Kodak Built the First Digital Camera… And did Nothing with It

When someone wants to take a picture these days, they usually pick up their phone or tablet. What used to be a fine art has now turned into something anyone can do with a couple of swipes. Digital technology revolutionized the art of photography a long time ago. But the invention of digital snaps actually goes back much further. Not only that, it led to one of the most spectacular own goals in business history.
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[@JeffFrmJoisey]

I was one of those who developed their own B & W film 50 years ago IN SCHOOL. And at HOME, in the kitchen sink! No gloves, just tongs. The Darkroom was sandwiched between the Metal Shop and the Wood Shop. Behind the Darkroom was the Graphics Shop. We hand set lead type, then printed our creation with who knows what type of ink, then cleaned the type and hand operated presses with 2 different solvents. Behind that was the Paint Room, where we spray painted or hand stained and sealed our projects built with real tools in a 10 x 12 room, then used solvents to clean up. We had to place the solvent and paint soaked rags in special metal trash cans, so that if there was spontaneous combustion of the rags, the metal would contain the fire!!

[@steveharrison76]

Simon: I was four in 1991. Me: Immediately dies of old age.

[@LisaBowers]

Same here. 😵

[@callabeth258]

That means he's only 5 years older than me... I thought it would be more than that

[@dittofoster73]

I graduated high school in 1991. 👀

[@johnfrancis0063]

I enlisted in the Navy in 1980, lol

[@baked921]

Born in 88 so Simon is a year younger lol

[@ShoalBear]

I remember film cameras....I even remember slides and needing a special machine to look at photos ....

[@SaraMakesArt]

I remember film cameras too. I'm just under a year younger than Simon, for the record. My ex-stepfather was very resistant to getting a digital camera, though, even after film cameras were passe. Even after he gave in and got a digital camera, he insisted on using film camera terminology like "getting the film developed".

[@jenniferhof9448]

I still have cases of slides that my late father took of his many motorcycle trips to Alaska. Some day I'll be able to convert those to digital and be able to watch them again.

[@soberhippie]

I remember being photographed with a huge box camera with a man covered with a curtain thing behind it, that old-fashioned thing. And I'm not that old (even if I say so myself)

[@richardwood2716]

@@jenniferhof9448 the Kodak SCANZA is a projector that can save slides and negatives as digital photos to an sd card.

[@jenniferhof9448]

@@richardwood2716 I'll look into that. Thank you!

[@KneeDeepInTheDead81]

How about a vid on Google Glass, that dorky looking headset that was supposed to revolutionise the world and then failed to interest anyone or possibly Googles shambles of a social media platform?

[@brainblaze6526]

Oh, that's a good one. Will look into it.

[@KneeDeepInTheDead81]

Safe! Everything you're doing right now is great. Big congrats to the host and the team behind it all 👍

[@brainblaze6526]

Thanks :). And actually, we have something on Google Plus coming up really soon, already recorded it!

[@KneeDeepInTheDead81]

Cool, I'll look forward to seeing it 👍

[@bg45420]

I had high hopes for Google glass. I have a severe vision impairment and was hoping that Glass would be helpful. Google decided to limit it to adventurer types and basically made it an expensive toy. I now have a Samsung s8 with a vr headset and some free software called Relumino. It's a low cost solution that works well.

[@Tiberon098]

Simon: “I’ve broken my phone’s screen by dropping it.” Also Simon: Keeps dropping phone on table.

[@brainblaze6526]

I have a problem. This new one is super resilient though. I had a Samsung phone S9, that thing broke in two days.

[@JWLake]

Had a thought, overthunk it, left this instead.

[@BrianSmith-vl7xu]

@@JWLake you should have thunked about it twice

[@BTFOOMNY]

@@JWLake Coulda clicked "cancel" or "delete" and saved the embarrassment.

[@spencerwelchii573]

@@brainblaze6526 I'm still rockin' my Galaxy S7 Active and it's still good, took like .3 years to get any significant damage on the screen...and when it dies I'm going to find another one to use.

[@m.cigledy6769]

Simon mentioned the "black blob" you would see when watching a film in a theater. That was done on purpose. The old projectors used reels of film that was up to 20 minutes long. With most movies running about 90 minutes, you would need 2 projectors and swap between them to keep the film going. The next reel was set up in the 2nd projector and ready to go. At the end of the reel in the 1st projector, a blob would flash on screen signaling you to start the 2nd projector and get it up to speed. Then another blob would flash, signaling to switch shutters between the projectors.

[@brainblaze6526]

Well, today I found out. :)

[@baked921]

Watch fight club...

[@KneeDeepInTheDead81]

Or how about a vid on Commodore Business Machines? Initially a company that started by repairing typewriters to manufacturing the highest selling home computer in history, the Commodore C64, the worst selling games console, the C64GS along with other popular computers like the Vic 20 and the Amiga range. They made some great machines but their business practices among the companies that sold their products described dealing with Commodore as like trying to strike a bargain with Atilla the Hun. They went bankrupt due to poor decisions despite being bigger than Microsoft and Apple at the time. Just a suggestion, I have a nostalgic fondness for the company but they really blew the goose. Love the new channel.

[@zappawench6048]

We had an ancient Commodore Pet at my school. If you inserted a floppy disc, you doubled its memory!

[@sandrastreifel6452]

Our first home computer was a PET. My ex was, and is, a real personal computer geek, and I would love to know more about Commodore Business Machines!!!

[@stephjovi]

A video that focuses on the c64 and how Danny managed his online dating agency with it!?

[@KneeDeepInTheDead81]

@@stephjovi Danny would do a great job on this one. He's the man

[@CherieH223]

This reminds me of an old newspaper my dad had where people were talking about how useless cellphones were and how no one would ever want to walk around with a phone with them all the time. Lol.

[@13Photodog]

Kodak had a long history of "not invented here" thinking so many innovations which they could have tapped into were quickly tossed aside. As for digital photography Kodak had a cash cow in film. At one photo industry meeting I recall being told that it cost Kodak on average about 37 cents to make a roll of film which had an average wholesale price from Kodak in excess of 6 dollars. So digital was a real threat. Other things they did during this time was to promote a new film format called "Advanced Photo System" or APS. Many dealers called it "another pile of s***. Today Eastman Kodak in Rochester is alive with their fingers in a few things. The consumer products, including what is left of the film market is controlled by Kodak Alaris a British based company. Fuji has more photo related manufacturing in the US today than does Kodak.

[@jessicaseyfried7888]

Ironically my first digital camera was made by Kodak and it came with a really nice printer. Printing wasn’t cheap but I had two beautiful toddlers and I wanted hard copies to carry around and give to Grandpa. I couldn’t carry them on my phone yet but I still have wonderful pictures of my daughters!💜🌺😎

[@luciiidnights]

2:36 yes we still have darkrooms in high school, at least here in America, and going in there to develop was hands down one of my most fondest memories and one that made me fall in love with Photography.

[@juliefultz4781]

I am subscribed to all of your channels and watch them all daily. I love everything you produce. I even listen to the Brainfood Podcast every day during my commute which is terrible and it makes it so much easier to tolerate (thank you for that). I subscribed to this channel as soon as it was announced and it has quickly become my favorite channel. Keep up the hard work you are truly a Rockstar!!!

[@brainblaze6526]

Thank you :)

[@Arkhavist_S]

Suggestion: Videogame peripherals manufacturer MadCatz tanking itself a few years ago when it went all-in on a gamble for the glorious return of Rockband and its accompanying plastic instrument controllers... which... did not return gloriously.

[@thegingergyrl455]

I was an avid film photographer my entire life. I shifted to digital cameras and now my phone. I miss developing my own photos and trying to get just the right photo. My Mother would often paint from my photos in oil, acrylic, water color, and sketched with charcoal pencils . I had several Kodak cameras.

[@rockylewis5218]

How about a video on how Amazon went from an online bookstore to what it is today

[@RichieK2005]

I also think this would be cool.

[@bananamilk2605]

He already made that video:):)

[@JessiBear]

Yes please!

[@DMJoeBing]

I feel old now. Simon was 4 in 1991...I was 12. I had been using a Kodak 110 for 2 years, and got my first 35 mm that year. Yes, my middle school had a darkroom. Film cameras are great for that retro look on an image. Digital still doesn't quite capture that without editing software. Black & white filters on your smartphone look too crisp compared to b&w film. Similar with sepia tones.

[@thegingergyrl455]

I was 17 in 1991. Lol... Yep I'm old. My first 35mm was a Vivitar in 1988. I had the 110 Kodak and Polaroid cameras from the 70's that were my Mom's before that. I loved black and white film. It's the best.

[@roxics]

Hey I was also 12 in '91 and from the Motor City. I thought Simon was at least our age. Now I feel old.

[@Pipedog42]

I was 23 in 1991 kid.

[@NoOne-cb9ox]

I was 31

[@mikesimon777]

I was 2. I feel young again! Been feeling old lately, needed this...

[@Hakingafa]

My dad works at Kodak still to this day, now it’s called Alaris, and now it’s focus is printing fancy shit, like checks and very important papers and scans

[@dittofoster73]

In Rochester, NY?

[@thisslime2109]

There is both Kodak, and Kodak alaris. Alaris is another branch of the company, the other branch still makes film today and even released an old film stock this year. They are gaining more sales in film from people taking up the hobby of dark room photography. I shoot on Kodak in my film club in school

[@Deano14397]

And AA batteries down the local Poundland

[@charlesbidlingmaier6251]

i remember Polaroids. was amazing that you got the picture right away! im 33

[@charlesbidlingmaier6251]

Nice😁

[@charlesbidlingmaier6251]

Polaroids could maybe be good to do a video on. Idk.im not a professional

[@charlesbidlingmaier6251]

Or I can Google what made polaroids disappear...probably digital cameras. Lol

[@charlesbidlingmaier6251]

Or how they where able to produce a picture so quickly.

[@johnp139]

Interestingly, the Eastman part of the company (responsible for the film aspects) is now a booming company.

[@BernicePanders]

Just FYI, your talking about KODAK Picture CDs reminded me of how many times I got my pictures done that way, all the way up to 2002! This reminded me of Feb. 2001, when I was 15 & took a Make-A-Wish trip to L.A. to visit the X-Files cast & crew on set (among other fun things), and how I'd long ago lost or used the actual picture prints in some way. But then I remembered that I had seen them on a Picture CD, and had the thought that maybe I could actually go dig out the envelope of CDs I have buried somewhere, then re-print those pictures!! Your video has likely caused me to be able to recall these life-changing memories again for the first time in years! 💜

[@emerj101]

No Country for Old Film 🎞 😔

[@E1m0ren]

Holy shit, I love these informal ones. Change the format for everything!

[@LunaHarp91]

I'm 28 & my first camera was a Polaroid. I actually loved that thing back then.

[@johnp139]

I remember early digital cameras that used 3.5” floppy disks 💾 to store the images.

[@brainblaze6526]

Same!!

[@dannydaw59]

I had one made by Sony in the late 90's. I think it was Mavica.

[@ariaalexandria3324]

They weren't even floppy, which was weird.

[@uptdogg]

What I think is bonkers is at my dad's mechanic shop, he used to do photo inspections for car insurance companies when a new customer got a full coverage policy. The company sent him a digital camera which was also a magical, that used 3.5" floppy. They had him use that same camera up until like 3-4 years ago. So this major company was still mailing out boxes of 3.5" diskes that you had to mail to them daily with pictures

[@robertaviles8451]

I have a couple of Polaroid cameras from the 1960's. They're more display now, since they need an older version of Polaroid film (plus film is expensive for just 8 picture pack)! I remember 5. 1/4" floppy discettes 💽 I used to have a 1989 Compaq 286SLT laptop. It had ms/dos and Windows 3.1 operating system on it. Had about 1.64 gb hard drive. "Old Reliable" worked until 2017, when my home was flooded by a hurricane. I was so sad to see Old Reliable go like that. 😭

[@john-michelbottomley5999]

Dude, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and many other directors in the 21st century have made some of the best movies on traditional celluloid film.

[@roxics]

They are also the ones that asked Kodak and the studios to keep film alive.

[@treeckogreen8577]

@@roxics as I recall you can blown up film far more with less quality issues than a digital image with film so it makes sense

[@roxics]

Treecko Green Yes and no. Film is photo chemical. It does have a resolution limit like digital, which means that once you get past a certain point, all you see is film grain. There is no more actual image detail. That said, every individual frame has its own unique grain structure, in slightly different locations. The result is dancing film grain. Which most people tend to forgive more then hard digital pixelization. That said, Nolan has also been shooting more IMAX which is a much bigger film negative, which results in a much higher native resolution than standard 35mm motion picture film. North of 8K. So that doesn’t hurt either.

[@arceusmaster91]

Film cameras can be great for masters. Higher resolution, your resolution on screen is effectively limited to your copier.

[@DomyTheMad420]

Yes, yes we have dark rooms. Source: attended art schooling.

[@HauntedMime]

While I imagine specialised schools may, nowadays, I don't imagine it would be available to the majority of students until 16+

[@baked921]

My high school was New in 2004 and it had a dark room and still has. My mom works there pretty easy to find out although it's just a art class and I Donno how much interest there is in it anymore

[@baked921]

Like as in a lost art. Btw I love the arts. Musician here lol

[@ianbartram2118]

We had a dark room in my small town Texas HS. In the photography class we started out with film cameras. Learning basics and then how to develop. After that we moved on to digital cameras for the second half of the year. Graduated in 2013 🤙

[@cheaterman49]

11:43 I think you're the one who taught me on TIFO what that black blob is for? Pretty interesting story indeed, it does NOT make me regret film!

[@Barabyk]

Simon: “Digital is so much better” Me: laughing in IMAX...

[@rshiell3]

I was in the photography club and the yearbook club of my high school as well! So I developed my own film, enlarged the image on to photo paper, cropped and edited my own images and selected what would go in the yearbook. It might sound nerdy, but I enjoyed it. The only events I couldn't take pictures of were the sports events, because I was on most of the teams. Luckily I had a staff!

[@davidpotter9817]

Simond if you thought Kodak executives missed the boat...do one on Atari

[@KaBoomStock]

12:48 minutes of Simon going off. I’m here for it.

[@brainblaze6526]

:)

[@stephjovi]

How cute that 15 months ago this was Simon going off 😂. This is Simon who hasn't had enough cocaine yet

[@EMurph42]

This channel is the best entertainment in my life!

[@brainblaze6526]

Glad you're enjoying it :) :)

[@aaronhuisinga2531]

Dark rooms are still needed to make silk screens.... more than likely schools with good graphic art programs still have them.

[@Qualnias]

By the way, that "little black mark" in the upper left corner of filmstock is called the cigarette burn. It indicates that you are about 30 seconds away from the end of a reel and to get the next one spooled up and ready to take over. Back in those days each theater would typically have 3 projectors. Giving ample time for the bulbs to cool down between reels. (Also, in case of a failure, you can always run the movie on two projectors and send someone to fetch a bulb)

[@UteraWoman]

I used to hear the song "Kodachrome" on the radio all the time!!!! It was a very popular song!!!!

[@angelitabecerra]

One of my favorite memories growing up in the 90s was taking my full roll of film into the drug store and the anxiously waiting 1-2 weeks for my film to be developed so I could pick up my pictures. One of my most disappointing memories growing up in the 90s was going to pick up my pictures from the drug store and realizing most, if not all were trash. And I just wasted not only good money on the film, but also the developing fee. And yes, as a child I earned my own money, my parents refused to pay for my photography hobby. Though, they did buy my camera as either a birthday or Xmas gift.

[@Nomarura]

My school indeed has a darkroom. You can also weld and use power tools and stuff.

[@misschief4283]

4:25 I hate to break it to you Simon but we still use tapes for backups on a lot of systems ;)

[@pohldriver]

Some directors still use film either out or preference or desired look. The final product is then transferred to digital for modern projectors. I also saw a thing years ago on a guy that wanted extremely high resolution photography of NYC. Digital was nothing at the time and there was no film big enough for high resolution. But, then a radiologist friend of his pointed out that x-ray film was huge and was just regular film that used x-rays as a high powered "light" source. He ended up building his own giant, antique style camera. The program he was featured on showed the full sized print, then zoomed in to where you could read street signs on a photo of the whole Manhattan skyline.

[@rosesmith6925]

Ha, who remembers reel film?? My dad used to play our childhood pics on a big screen. I have a Canon similar to Simon's, my grandson wants it as an "antique"!! And my granddaughter asked for a Polaroid last Christmas, I couldn't believe they still made them!

[@Mrwagondriver42]

My Dad worked for Eastman Kodak my entire childhood, as a career Firefighter (Yes, the manufacturing facility in Rochester NY known as Kodak Park had its own Fire Dept.) I remember very well the day Kodak announced to its employees that it had decided to focus on film and production. Dad came home, sat down for dinner, looked at mom and said "Kodak just signed its own death warrant." Fast Forward a decade or two and a company that used to employ 45K+ people in the Rochester area alone, is now a shell of its former self.

[@LannasMissingLink]

Simon talking about all this technology he had as a kid, where as myself as a kid in rural Ireland still had dial up till 2010 and still doesn't have fiber broadband in my family home

[@quikesteve]

Love the channel!!!! Could you do a video on the mess that is the Boing 737-Max. Thanks

[@mrlurchAU]

Simon, the MAH-ooosive photo you’re thinking of is called a Gigapixel image.

[@BrianFury5803]

Im a longtime fan, i love this new channel

[@jimmykool3253]

Around 7 years years ago in grade 7 we were assigned to write an essay on something we wanted to bring to school and brag about I chose a film camera and spend half my presentation time answering questions on what it was.

[@thomasken]

For 5he weird black blob in the corner of film reels, its a marker to start the next roll so that it correctly lines up without having frame hopping

[@John_Fugazzi]

Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" was a big hit in the summer of 1973 (#2) in America. Even though it was the equivalent of a hugely successful ad blitz, Kodak threatened to sue because there was no indication on the record that the word was a registered trademark. Columbia records instantly sent out stickers to be applied and Kodak stopped threatening. The BBC banned it because it mentioned a product by name, so in the U.K. it became a B-side. It was also banned in Australia. Many stations banned it or bleeped it because it began, "When I think back to all the crap I learned in high school..."

[@TheHoagie13]

I was part of the Camera Club 📷 @ my school too!!! My family used regular film for MANY years after the 1st Digital Camera popped up!

[@DrawnByDandy]

There's a dark room we're required to use for photography class at my fine arts college

[@erikaf4259]

I think ccds are used in some space telescopes, if I'm remembering correctly there even some used on the James webb telescope?

[@jjsweep3642]

A LOT of movies are shot on film, it’s still seen as offering something digital simply can’t. The film is converted to digital for postproduction and often projected digitally as well. Some recent releases shot on film are: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (35mm), Ad Astra (35mm), Dunkirk (15/70 IMAX) - 15/70mm film is the equivalent of roughly 18k in digital resolution, 35mm is around 6k, these are estimates of the maximum resolution considering film is a physical thing. This is also how we’re able to get 4K re-releases of old movies, the original film gets scanned at a higher resolution.

[@dragonatorul]

Tape backup is still a thing. It's still cheap enough to store long-term backups on tape.

[@Morgan_Sandoval]

Yeah, it's kind of crazy when I think that disposable cameras aren't even remotely a thing anymore...

[@ariaalexandria3324]

I have one still, and am tempted to have it developed, but also tempted to keep it as is.

[@johnsmif7229]

It's called Eastman Kodak .I live in Kingsport TN and there's a plant here my dad worked at that's still there . However they make filter toe from dope.to spin out cigarette filters only ,now

[@kishna14]

Steve is really fighting Danny. First "fuck you science". Simons first use of props.

[@hofmeister15]

Simon whistler is 32 years of age. Wow he's a young successful and intelligent gentleman who makes videos I rather like

[@Youre-Welcome]

First digital camera I had was the Casio QV something in 1998. I was 13 and I used it in school for the yearbook. Impressed the heck out of people, but transferring the pictures was difficult and like Simon said, you wanted a physical print anyway.

[@scottstephens2870]

How about explaining the Dutch tulip craze that occurred in the early 17th century? For example, how and why it started and for how long and why did it crash? Thank you.

[@brainblaze6526]

I actually did a video about this on todayifoundout already, about a year back :)

[@scottstephens2870]

Oh okay thanks I didn't realize that. I will check that out 👍

[@DMSProduktions]

You ARE actually ALLOWED to have an opinion on products! You can't sue for truthful claims and opinion pieces are valid commentary!

[@brainblaze6526]

They’ll still take a crack at it

[@DMSProduktions]

@@brainblaze6526 Oh, like all ALPHA males will take a crack at anything female!

[@brainblaze6526]

Wha?

[@DMSProduktions]

@@brainblaze6526 Simple English! They behave in the SAME manner!

[@therealbenlove]

@@DMSProduktions Daddy chill.

[@bg45420]

I work for a division of Kodak in Dayton Ohio. We build high speed commercial ink jet printing presses. Most of kodak is commercial imaging. Any kodak consumer electronics is the the result the name being licensed out. Also, a lot of modern movies are still shot on analog film.

[@gotscroogled]

4:25 Funny thing, we still use tape for backups as we have nothing as cheap and data dense for long term storage! Microsoft recently showed of glass/crystal storage though with a ye olde superman film embedded into the glass.

[@pixie7349]

Not in school anymore but in high school our photography group had their own dark room.

[@BTFOOMNY]

Simon, how about the Delorean story. Back to the past?

[@Victoria-dh9vb]

Holy sh*t balls. So much snappy sass. Either Simon started drinking coffee or his editors sped him up. I'm here for it.

[@brainblaze6526]

It’s the coffee. Laced with speed. Not really.

[@Victoria-dh9vb]

@@brainblaze6526 Could be the speed laced with coffee....

[@brainblaze6526]

Depends on the proportions on the particular day ;)

[@JessiBear]

We had a dark room in High School but I also graduated 20 years ago😅

[@amb163]

OMG -- My first SLR digital was a Nikon D40! Slightly smaller than yours, but otherwise nearly the same.

[@Luke..luke..luke..]

Simon. Some of us still use 35mm film. I'm a professional photographer and have a Sony A7RII which has 42.3 megapixils but that's still not top of the range these days. The beauty of film is that you can't see the picture after you have clicked the shot. I still sometimes look at the back of my film SLR and then realise it is not going to show me the picture. You take more time with it and ensure that every variable is perfectly to your liking before taking the shot. The focus and shutter speed are all manual too so you take your time with it rather than blasting off 40 shots in full automatic like you do with a digital camera. Great video and I had no idea how long ago the foundations for digital cameras were laid.

[@timmy7201]

11:29 Those old films are actually the reason why we can watch old movies in modern quality. It's estemated that: 35mm film is the equivalent of 4k 35mm Imax is around 6k 70mm film is around 12k I guess that there just wasn't the technology in the past to project those films at full quality. So when in a decade (2030) 12k televisions become available (and affordable), it's theoretically possible to watch an 71 year old move as 'Ben-Hur (1959)' in full 12k resolution. While watching an 11 year old digitally recorded movie as 'Avengers: Endgame (2019)' on your 12k televisions set would be capped at 6,5k resolution, because that's the max available raw footage of that movie (if my source is correct).

[@Zapporah85]

I took digital photography last year in college, but the school does also offer film photography and they do have a dark room.

[@co11mrmark]

How about a video of Myspace and Tom from Myspace

[@jerelull2619]

In my experience, the switch from analog to digital pics happened about 1994-1995, or so. The drop in cost, particularly developing the exposed film, financed each digital camera I've gotten since(only 2). Now, every once in a while, I need a new hard drive to store all the snapshots I take, which isn't nearly as expensive as the required photo albums were. Kodak realized properly that 1974 was too early for digital tech. No one had computers other than big companies and none of them "knew" pictures; Heck, that was about when the Apple ][ was introduced and THAT computer barely had color screens at first. 'Twas a while after that when MicroS**t finally understood color.

[@faxmachine5306]

Photography Student Here- Still have a dark room, everyone complains about the smell and how their eyes sting after a while being in there, pretty fun developing and failing at it

[@nicholaslewis8594]

Took four years of photography in the US we still had a darkroom and developed chemicals. We did the pinhole thing and it was a blast. Did basically all my projects with film, because I loved the results. Our darkroom could only develop black and white pictures though. My understanding was that developing colors took a lot more equipment and work. The room had the red lights and everything. There weren’t to many chemicals involved. If I remember right after you exposed the film paper it had to go through three chemical tubs. The most annoying part was making the film lightproof. I had to put my hands in a tent, cut the film open, wrap it around a spool, and then put it in a lightproof container. I had to do all that just by feeling around since I couldn’t see it. Then the film had to be treated to make it lightproof. Not to much chemical exposure. My high school was mainly worried about chemistry classes especially after a nearby one had an accident that injured a bunch of students.

[@thisslime2109]

I'm in high school and I started up my own darkroom last year as a club in school. It's going pretty well I have a lot of members, I still remember film cameras as a kid even though I'm 18 now.

[@elliotjohns8534]

Most schools dont have dark rooms anymore, my local high school got rid of theirs at the end of the past spring semester when they remodeled the art section of the school building. Dont know why tho

[@dumiiiiiii]

worth noting that because film isn't limited by resolution, but by how fine the emulsion used is, it can provide higher quality images than digital, which is why it was used so much until fancy 8k digital cameras for cinematography and the likes came around a few years ago (and this is also why we have these 4k+ high quality rereleases of old movies, it's because of how much quality you can get out of film). for comparison sake, in order to capture every single detail on a 35mm slide, you'd need an 175MP sensor. when it comes to very expensive photos, they were taken on large format (4x5"), which would require about 2GP to scan all detail in a photo. you read that right, 2 *giga*pixels on a single photo. nowadays, the effect is achieved by stitching together multiple digital images, but it's still mindblowing to find out how great film was in some regards

[@Trolouce2]

Doing backups on tape is still very common, as they are still cheaper and more reliable than hdd, ive seen the one our hospitol uses on a network tour, its a massive tape machine.

[@merlynscave]

Love it! Especially the presentation.

[@greggd3351]

How about the video tape format war; Beta v VHS?

[@greggd3351]

Lightbulb! How about a twofer? Buy an online essay on the Beta v VHS thing. Then compare to your own version.

[@zappawench6048]

Technology Connections has done wonderful videos about all video recording formats.

[@macsnafu]

Yeah, once a company gets big enough, they don't usually disappear, they just get re-organized, re-structured, and owned by some other company. See RCA, for example. And when I was a teen, I got a Polaroid Instamatic camera, which was great because I didn't have to pay extra to go get it developed. But the Instamatic film was pretty expensive for a teen on an allowance.

[@tanyakristeen]

Oh Simon this one hits a little close to home. For reference I can see Kodak from here, and my dad worked there as an engineer until the very end of needing any employees for the chem tank maintenance. Take your kid to work day there was the best!!! My dad also had a wicked injury cause they weren't the safest, he got a chemical burn to the bones on his foot and ankle and had to have skin grafts. Seriously tho the kitchen there was the best work lunch you could ask for. They are also still running a theatre and museum of their own failures LMAO.

[@tanyakristeen]

My dad also got a huge raise for saving them a boatload in shipping costs. Too bad it wasn't enough to save them. Also didn't help when they went under our family Photography Business Leichtner Studios also went under shortly after.

[@bigpoker9380]

The were one of the first to have a great digital camera with the Kodak DC280, 2MP with expansion card all in 1999!!! I had it and loved it!!! PD: I also had cameras with film Simon, yes we are both old, me older than you though. Love all your channels and podcasts.

[@brainblaze6526]

Nice. I had something similar, and it had all weird expansion card sizes, like 8MB, and 12MB etc. And thanks :)

[@krmillustrations512]

I absolutely loved developing my own black and white film (I never did color), but yeah totally get why people don't want to do it themselves by hand. Just to develop the film takes like 20 mins plus dry time, needs a completely pitch black workspace (or a cumbersome black baggie) and loading/unloading reels all has to be done by feel, and this doesn't even count for enlargements/prints. Was super great too, when I took my first film class it was after film was readily available and print paper was like a buck a sheet.

[@raisedheart]

4:37 My school does have a darkroom, however you have to join a class to use it.

[@lirrobinson8377]

What's left of Kodak is now Carestream. Which sells film and digital imaging systems to medical and industrial radiography businesses.

[@DrawnByDandy]

IIRC, Star Wars the Force Awakens was shot on film

[@XSpImmaLion]

As late as some 6 years ago my journalism course still taught photojournalism with darkroom lab class in it. Then again, most teachers where 40+ years old. Then again again, it is an interesting way to teach for students to have a good grasp on how professional cameras work. Gives you some perspective on how all the settings and internals work. So, hindsight is 20/20 in this case. If we simplify things a lot, sure, Kodak missed the opportunity to pioneer in this era. But people should know that the early prototype and for probably more than a decade after that came out, digital cameras were a real question if they'd really replace film. Basically because the images you got from one were total shit. It's not only about resolution too. Color, latitude, focus, how heavy they were, how little photos you could take, how lacking in standards they were, the entire computer and printing side, interface, cables, etc etc. Consider that, for instance, the Sony Mavica that took diskettes for the photos and was extremely limited was still a huge refinement over the Kodak original prototype. It is so distant from current smartphobe cameras that there is no way to know if Kodak would be able to keep pace and still be a relevant company to this day if they invested early on. A company needs to basically become something else for that to happen.... film cameras are mechanical masterpieces, but for digital you need mastery on software and an entire other architecture. About film on movies, Simon will be surprised: lots of very recent movies have parts shot on film, and until just a few years ago you still had directors that refused to shoot digital. To be clear, it's shot on film, revealed, scanned and digitalized. So it's not like it's going to be projected on film, but captured with. It has to do with aesthetics, and workflows they are used to.

[@elizabethperimontclason3242]

Eastman/Kodak radiography machines.. "hold your breath" zzzzzz... "Breathe" ok let me go develop this and see if we got it..

[@sirenatheodyssa]

The cool thing is people don't know that Kodak was suck a mega company they had(have) a federal credit union for their employees. Those employees children can still have accounts there. Its crazy.

[@barrywerdell2614]

Since you did one on Kodak and the Digital camera how about one on Polaroid and Polavision the first video recorder (kind of) and also the rapid raise and fall of the Videodisc (not laser disc)

[@MattisonPlays]

I ran the projection booth in a discount theatre with actual film until 2015 when they got digital projectors....6 months before closing.

[@2MCHFRETMEProduction]

Funny thing is that the film division of Kodak was the only profitable one at the time of bankruptcy. Also, The Nolan Batman trilogy, The Force Awakens, Dunkirk, parts of the Avengers, Mission Impossible- Fallout, Bohemian Rhapsody and many others all were shot on film in whole or in part.

[@terryenby2304]

We had a dark room at college. Was a lot of fun! Unfortunately it had a mould issue and was quite smelly aside from the exciting chemicals... but I definitely developed a fair few images :)

[@AngelusAnsell]

I graduated high school in 2010. In my 10th grade Photography class, we had SLR film cameras, dark room, the works...and I forget how but we also took those same photos and then we would sometimes photoshop them in those giant flat-screen macs using stupid bullshit apple knock-offs of real software.

[@ArtbyAmberLynne]

Omg. I have pics of me when I was like... 4? 3? that are Polaroids. Lol

[@isaacschmitt4803]

I last saw a on film movie in theaters in 2016. The base theater in Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia, still used film projectors, though by noe they have made the switch to digital. You could still see the "cigarette burns" when the reel was almost up if you looked for it, which I always did. I was actually a little disappointed when they made the switch. Bear in mind, Norfolk Naval Station is the largest naval base in the world.

[@Efferheim]

I keep thinking you are saying that the last page are Sauces. I kinda want a Kodak sauce now.

[@MrEricleblanc26]

Never heard the song kodachrome??? Man, what a baby! 😆