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By Jing Garcia, Tech Times editor
The story of Kodak did not start with the advent of digital cameras.
Neither did it start with Kodachrome. In fact, Kodak has a long
history—a history as long as film itself. We can safely say that
Kodak practically invented photography—popular photography, that
is.
In 1888, George Eastman, an avid photographer,
invented dry, transparent, and flexible, photographic film (or
rolled photography film) and the cameras that could use the new
invention. With this, the Eastman Kodak Company was born.
“We [Kodak] started photography that became
popular to consumers,” said Lee Ki Bong, regional general manager
and vice president for Consumer Business at Eastman Kodak,
Asia-Pacific. “We’ve been in the market for more than a century
and provided high-quality imaging solutions, even today in the
digital age.”
Kodak was and still is a household name. Songs
were written about it. Great movies were filmed on the brand. The
word Kodak itself is synonymous with photography. In the
Philippines, the street lingo “kodakan” is often used as a
generic term: to take a picture—though now, more often used as a
whimsical statement.
Although Kodak now produces digital cameras and
other digital imaging solutions, digital technology has taken its
toll on Kodak’s core business—film photography. Revenues from
film, particularly rolled photography films, have drop dramatically
that only recently Kodak announced they’re finally retiring
Kodachrome, one of the most iconic film brand in the history of
popular culture.
Kodachrome, which first appeared in the market
in 1935, also known as the world’s first commercially successful
color film, is favored by still and motion picture photographers for
its rich vibrant colors and realistic tones. Moreover, many
historical events were filmed on Kodachrome. Two perfect examples
are Abraham Zapruder’s 8mm reel of President John F. Kennedy’s
assassination on Nov. 22, 1963 and photojournalist Steve McCurry’s
portrait of an Afghan refugee girl on the cover of National
Geographic in 1985. Kodachrome’s end-of-shelf-life will happen by
year’s end, while film lab developing to end by 2010 according to
a Kodak news release.
“Kodak will still support film, since it’s
still a popular medium in emerging countries like the
Philippines,” Lee said. “However, our main focus right now is
digital—with our new line of digital cameras and imaging
solutions; we bring to market end-to-end solutions when it comes to
digital photography, including image reproduction.”
Not new to digital
Yes, Kodak, despite an old name in a new era of
photography is not new with digital image technology. In the
mid-70s, Kodak invented several solid-state image sensors that
“converted light to digital pictures” aimed for professional and
consumer use. In 1986, scientists at Kodak R&D laboratory
invented what would be the world’s first megapixel sensor. It
produced a digital photograph recording of up to 1.4 megapixels with
a 5x7 digital photo-quality print. A major feat back then in digital
photography.
By the late eighties, Kodak tried to develop a
standard in recording, storing, manipulating, transmitting and
printing electronic still video images and in 1990 called this new
standard as the Photo CD system. Interactive CD players and even DVD
players in the 90s bore the “Photo CD by Kodak” logo on the
front panel of the machines to emphasize its compatibility with the
Kodak standard to view digital photographs on computer and
television monitors.
And when it came to professional photography,
Kodak was the first to released a professional digital camera system
(DCS), aimed at photojournalists back in1991. The digital-SLR camera
was based on the classic Nikon F3 equipped by Kodak with a 1.3
megapixel sensor. Kodak continued manufacturing and releasing its
own professional DSLRs, however, tough competition from the likes of
Canon and Nikon, made the company to pull out from the DSLR market
in 2005. By this time, Kodak was already rethinking its position and
strategies in the digital camera arena.
Kodak today
“There’s no truth about the news article a
couple or years ago that Kodak pulled out of the Philippines,”
said Catherine Pacia, country business manager for retail printing
at Kodak Philippines. “As you can see, we are still here; we’ll
bring new digital cameras in the next couple of months and will
maintain a competitive approach when it comes to marketing.”
Some of the new digital products the iconic
camera company is planning to bring to local market are the new line
of digital zoom cameras under the Z-series (see this week’s
Digital Lifestyle) for the prosumers, the M-series for the
fashionably trendy and the C-series for the budget-concious.
Aside from the latest technologies in digital
imaging, Kodak digital cameras will be very affordable, the
executives said. Adding that Kodak will continue delivering reliable
image processing services.
“We are also focusing on other digital imaging
products for our complete end-to-end imaging solutions,” said Anna
Cabanos, country business manager for Kodak Philippines’ Consumer
Digital Imaging Group. “We can say that Kodak still have the
biggest market in photographic paper; people who want their digital
photographs printed often choose Kodak paper.”
In time of the current global financial crisis,
is Kodak still confident about the digital imaging market?
“The best thing that happened to Kodak: our
corporate restructuring started way before the global crisis even
started. Now, other companies are currently thinking on how to
restructure themselves, looking for ways to cut costs, which we’ve
already done.” said Lee. “I think we are in our best position
right now.”
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