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Posts Tagged ‘Kodak’

Kodak will bring back Ektachrome film this year, start selling it in 2018

13 Sep

Kodak first announced its plans to bring Ektachrome 35mm film back from the dead in January at CES. But if you were worried that the announcement was just a lot of marketing hype, you have nothing to fear: it seems the resurrection of Ektachrome is proceeding apace, with full production scheduled for 2018.

This news broke over Twitter, of all places, thanks to an inquisitive Kodak fan named Karen Wink. She asked Kodak what the ETA on the Ektachrome comeback was, to which Kodak replied:

If you’re a fan of the old film, it won’t be long before you can get your hands on a fresh roll of 36 exposures in the 35mm format.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Kodak unveils the Printomatic: A point-and-shoot ‘instant print’ camera

12 Sep

There’s a new instant camera in town. Revealed by Kodak earlier today, the Printomatic is a point-and-shoot ‘instant print’ digital camera: meaning the photos it captures with its 10MP sensor are instantly printed out of the side of the camera Polaroid-style while you go on shooting.

Kodak is calling it “the ideal all-in-one solution for capturing and sharing vibrant prints instantly.”

To call the Printomatic a ‘no-frills’ camera is almost an understatement. Available in Gray or Yellow for just $ 70, the 10MP shooter comes with a built-in Li-ion battery, flash, low-battery indicator, print indicator, microSD card slot, and two pictures modes: vibrant color or black & white. In other words, it’s as close to fully automatic as you’re going to get.

The appeal of the camera, at least according to Kodak, is in its simplicity.

“The KODAK PRINTOMATIC is a contemporary camera with a wonderful balance of digital and analog technology,” Steven Overman, Kodak’s Chief Marketing Officer, said in a statement. “It’s an accessible device for anybody who wants to create a lasting memory in a tangible, colorful way.”

Each photo is printed at 2×3-inches on Kodak’s ZINK (stands for “Zero Ink”) Photo Paper, which means it comes out of the camera water-resistant, tear resistant and adhesive-backed.

The camera will be available online and in stores starting “late September” for $ 70, and comes with a 10-pack of ZINK Photo Paper included. ZINK refills are available online in 20 and 50 packs for $ 9 and $ 20, respectively. To learn more about the Printomatic, head over to the Kodak website.

Press Release

KODAK PRINTOMATIC Instant Print Camera Captures the Moment

Sleek new camera brings legendary Kodak style to the instant print camera game; prints beautiful, ready-to-share photos

Rochester, NY and EDISON, NJ, Monday, September 11, 2017 —

Today Eastman Kodak Company and its licensee C+A Global unveiled the KODAK PRINTOMATIC Camera, a brand-new instant print camera. The stylish new point-and-shoot camera instantly prints high-quality, full color photos right from the camera body, making it the ideal all-in-one solution for capturing and sharing beautiful, vibrant prints instantly.

The KODAK PRINTOMATIC Camera is the ultimate catalyst for a good time that can be shared instantly. Every day is a special occasion with the KODAK PRINTOMATIC Instant Print Camera – from graduations to family gatherings to relaxing getaways with loved ones. A perfect accessory for event planners, scrap-bookers, vacationers and partygoers, instant photography is the utilitarian-meets-fun solution for custom gifts and mementos. Wedding guests can snap candid photos of the ceremony and have them printed and framed before the reception starts. Creating custom scrapbooks is hassle-free when photos print immediately with adhesive backing ready to be added to the page. Events become more fun, weekend get-togethers are enriched, and moments that once were forgotten on a smartphone are cherished forever.

“The KODAK PRINTOMATIC is a contemporary camera with a wonderful balance of digital and analog technology,” says Steven Overman, President of Kodak’s Consumer and Film Division and Kodak Chief Marketing Officer. “It’s an accessible device for anybody who wants to create a lasting memory in a tangible, colorful way.”

“We feel honored to partner with Kodak, a company that has established itself as a leader and storied brand in color technology used the world over,” comments Chaim Pikarski, CEO of C+A Global. “This release is another step for Kodak entering into the growing instant digital camera market. The KODAK PRINTOMATIC Camera is the first of the full product lineup to be launched in 2017 and continue into 2018. The KODAK PRINTOMATIC Camera brings back the nostalgia of capturing and sharing KODAK MOMENTS, putting the print in the palm of your hand, the moment it happens.”

With a maximum resolution 10-megapixel camera and no computer connection or even Wi-Fi needed, the KODAK PRINTOMATIC Camera produces 2×3” photo prints with no ink cartridges, toner or film necessary. Photo prints are durable, water- and tear-resistant with an adhesive back. Fun, fast and easy to use, the compact and fashionable KODAK PRINTOMATIC Device fits right in your back pocket and is perfect for sharing vibrant, smudge-free photos with friends and family, anywhere, anytime. Keeping up with all the fun, the camera can even shoot a new photo while still printing the previous shot, so you’ll never miss a special moment.

KODAK PRINTOMATIC Instant Print Camera Highlights and Benefits:

  • Maximum resolution of 10-megapixel camera
  • Built-in flash
  • Built-in lithium ion battery
  • Two picture modes: vibrant color, black & white
  • Low battery indicator
  • Printer status indicator
  • MicroSD™ card indicator
  • MicroSD™ card slot
  • Slots for neck strap
  • Comes in grey or yellow

The KODAK PRINTOMATIC Instant Print Camera will be available in late September for $ 69.99 USD at major retailers and online including Amazon. The camera comes with a USB cable, a Quick Start Guide, a 10-pack of KODAK ZINK Photo Paper and a memory card. KODAK ZINK Photo Paper comes in 20 and 50 packs, and is sold separately.

More information is available at www.kodak.com/go/printomatic.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Shooting modern motorsports photography with a Kodak Brownie No. 2

11 Aug

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Photographer and automotive writer Murilee Martin has published a series of modern motorsport photos he took using an old Kodak Brownie No. 2 camera from 1926. The collection, 24 photos in all, was published recently on Autoweek where Mr. Martin explains, “After learning how to drive a Ford Model T recently, I decided that I needed the camera equivalent of the T, the camera that gave the world the ability to shoot photographs cheaply and easily.”

The photos above, as well as the rest of the collection found in the Autoweek post, were taken with the Model F version of the Kodak Brownie, one that sports an aluminum chassis rather than the original model’s cardboard frame. The photos were shot on ordinary 120 film during the 24 Hours of Lemons race in California.

To see the full gallery or find out more about what it was like shooting fast action with a 91-year-old film camera, head over to Autoweek.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Kodak EKTRA ‘camera first’ smartphone now available in US

24 May

The Kodak EKTRA, the company’s ‘camera first’ smartphone, is now available to purchase in the United States. The Android smartphone, which was first announced in October 2016, features a 21MP camera and a design reminiscent of point-and-shoot cameras. The handset has been available to purchase in Europe for a handful of months, and now US consumers can buy the model unlocked with support for GSM mobile networks for $ 399.99 USD.

Coinciding with the launch is software update version 2.009.00/_A for the smartphone,  which Kodak says it is zeroing in on requests from its ‘photo-enthusiast’ customers. The update brings improved autofocus performance, better color saturation and white balance, and the addition of raw image support, among other things.

The full software changelog:

  • Enhanced single handed camera functionality; when the camera app is enabled the Android touch buttons are now disabled to avoid an accidental press when using the camera with one hand
  • Added RAW file support in manual mode; shooting in RAW records all the data from the sensor enabling more sophisticated image processing options
  • Improved auto focus making in quicker and more accurate
  • Improved Face Detection performance for better portrait photos
  • Optimisations to the Auto White Balance and colour saturation
  • Improvements to shutter speed performance
  • New option to disable Auto Scene Detection in smart auto mode
  • New shutter effect to provide visual indication of when a picture is taken
  • Enhanced low light performance
  • Optimisations to the noise reduction algorithm from ISO 100-6400
  • Introduces a new ‘How To’ camera tutorial on the new functionality

Via: BusinessWire

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Kodak CMO says the company is ‘looking into’ reviving Kodachrome

11 Jan
Photo by pittaya via Flickr. Used under CC license

During CES 2017, Kodak announced it would revive the film stock it discontinued in 2012, Ektachrome. The announcement was well received, and was itself the result of an uptick in professional film sales, something that has also spurred Kodak toward another possible revival: Kodachrome. Eastman Kodak’s President of Consumer Film division and Chief Marketing Office Steve Overman confirmed as much during a recent The Kodakery podcast.

The Kodakery team spoke with Overman from the Kodak booth during CES, and near the end of the discussion they mentioned the Ektachrome revival. That topic snowballed into a confirmation from Overman that Kodak is likewise looking into bringing Kodachrome back, but plans to do so haven’t been finalized at this time.

Overman works for US-based Eastman Kodak but it seems likely the company would follow the pattern seen with its recent Ektachrome announcement, and work with UK-based company Kodak Alaris to release a stills version of the film to photographic markets.

It took less effort and time to bring Ektachrome film back, Overman explained, which is why it was given precedence. He went on to say, though, that ‘people love Kodak’s heritage products and I feel, personally, that we have a responsibility to deliver on that love.’ 

Via: PetaPixel

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CES 2017: Hands-on with the Kodak Super 8

08 Jan

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

First launched in 1965, Kodak’s Super 8 format was one of the most influential developments in amateur filmmaking. And now it’s back, with an all-new (kind of) camera. We headed to the Kodak booth earlier today to get our hands on one.

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

The new Super 8 camera is truly a hybrid of the very old, and the very new. At its heart is a cartridge of 8mm film, totaling 50 feet in length. How many minutes of footage you can shoot depends on which frame-rate you select. The Super 8 camera can shoot at 18, 24, 25, or 36 fps. 

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

The ‘viewfinder’ is a 3.5in LCD, which provides a live view image, via a split-prism behind the attached lens. Although a large flipping, tilting screen is definitely a huge improvement over classic all-analog Super 8 cameras of the past, the live view image is hazy, grainy, and hard to use as a means of judging critical focus. In other words – pretty familiar, if you’ve ever shot Super 8 before.

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

The main control on the Super 8 camera is the circular ‘wheel’, shown here on the body, facing the flipped-out screen. It works rather like a second-generation iPod. The central button brings up a menu, and the touch-sensitive wheel allows you to navigate the settings by scrolling. The screen itself is not touch-sensitive.

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

Super 8 cameras will be bundled with a manual focus Ricoh 6mm F1.2 prime lens (roughly equivalent to a 40mm F7 in 35mm terms) but the C-mount is compatible with a huge number of lenses stretching back decades.

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

Here’s that click wheel in action. The Super 8 is reasonably customizable. Many of the features that would have been managed with physical switches in the past (like frame rate) can be set in the camera’s menus. As a result, the camera body is impressively clean and minimalist.

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

The Super 8 is a true ‘hybrid’ device. While the film takes care of the images, sound can be recorded to an SD card, via an external microphone. Cartridges must be mailed back to Kodak for development, and the price (TBC) will include film development, scanning and uploading to the cloud.

CES 2017: Hands-on with Kodak Super 8

Oh yes – and Kodak has also promised to bring back Ektachrome! 

It feels a bit surreal to be covering the launch of new film products in 2017, especially from Kodak, but after using an almost production-ready sample of the Super 8 camera today we’re actually pretty impressed by how well the company has married the analog and digital sides of the product. What do you think?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Analog revival? Increase in film sales spurs Kodak to bring back Ektachrome

06 Jan
A box of Ektachrome. Photo via Wikimedia commons

The list of discontinued film stocks is lengthy and after Kodak pulled the plug on our beloved Kodachrome, it seemed like any film could be next on the chopping block. But perhaps those dark days are behind us because today Kodak announced the company will be bringing back a different film stock: Ektachrome.

Discontinued in 2012, Kodak’s decision to raise it from the dead is directly related to a recent increase in demand for analog film. Yep, you read that right. So does this mean that film photography is about to start down a similar path of revival as we’ve seen from vinyl records, which are currently selling at a 25 year high? We sure wouldn’t mind.

From the Kodak announcement:

“Sales of professional photographic films have been steadily rising over the last few years, with professionals and enthusiasts rediscovering the artistic control offered by manual processes and the creative satisfaction of a physical end product. The reintroduction of one of the most iconic films is supported by the growing popularity of analog photography and a resurgence in shooting film. Resurgence in the popularity of analog photography has created demand for new and old film products alike.”

Ektachrome is a color reversal film and was first developed in the 1940’s. Used for decades by National Geographic photographers, it’s been long favored it due to its fine grain and excellent color reproduction.

So come the end of 2017, you’ll once again be able to pick up a 35mm roll of it. And you’ve likely got a bearded, glasses-wearing hipster with a turntable to thank for that.

What do you think of the prospect of an analog revival? Let us know in the comments.

Kodak Brings Back a Classic with EKTACHROME Film

Las Vegas, NV, Thursday, January 05, 2017 —

To the delight of film enthusiasts across the globe, Eastman Kodak Company today announced plans to bring back one of its most iconic film stocks. Over the next 12 months, Kodak will be working to reformulate and manufacture KODAK EKTACHROME Film for both motion picture and still photography applications. Initial availability is expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.

KODAK EKTACHROME Film has a distinctive look that was the choice for generations of cinematographers before it was discontinued in 2012. The film is known for its extremely fine grain, clean colors, great tones and contrasts.

“It is such a privilege to reintroduce KODAK EKTRACHROME Film to the cinematography community,” said Steven Overman, Kodak’s chief marketing officer and president of the Consumer and Film Division. “We are seeing a broad resurgence of excitement about capturing images on film. Kodak is committed to continuing to manufacture film as an irreplaceable medium for image creators to capture their artistic vision. We are proud to help bring back this classic.”

Kodak will produce EKTACHROME at its film factory in Rochester, N.Y., and will market and distribute the Super 8 motion picture film version of EKTACHROME Film directly.

Kodak Alaris, an independent company since 2013, also plans to offer a still format KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTACHROME Film for photographers in 135-36x format. KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTACHROME Film is a color positive film, also known as “reversal,” “slide,” or “transparency” film. Unlike all of the other KODAK PROFESSIONAL Films available today, which are color negative films, EKTACHROME generates a positive image that can be viewed or projected once it is exposed and processed. This makes it ideal for high-resolution projection or presentations. It is also well suited for scanning and printing onto a range of professional-grade photographic media. Availability is expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Throwback Thursday: the dual-lens Kodak EasyShare V570

08 Dec

Long before anybody put two lenses in a smartphone, the Kodak EasyShare V570 put dual lenses and sensors under the same roof – 23mm and 37-117mm equivalent folded-optic lenses coupled with 5MP CCD sensors. Introduced nearly 11 years ago for CES 2006, the V570 offered other cutting-edge features including:

  • 2.5″ 230k-dot LCD
  • In-camera distortion correction
  • 180-degree panorama mode, an ‘industry exclusive’
  • 2.3 fps continuous shooting
  • VGA 30p video recording

It shipped with a ‘Photo Frame 2’ dock, which was a multitasking charger/image transfer/snazzy camera display. The charging feature was especially useful, since the V570’s battery was only rated to 150 shots per charge – pretty bad even by 2006 standards.

We didn’t review the V570, but then friend-of-DPR and current DPR staffer Jeff Keller wrote about it on DCResource. He disliked that Kodak advertised the camera as having a 5x zoom lens, when it was really just a wide angle prime and a 3x zoom that you could switch between. Still, it was the first dual-lens implementation we can remember, and even though it didn’t catch on with camera manufacturers, the concept has found new life in smartphones like the iPhone 7 Plus. 

Kodak V570 Sample Gallery

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Kodak Ektra ‘photography’ smartphone goes on sale

06 Dec

A few weeks ago, Kodak announced the Ektra, its new ‘photography first’ smartphone designed to appeal to mobile photographers. Designed to look like a camera as much as a phone, the Ektra includes a 21MP rear camera, a 13MP front camera (for the obligatory selfies you’re sure to take), and features such as an F2.0 maximum aperture, phase detect autofocus and optical image stabilization. Additionally, Google’s Snapseed editing software is integrated directly into the photo gallery app.

The Ektra is set to go on sale in Europe on December 9 at a cost of €499, but The Irish News is reporting that it has already gone on sale at a pop-up store in London’s Soho neighborhood for anyone who wants to get their hands on it a bit early.

What do you think about the Ektra? Is this a have-with-you-all-the-time camera that you would use? Tell us in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Throwback Thursday: the Kodak DC265, a user-programmable compact

20 Oct

Throwback Thursday: Kodak DC265

When you think of unique cameras, the Kodak DC265 (announced in 1999 for $ 899) probably doesn’t come to mind. The first thing you probably notice is its unusual shape and ‘foot’ to keep it from tipping over. But what really made it unique is that it ran Flashpoint’s Digita OS, which was fully scriptable (the company and OS did not last long.) In other words, developers could add new features by writing some code and putting it onto a memory card. Several Kodak models at the time supported Digita, as did those from HP, Konica Minolta and Epson.

Before we get to that, here’s a quick overview of the DC265. It had an F3.0-4.7, 38-115mm equivalent lens, which is so loud when it’s extending that it made my coworkers in other cubicles wonder what on earth was going on. It had a whopping 1.6 Megapixel CCD, an external autofocus sensor (that we think involves infrared light) and an optical viewfinder that isn’t nearly as large as it appears from this view.

Throwback Thursday: Kodak DC265

While the DC265 had a ‘regular’ menu system (more on that in a minute), you could also use the LCD info display and a pair of buttons to quickly adjust settings. In 1999 this was a pretty advanced camera, offering burst shooting (at a whopping 3 fps, with live view disabled), time lapse and manual focus. It takes the camera and absurd amount of time to save a burst of photos to its memory card; we’re talking like 90 seconds.

While it looks like the DC265 doesn’t have much of a grip, it’s actually quite comfortable in the hand. The thumb rest is on the lower-right side of the back panel and works in conjunction with the ‘foot’ shown earlier, making this unusually shaped camera easy to hang on to.

Throwback Thursday: Kodak DC265

The DC265 was loaded with I/O ports. You’ve got your 8-pin Mini-DIN port for connecting to a Mac or PC, A/V out and DC-in. And what’s hiding under that last port? A flash sync port! There’s a dedicated volume button, a feature which didn’t really catch on.

You can see that the previous owners – a school in Bellevue, WA – etched their name onto the side of the camera for all eternity.

Throwback Thursday: Kodak DC265

The DC265 had two doors on its right side. One holds 4 AA batteries, while the other is where you’ll put that CompactFlash card. I had to dig through my collection of ancient memory cards to find one that the camera could read (96MB in this case). 

The battery life on the DC265 is terrible, which is why NiMH rechargeables were so popular in those days.

Throwback Thursday: Kodak DC265

There are lots of exciting things on the back of the camera which, as you can see, has had a rough life. You’ve got a tiny viewfinder, a mic and speaker, that nice rear thumb rest, plus the zoom controller at the top right.

The mode dial (around the four-way controller) switches between record, playback, connect (to a PC or printer) and ‘info’ mode (which just listed the firmware version, copyright info and a link to Flashpoint’s website.)

Then there’s the LCD, which is truly awful. It’s average-sized for that time period (2″) and the resolution was competitive. However, once you pan the camera or anything moves, everything turns blue and red and the refresh rate is around 3-4 fps (per Phil Askey’s original review.)

To make matters worse: the menus are all in Comic Sans (or something that closely resembles it.)

Throwback Thursday: Kodak DC265

And that leads us to the Kodak DC265’s pièce de résistance: Digita. This scripting language, developed by the now-defunct Flashpoint, was easy for anyone with basic programming experience to learn. Kodak itself offered several scripts for Digita, including one for bracketing that you can see parts of above.

There was also a pretty large home-brew community at the time, with scripts that could generate HTML galleries, have finer control over shutter speed or just play Tic Tac Toe. Scripting got more powerful on later DC-series models (notably the DC290), with the ability to create panoramas or embed GPS data. And while it couldn’t run Crysis, the DC290 could play Doom.

As you probably know by now, Digita didn’t take off. But for a brief moment in time, it let photographers add features to cameras themselves, rather than waiting for the next model to come out.

Kodak deserves a lot of credit for bringing something new to digital photography, whether it was the unique design of the DC265 (and its successor, the DC290) or putting users in control over camera features with Digita. 

For more on the Kodak DC265, check out Phil Askey’s review here on DPR.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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