12 and 13 researched events on one shared scale. Kodak 1880–present, Linhof 1887–present.
The axis stretches where either maker has research and collapses where neither does, so a year sits opposite the same year on both. Event counts differ because research depth differs, not because one company did less.
George Eastman began commercial dry-plate manufacture in Rochester in 1880 and formed the Eastman Dry Plate Company with Henry Strong on 1 January 1881. The partnership became the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company in 1884, the Eastman Company in 1889, and Eastman Kodak Company of New York in 1892.
Valentin Linhof founded a Munich precision-mechanical workshop in 1887 and pursued metal camera construction while wooden plate cameras remained common. Early upright, square, stereo-panorama, and large plate cameras established the company’s long-running emphasis on rigid standards, controlled movement, and repeatable manufacture.
Historische Kameras · Linhof 1957 Product Catalog · Linhof History
The factory-loaded Kodak camera went on sale in 1888 with film for one hundred circular exposures and a return-to-Rochester processing, printing, and reloading service. The transparent roll film marketed in 1889 and the one-dollar Brownie introduced in 1900 extended Kodak's consumer system.
Kodak opened its first manufacturing plant outside the United States at Harrow, England, in 1891. In Rochester it renamed the former Blair Camera factory Hawk-Eye Works in 1911 and established optical design there in 1912; Kodak's own 1942 lens manual states that the company began making simple-type lenses in 1912 and soon followed with Kodak Anastigmats.
Kodak expanded through Brownie boxes, Folding Pocket and Vest Pocket cameras, Autographic models, Panoram swing-lens cameras, professional and Premo equipment, and many film-number families. Model number, picture size, film number, body construction, lens, and shutter package changed independently and must not be collapsed into one generic Kodak chronology.
History of KODAK Cameras, customer service pamphlet AA-13 · Kodak and Premo Camera Chronology
The 16mm Cine-Kodak camera, projector, and film system appeared in 1923, and Kodak introduced an 8mm amateur motion-picture system in 1932. These systems extended the company's integrated camera-film-processing-projector model beyond still photography.
History of KODAK Cameras, customer service pamphlet AA-13 · Milestones · Kodak and Premo Camera Chronology
Kodak bought the Nagel Camera Company in Stuttgart in 1931. Kodak A.G. introduced the Retina in 1934 and developed folding rangefinders, rigid Retinas, Retinettes, Retina Reflex cameras, and later other German-made equipment. Retina C-series cameras used convertible front components matched to a fixed rear cell, whereas the rigid Retina IIIS used fully interchangeable lenses; these systems are not mutually equivalent.
Milestones · Kodak and Premo Camera Chronology · The Retina Guide
Nikolaus Karpf entered the family firm, completed the Ur-Technika prototype in 1934, and refined the folding technical camera for production. The Technika name joined a protected metal body and drop bed with view-camera movements, creating the portable professional platform that would become Linhof’s defining product line.
Rochester precision cameras included the Bantam Special, Super Kodak Six-20, Kodak 35 and 35 Rangefinder, Ektra, Medalist and Medalist II, and Signet 35. They span 828, 620, and 135 formats; fixed, unit-focusing, and interchangeable optics; leaf and focal-plane shutters; and different meter or rangefinder arrangements.
Kodak Lenses, Shutters and Portra Lenses, fourth edition · History of KODAK Cameras, customer service pamphlet AA-13 · Milestones · Kodak and Premo Camera Chronology
Kodak documented inner air-glass surface treatment in 1940 and later marketed magnesium-fluoride-coated optics as Lumenized, commonly marked with a circled L. Its 1946 data book renamed Kodak Anastigmat Special as Anastar and Kodak Anastigmat as Anaston while explicitly stating that the renaming did not change the optical formulas. The 1952 data book distinguished Ektar, Anastar, Anaston, Kodar, Kodet, enlarging, projection, and camera-specific families.
Kodak Lenses, Range Finders and Shutters · Kodak Lenses, Shutters and Portra Lenses, fourth edition · Kodak Lens Manual
The rebuilt Munich works introduced the Technika III in 1946 and developed coupled-rangefinder Super Technika versions for export during the 1950s. By 1957 Linhof offered 6×9, 4×5, and 5×7 bodies, the Technika Press, and the Aero Technika, supported by tested lenses from specialist German optical makers.
1956: Linhof Technika Press · Linhof 1957 Product Catalog · Linhof History
Linhof translated its precision-camera practice into the Kardan optical bench. Color, Bi, Standard, and Super Color versions placed movable standards on rails for long extension, format changes, and controlled perspective in studio, industrial, and architectural work, complementing rather than replacing the folding Technika.
Linhof General Catalog 6603/52e · Historische Kameras · Linhof 1957 Product Catalog · Linhof History
Technika 70, Press 70, Aero Press, Electric 70, and the fixed-lens Linhof 220 explored faster roll-film work. Bright-frame finders, coupled lenses, exposure metering, motorized transport, and interchangeable backs carried Linhof precision into press, travel, aerial, and industrial photography beyond the classic 4×5 field camera.
Linhof General Catalog 6603/52e · 1966: Linhof 220 · Historische Kameras · Linhof Technika 70
Kodak introduced the 126 Instamatic system in 1963 and the 110 Pocket Instamatic system in 1972. The film cartridges, body sizes, exposure systems, flash arrangements, and production branches differ, so the Instamatic name cannot stand in for one format or one body platform.
History of KODAK Cameras, customer service pamphlet AA-13 · Milestones
Super Technika V bodies in 4×5, 5×7, and 6×9 refined the drop-bed system with rangefinder coupling, triple extension, revolving backs, and extensive movements. The formats were distinct cameras, not interchangeable labels; the large 5×7 branch continued through 1986 while smaller versions followed their own production paths.
Linhof General Catalog 6603/52e · Historische Kameras · 1964: Super Technika V 13x18/5x7
Aero Technika 45 EL combined motorized large-format transport, vacuum film flatness, and interchangeable focusing lenses for aerial work. Linhof records American and European mission use, while the later Aerotronica 69 adopted a rotating high-speed shutter and a large 6×9 motor cassette for mapping and observation.
Linhof Precision Cameras and Systems · Historische Kameras · Linhof History
Kodak engineer Steven Sasson built a completely digital camera prototype in 1975. Kodak subsequently developed professional DCS, consumer digital, sensor, printer, and workflow products while chemical film and camera lines contracted. The digital invention belongs to Kodak's technical history but does not make every later Kodak-branded digital camera a Rochester-manufactured product.
Milestones · Photographic Processes Video Series & Glossary - Digital Photography
The fixed-lens Technorama 617 began Linhof’s 6×17 panoramic line in 1976. A redesigned body, the 612pc II with built-in rise, and the interchangeable-lens 617s III expanded the idea. Shift accessories and lens modules brought architectural control to rigid roll-film cameras before original lens supply ended.
Technikardan cameras rotated their standards around a telescoping monorail for compact transport, combining field portability with direct view-camera movements in 6×9 and 4×5. In parallel, Kardan Master GT and GTL systems offered heavier modular studio construction, yaw-free controls, and conversions through larger sheet-film formats.
Master Technika models carried the folding 4×5 lineage into current production. The classic retained coupled rangefinder use, while the 2000 and later 3000 emphasized ground-glass focusing and extreme wide-angle operation. Modern accessories also connect film-era bodies to roll-film and digital-back workflows.
Linhof Precision Cameras and Systems · Historische Kameras · Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
Introduced in 1996, the M 679 was conceived for both medium-format film and digital backs. The M 679cc added direct rear-standard correction in 2000; the M 679cs of 2004 integrated a leveling panorama base and refined movements, making one studio platform adaptable across rapidly changing capture systems.
Development stages of the Linhof M 679 · Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
Linhof Präzisions-Systemtechnik GmbH was founded in 1998 and remains registered in Munich. Its current program continues precision camera manufacture, including Technika, Technikardan, Kardan, M 679, Techno, panoramic, and reproduction platforms, while the factory openly limits service for many older discontinued models.
Linhof Impressum · Service and spare parts · Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
The Linhof Techno combines Technika lensboards with the M 679 rear standard in a compact platform for digital backs and roll-film cassettes. Wide-angle bellows, front and rear shifts, and interchangeable adapters show how Linhof has carried the mechanical language of the technical camera into contemporary location photography.
Linhof Price Listing, valid as of February 1, 2023 · Linhof History
Eastman Kodak entered Chapter 11 in 2012 and emerged as a reorganized company on 3 September 2013. The restructuring transferred Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging to the Kodak Pension Plan of the U.K. subsidiary; those businesses subsequently formed a separate Kodak Alaris continuity rather than an uninterrupted Eastman Kodak operating division.
Eastman Kodak Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 · Kodak Emerges as Technology Company Focused on Imaging for Business
The current New Jersey Eastman Kodak Company remains headquartered at 343 State Street in Rochester. Its 2025 Form 10-K identifies Print, Advanced Materials and Chemicals, and Brand segments; the company manufactures professional and consumer still film and motion-picture film, while its Brand segment licenses the Kodak name for third-party digital, instant-print, and 35mm cameras and other consumer products.
Brand Licensing · Eastman Kodak Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
