteriously became fogged. Julian Webb, who had worked at Oak Ridge, proposed that the film had been exposed to radiation released by nuclear weapons tests . The source of the radiation was eventually traced to strawboard packaging from Vincennes, Indiana, which had been irradiated by fallout that had traveled thousands of miles northeast from

8330-463: Was 40.5 mm, one of the smallest ever used for a 35 mm SLR. The diameter was 40 mm. It is not identical to Nikon F-mount , which has a much longer flange focal distance of 46.5 mm. Konica's second series of SLR cameras began with 1965's Auto-Reflex . This line came to an end in 1987 when Konica abandoned the SLR market. Konica's AR lens mount kept the same flange-film distance that

8428-416: Was a box camera with a fixed-focus lens on the front and no viewfinder ; two V shape silhouettes at the top aided in aiming in the direction of the subject. At the top it had a rotating key to advance the film, a pull-string to set the shutter , and a button on the side to release it, exposing the celluloid film. Inside, it had a rotating bar to operate the shutter. When the user pressed the button to take

8526-404: Was created by Marion Folsom, who gained national recognition for his work and would later serve as a company director and cabinet secretary for Dwight D. Eisenhower . Payments were made between 1933 and 1936, when layoffs ended at Kodak. The program led to many statistical improvements at Kodak, but overall had an insignificant effect on the Rochester community, as few companies were willing to join

8624-491: Was criticized by many American diplomats, but defended by others as more beneficial to the American war effort than detrimental. Kodak received no penalties during or after the war for collaboration. After a 1943 meeting between Kenneth Mees and Leslie Groves , a team of Kodak scientists joined the Manhattan Project and enriched Uranium-235 at Oak Ridge . Kodak's experiments with radiation would continue after

8722-525: Was developed by RYDE Holding, Inc., and the Kodak Kashminer , a Bitcoin -mining computer which was developed by Spotlite. In 2016, the Kodak spinoff company eApeiron was founded with assets acquired from Kodak and an investment by Alibaba . The company's mission is to eliminate “knock offs” and promote authenticity. Despite the pivot to digital technology, film remains a major component of Kodak's business. The company continues to supply film to

8820-602: Was included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . During World War I , Kodak established a photographic school in Rochester to train pilots for aerial reconnaissance . The war strained supply chains, and Eastman sought out new chemical sources the company could have direct control over. At the war's end in 1920, Kodak purchased a hardwood distillation plant in Tennessee from the federal government and established Eastman Tennessee, which later became

8918-407: Was little long-term planning or assistance from outside experts, and most of them resulted in large losses. Another effort to diversify failed when Kodak purchased Sterling Drug in 1988 at a cost of $ 5.1 billion. The drug company was overvalued and soon lost money. Research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories was directed into digital technology during the 1980s, laying the groundwork for

9016-506: Was non-flammable. In 1958, Kodak began marketing a line of super glue, Eastman 910 . Its cameras were used by NASA for space exploration. In 1963, the first Instamatic cameras were sold, which were the company's lowest-cost cameras to date. Annual sales passed $ 1 billion in 1962 and $ 2 billion in 1966. Albert K. Chapman succeeded Thomas Hargrave as president in 1952, and was succeeded by William S. Vaughn in 1960. Louis K. Eilers would serve as president and CEO between 1969 and 1972. In

9114-454: Was rapidly using up its cash reserves, stoking fears of bankruptcy; it had $ 957 million in cash in June 2011, down from $ 1.6 billion in January 2001. Later that year, Kodak reportedly explored selling off or licensing its vast portfolio of patents to stave off bankruptcy. In December 2011, two board members who had been appointed by KKR resigned. By January 2012, analysts suggested that

9212-469: Was renamed Carestream Health . In 2010, Kodak was removed from the S&;P 500 . In the face of growing debts and falling revenues, Kodak also turned to patent litigation to generate revenue. In 2010, it received $ 838 million from patent licensing that included a settlement with LG . Between 2010 and 2012, Kodak and Apple sued each other in multiple patent infringement lawsuits. By 2011, Kodak

9310-590: Was renamed Eastman Kodak. An Eastman Kodak of New Jersey was established in 1901 and existed simultaneously with the Eastman Kodak of New York until 1936, when the New York corporation was dissolved and its assets were transferred to the New Jersey corporation. Kodak remains incorporated in New Jersey today, although its headquarters is in Rochester. In 1888, the Kodak camera was patented by Eastman. It

9408-429: Was sold to Truesense Imaging Inc. On September 3, 2013, Kodak announced that it emerged from bankruptcy as a technology company focused on imaging for business. Its main business segments would be Digital Printing & Enterprise and Graphics, Entertainment & Commercial Films. Kodak's decline and bankruptcy were damaging to the Rochester area. Its jobs were largely replaced with lower-paying ones, contributing to

9506-505: Was spared from its worst effects as banks were able to remain solvent. Seventeen percent of the company's employees were laid off between 1929 and 1933. Company founder George Eastman committed suicide at his home on March 14, 1932, due to his declining health. From 1931 to 1936, Kodak participated in the Rochester Plan, a privately funded unemployment insurance program to assist the jobless and boost consumer spending. The program

9604-458: Was the employer of choice for most. The company continued offering higher wages and more benefits than labor market competitors, including the annual wage dividend, a bonus for all employees which typically amounted to 15% of base salary. Employee loyalty was strong, and the company experienced a turnover rate of only 13% in the 1950s, compared to 50% for American manufacturers as a whole. Journalist Curt Gerling noted that Kodak employees behaved like

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