Figure 1.-- Kodacolor appeared in 1942, but stability and cost meant that America continued to mostly shoot black and white. Technical improvements and declining prices meant that color photograpy finallyreplacedblack andwhite (1970s). Kodacolor proved a forgiving medium, perfect foramateurphotgraphersusing pointban shoot camera. Here we see a backyard snapshot taken in 1974. This square format was commonly used for simple cameras (1950s-70).

Kodak's first color product was Kodachrome, a color slide film (1935). Leopold Godowsky Jr. and Leopold Mannes at the Kodak Research Laboratories brought Americ into themodern age of colorphotography with Kodachrome, a another slide (positice) film. They developed a subtractive photographic process. Dye couplers were added during processing. This requiring that the film be processed by specially equipped Kodak labs, reducung the possibility of competition. The absence of dye couplers in the emulsion gavetheKodakchrome film theability to captured fine details. Kodachrome yielded images with rich warm tones and sharpness and was a popular film for 70 years until the advent of digital photography. It was, however, aslidefilm popularwith photographic enthusiasts. What the public really wanted was a negative film that could be used for prints. Prints could be made from Kodachrome slides, but the prints were very expensive. The Agfa company in Germany developed a color negative process--Agfacolor (1936). The rise of the NAZIs and eventually the war Hitler and Stalin launched meant that it was not available commercially until after the War (1949). This opened the field to Kodakwhich was behind Agfa. Until World War II German companies dominated many chemical fields. Kodak finally released a color negative film -- Kodacolor (1942). Significant commerciual production was not possible during the War. And the cost as well as instability limited consumer adoption. Thus black and and white photography contined to dominate for some time. Kodak imprioved the the quality, speed, and price and Kodacolor became the leading color film andbecause it producedprints, the most popular film among for family snap shots. Color negative film was what the public wanted if the price could be brought down. Kodacolor was a forgiving medium, perfect for both amateurs and casual photographers. And the price eventually fell enough for many people to pursue (1960s). Kodak broducedsimple point and shoot cameras like the new Brownie. Eventually color film became standard (1970s). It is at this time that Fuji films began to compete with Kodak in the U.S. market.

Created: 4:51 AM 2/14/2019
Last updated: 4:51 AM 2/14/2019