12 and 8 researched events on one shared scale. Kodak 1880–present, Rodenstock 1877–2013.
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.
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.
Dated in the sources as “1900s-1930s”. Decade wording normalized to its full calendar span for scaling.
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.
Dated in the sources as “1931-1960s”. Mixed decade and year wording normalized for scaling.
Milestones · Kodak and Premo Camera Chronology · The Retina Guide
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
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
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.
Dated in the sources as “1975-2000s”. Mixed decade and year wording normalized for scaling.
Milestones · Photographic Processes Video Series & Glossary - Digital Photography
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
Josef Rodenstock founded the optical business in Würzburg in 1877; it relocated to Munich during the 1880s and developed into an integrated optical manufacturer.
Dated in the sources as “1877-1880s”. Mixed decade and year wording normalized for scaling.
A period catalog documents a mature photographic range built around Eurynar double anastigmats, Pantogonal extreme wide-angle lenses, and telephoto combinations.
Rodenstock marketed Clarovid folders and the Imagon soft-focus system; museum evidence shows complete cameras could combine purchased bodies with Rodenstock lenses and Deckel shutters.
Dated in the sources as “early 1930s”. Approximate wording normalized to a year range for scaling.
Rodenstock Clarovid II (6 x 9 / 4.5 x 6 cm) · Rodenstock Clarovid · Rodenstock Photographic Camera
Rodenstock supplied fixed, convertible-component, and DKL interchangeable lenses for Kodak Retina cameras while maintaining medium- and large-format families.
Dated in the sources as “1950s-1960s”. Decade wording normalized to its full calendar span for scaling.
Kodak Retina IIIC Instruction Book · G. Rodenstock Lenses - Dealer Notebook Pages · The Retina Guide
The dated dealer notebook lists Sironar, Grandagon, Heligon, Rotelar, Ysarex, Apo-Ronar, Imagon, and Rodagon configurations.
Catalogs reorganized the large-format program around Sironar-N, Grandagon, Apo-Ronar, Imagon, Geronar, and Geronar-WA, alongside a broad enlarging-lens range.
Camera Lenses · Rodenstock Lenses Sales Brochure 543490400301 · Rodenstock Enlarging Lenses
The precision-optics branch was separated from the ophthalmic company; LINOS acquired Rodenstock Präzisionsoptik in 2000.
Dated in the sources as “1990s-2000”. Mixed decade and year wording normalized for scaling.
The photographic branch passed through Qioptiq, which Excelitas acquired in 2013.
Read either maker on its own: Kodak · Rodenstock
