Kodak - thank you...

It's sad to see Kodak struggling right now. Kodak made photography accessible to everyone. They took the "alchemy" out of the equation. If you could get the film loaded and follow a simple set of instructions you were good to go.

I had a Kodak Brownie Holiday in my single digit years. I learned a lot about photography from it. It started with that simple sheet of paper that came with the roll of film. But, I wanted to know why it worked. How did something so simple make images so good? I spent a hell of a lot of time at the library. There's a heck of a lot of science behind that simple Bakelite box.

Simple, single element, meniscus lenses are not great for illuminating and focusing on a flat surface. The Brownie had a curved film plane to match the lens. The aperture and focus point was chosen so that pretty much everything from five feet to infinity would be reasonably sharp. The single shutter speed was set to match the film's sensitivity.  If you were outside, had the sun at your back, stood some five feet away from whatever, pressed the button and wound the film correctly, Kodak did the rest. In a few days you'd have a nice print. It's amazing that it takes so much technology to achieve the same thing these days.

I could go on about the film, paper and chemicals (black and white and color) for another several thousand words. I've used just about everything they've made. Two words sum it up: quality and consistency.

It's not that Kodak stumbled in the digital transition. They made some excellent cameras. I had one. What they didn't make was a "cool" camera, one that made the Internet buzz with excitement. Kodak cameras are the camera people bought because they had a Kodak camera before. Their last (film) Kodak was good so this one (digital) would be more of the same, and it is - to a point. There's no digital equivalent of a Brownie. Kodak did an excellent job making digital cameras easy but they're not Brownie easy. I think that's where they went off the rails. They spent a century plus making film photography approachable and switched tracks with digital. Now the "alchemy" was in your face, with lots of buttons, and on-screens of menus, most of which mean absolutely nothing to the casual snap shooter. Short of setting the date and time many casual photographers never dive into menus. Think of that the next time you grab a snap shot camera. Why would you want anything but the best quality image? Why wouldn't you want the flash to be automatic? Film didn't have scene modes so why does digital? It's all way too complicated.

I realize that I'm suggesting that a digital Brownie would be relevant and a grand idea. Somehow, I think it is. More and more people are using cell phones as their snap shot cameras Not all cell phones, primarily the expensive ones. These cell phones have decent cameras. There's no camera-only equivalent.


I'm not sure what Kodak is going to do next but I hope they don't vanish. Kodak has too much experience and history to not have something to offer the next generation. It's not that they have to compete with every camera out there. They have to do what they do best: make photography simple, accessible and affordable.