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Images from the past: Circular snapshots from the Kodak 1

Oct 6, 2013 at 11:00:00 GMT

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Metropolitan railway steam locomotive (circa 1890)

Via: PSFK, Source: National Media Museum

OTHER NEWS KODAK

Comments

Total comments: 63

people are happier back then

0 upvotes

These are nicer than many shots taken by people these days with huge DSLRs.

Edit - thank god for jeans & T's

Comment edited 24 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Accounting for inflation in USD it'd be about $600 today.

0 upvotes

awesome, those cheapies give real insight in how things we re

0 upvotes

These photos nicely capture that period in time; many are wonderful.

Also, based on pg. 37 of the instruction booklet, being able to use an orange safelight for film reloading implies the film being used is orthochromatic: greatly sensitive to blue and green, less sensitive to yellow and orange, and not at all sensitive to red.

0 upvotes

Gold award winner!

0 upvotes

#6 Perfect use of the circular format. :D

1 upvote

Amazing. Wonderful, and pretty damn good quality!

1 upvote

I love seeing the times before the 50s

0 upvotes

I enjoyed those very much

0 upvotes

Fun - we are just discussing round sensor in the science forum. Methinks that DPReview crew do read that forum :-)

0 upvotes

What's easier, a person in 1880 pointing box and shooting, or one of the 95% today, using their camera and not even knowing how to turn off the flash when it isn't needed?

1 upvote

Buy a Kodak 1. No flash at all, nor batteries.

0 upvotes

And how is it going to be 123 years from now?

0 upvotes

I expect that only a small percentage of today's digital files will have survived. These will be in institutions or the few households where a dedicated family member backed up and re-backed files.

0 upvotes

It's easy to forget how difficult photography was in 1888. Consider, for example, these recommendations extracted from the manual of the Kodak 1:

"The Kodak cannot be used in open air (out-of-doors) unless the Sun is Very Bright."
"The Kodak cannot be used to photograph Race Horses, going at a fast gait, nor Express Trains in motion…"
"The Sun should shine directly upon the object."
"Photograph the sunny side."
"Do not attempt to Photograph the shady side."
"The Sun should be at back of Operator, or over his shoulder - never in front of him."
etc.

Excerpt from http://www.cameramanuals.org/kodak_pdf/kodak_manual_1888.pdf

3 upvotes

This manual is simply amazing !

Thank you for sharing,

0 upvotes

Wow. Photogs had to be disciplined. Sure not like that today, unless you don't want to be mediocre.

0 upvotes

Crikey. Even developing 35mm colour negatives is a breeze compared to the process describe in that guide.

1 upvote

Kodak 1 was over a century ahead of its time. I can't see a viewfinder anywhere,
so it was a true "point and shoot", like most popular cams today.

3 upvotes

Where is the LCD screen? I must be missing it.

1 upvote

this portrait is stunning even if taken today:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3191/2780164461_d409092d86_o.jpg

5 upvotes

it may be interesting to introduce some cinema cameras because we are on the way to all motion picture (still is more something transit and minor).

0 upvotes

Before this camera, photography was in the hands of the wealthy and the masses were excluded. This camera democratised photography, and changed everything.
100 years later, the iphone and smart phones have done much the same thing on a far larger scale in a world where the population is now many times larger and photography had, by the onset of the 21st century again become a pursuit for the middle classes.
Makes one think.

0 upvotes

not the same thing at all. An iphone costs around €500, plus the super-expensive 2-year datapacket which is another €800...hardly a camera for the paupers, is it?

My first camera was a Canon A530 which cost new about €100. It's cameras like that which helped the pauper get into digital photography.

Comment edited 26 seconds after posting

7 upvotes

But most people already have cell phones, and would have smart phones even if they did not evolve with cameras. Additionally, iPhones and many other smartphones can be had for free with a contract. While the overall monthly fee is high, the additional fee to the already existing cell phone fee is nominal. An iPod touch is the same as an iPhone that cannot make calls, but costs less than most point and shoots, and has no monthly contract.

I think, however, the smartphone did not bring photography to the reach of the common man. The smart phone brought photography to those not interested enough to photograph otherwise.
It can be argued it brought the cost of sharing images down, which can be as expensive (if not more so) when printing (and mailing)

1 upvote

I agree with this bit:

"The smart phone brought photography to those not interested enough to photograph otherwise. "

2 upvotes

It was the Kodak Instamatic, introduced in the 60's that was specifically intended to bring affordable photography to the masses. Still, even with cheaper (and even free) tools today, what has not changed is skills and technique in acquiring admirable pictures. I'm sure a filter to mimica that look can be found on InstanGram, but it still comes down to the photographer.

(Funny side note. My auto correct thinks InstaGram should be spelled "Instamatic").

1 upvote

"(Funny side note. My auto correct thinks InstaGram should be spelled "Instamatic")."

ha! that's a nice moment...tells a story all on its own.

0 upvotes

Mr. Bendheim is partially correct. Most of the daguerreotypes, tintypes, etc. made during the mid to late 19th C were made by itinerant photographers and humble portrait studios not wealthy people. While not literally made by the masses, they were mostly made of the masses and were not confined to those with wealth. While the Kodak camera did place cameras in the hands of the many, photography was widespread before its introduction and was not in any way exclusive.

Comment edited 14 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

No - before this camera, there was dry plate photography. You didn't have to be "wealthy": to make and see your photos - you just had to be dedicated enough to learn and do your own chemical processing. Even at the height of film-era photography (1950's to 1980's), only a very small minority of people were interested enough to do that.

Although, it would've been cheaper (more affordable) to do it yourself, by Kodak providing the processing for the Kodak 1, that's what brought photography to the average person.

0 upvotes

Peter, what exactly does democratizing photography even mean? I can't for the life of me figure out how democracy has anything to do with the average person having access to photography equipment that they could afford.

Regarding the pursuit of the middle class, I don't understand what this means. A person can be interested in something even if they cannot afford it. They may save up for a long time then buy what they covet. Regardless, cheap film cameras, and later cheap point and shoots have done much more to make photography affordable.

By the way, the middle class is not a static groups that acts as an aggregate. People are in and out of it all the time and each person acts entirely as an individual.

0 upvotes

One of the pix shows a professional photog (beach photographer) staring balefully at the Kodak. Perhaps he's realizing that his business is going to be finished soon.

3 upvotes

DPReview is now 123 years behind in reviewing this camera. Do they hate Kodak or what? I can't wait much longer.

34 upvotes

Flawless victory

2 upvotes

Best comment on this thread.

Actually, it took Kodak 123 years to send DPR a camera for testing.

0 upvotes

Kodak 1 came with 100 shots and prints all included. "You press the shutter and don't worry about the rest". Keep in mind what 100 pictures meant at a time when people had only a handful of photographs taken during an entire lifetime.
In 2013, it would be 20 pictures included, with five different pricing plans for additional prints, 2 year commitment, automatic monthly payments, early cancellation penalty, 10-page small print legal contract, and extra charges for the prints in case you want to see them (with all rights belonging to the company). No wonder US companies are struggling.

Comment edited 37 seconds after posting

17 upvotes

...and saved in the "cloud".

3 upvotes

Very inspiring!
every photo tells a story.

0 upvotes

Ingenious design. A camera that morphs effortlessly into a shoe shine box.

0 upvotes

Looks like a Lytro camera.

0 upvotes

I've sometimes wondered why cameras aren't made with round sensors to capture the full [round] lens image. It would give you more image area to crop from.

1 upvote

Sensors are made in big sheets... circular sensors would be very wasteful

0 upvotes

Good idea, could a camera have a round filter for the sensor?

0 upvotes

Like all silicon chips, sensors are cut from a circular wafer. And wafers are sliced from a cylindrical silicon ingot. Thus, to avoid silicon waste, just make an ingot with a diameter that equals the circular sensor diameter...
Some advantages of a circular sensor :
- total freedom to choose the image aspect ratio in post-processing.
- no need to rotate the camera when shooting in portrait orientation. Thus no need for an optional heavy/bulky vertical grip for DSLRs.
- no need for a spirit level or virtual horizon to set the camera horizontally with accuracy when required (although one may be needed to control camera tilt...). Picture can be rotated in post-processing without cutting corners/borders.
- or, advanced cameras, with a built-in electronic level sensor, can automatically rotate the picture to set it horizontally without cutting corners/borders.
- you get the maximum possible image size whatever the final image aspect ratio you choose (compared to a rectangular sensor).

0 upvotes

It's the other way around, actually!
For these are crop circles-- oops, CIRCULAR CROPS, I mean, FROM squarish sensors, err... negatives.

Comment edited 7 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

1 sensor per silicon wafer will bring incredibly high prices, I fear. I do not remember the standard wafer size, but it's quite bigger than even full frame sensors... So that you can use the same process steps for several to a lot of chips.

0 upvotes

This is much better then DSLR.
Let's shoot film again.

Comment edited 9 minutes after posting

7 upvotes

I like the circular image format!

6 upvotes

I never stopped.

Velvia 50 with Nikon FA at present.

Comment edited 16 seconds after posting

3 upvotes

Nikon FA - brilliant design - lightweight, compact and with a perfect selection of features. Nikon, please give us a digital FA.

0 upvotes

Not THAT better than DSLR. But it's more exciting than a DSLR as you have to process and wait to see the results. I also love using film, but I only now use it for fun and for art. But for work, I won't use it.
By the way, I use Pentax 6x7 and Pentax K1000 until today... ;)

Comment edited 42 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Mamiya M645 and Kodak Portra 160 on occasion.

0 upvotes

No Mamiya for me - just an Olympus OM-2n - but Portra 160 is the only colour film I use. Colours are just right with this film!

0 upvotes

Some of us still do! I have long-frozen Panatomic-X film in 120 size for a big Fuji 690II.

0 upvotes

Just another consumer point and shoot. I would never buy a camera without an evf. Plus, the bokeh sucks.

13 upvotes

And the equivalent aperture must be something like f/128.

2 upvotes

Who's the tramp at the beach showing off her calves??? Absolutely disgusting! No proper female would dare to bare in such a shameless way!

9 upvotes

Kids these days.

0 upvotes

People don't change much. They are much the same sort of photos we take today

3 upvotes

I was thinking the same thing.

1 upvote

Where,s the selfies in the bathroom mirror and pics of their dinner?

3 upvotes

A wonderful time documentary images. Like them, surprising sharp as well.

2 upvotes

Total comments: 63

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