European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse New camera Marks Kodak Centennial by Andy Grundberg new York timezone Hundred years ago George Eastman introduced a evolutionary idea in picture making photography for everybody. His first foil film camera introduced in 1888 and called the Kodak allowed dilettantes and dusters la take photographs easily without the bother of carting around Glass plates tripods and other Parasho Nafia. The original Kodak produced 100 round Little pictures on 3 Angle Roll o film. Alter Imi Shing the Roll you sent the whole camera off 10 Eastman s factory in Rochester n y., which processed the film Mado prints and reloaded the camera with a fresh Balch of film thus was born a new Era in which photography became the Hobby not of a Tow aristocrats but of millions. Much has changed in the last 100 years of photography most of it thankfully Tor the Batter. To no longer have to Send cameras away Wilh the dim inside. Lenses ate much faster and film is More sensitive our pictures Are no longer round but rectangular. Best of All taking pictures has become a lot less expensive so photography is now More democratic than it has Ever been. Kodak is calling 1988 the 100th anniversary of the snapshot. To help celebrate it has introduced a new Point and Ticol. 35mm camera called the Kodak s900 Tele. Sporting All the latest in automatic gizmos Auto loading and rewind focusing exposure and Flash As Well As a Choice of wide Angle or Tele lenses it shows How far we be progressed since the original Model Kodak appeared the debut of he s900 Tele is not without irony however for nol too Many years ago the Eastman Kodak co. Gave up on 35mm cameras entirely. Faced Wilh still Competition from the japanese and committed to a series of its own instamatic formats Kodak slopped Selling the cameras just about the time that the 35mm Normal s Star began to Rise inexorably. Kodak soon realized Hal its own formats the progressively smaller 126 instamatic. 110 instamatic and disc sizes were not enough to Stem the 35mm 1ide. And since Kodak makes most of the world s 35mm film it knew it could ust As soon join emas beat pm. So in 1986, the company went Back to Selling 35mm cameras. Kodak s Early re entry 35s were contracted out to Chron so they bore the marking made in the s900 Tele however is made much closer to Home in Rochester. K s the first significantly new made in America 35 in a Long time. Even in 1958, Kodak was contracting of the manufacture of its top Ohhet me 35, the Retina reflex 1o its subsidiary in Stuttgart West Germany so How does this Homegrown product compare to the Best the japanese have to offer in terms of features not too badly. The dual Lens system is ingeniously engineered. Instead of motoring the lenses into position in front of the f it Kodak has used a Mirror that can shut of the wide Angle Lens s View while reflecting 1ha Tele s image onto the film. An up to Date 6-Voll Hium gallery supplies Power Lor Bolh the camera and the Buill in Flash. Thru Flash fires automatically when needed but also can be shul off or fired manually. The focusing system is not the highest of High tech however. The 34mm wide Angle tens is set at a fixed focus while the 62mm Tele Tele is used rather loosely Here focuses automatically 10 one of three zones. These Days three zones is nol thai Many in Erms of design and construction the s900 Tele sends mixed messages. Its controls Are Well placed and Well marked and they fall naturally under the fingers. A rubber protrusion on the right Iron serves As a steadying Handgrip. But the camera seems bulkier than it should be. Perhaps this is because its designers have Laken pains to smooth any rough edges in what amounts to a streamlined Chassis. The camera also seems solid enough bul it lacks the feeling of precision and refinement thai japanese camera makers have achieved. In any Case Tho s900 Tele comes Wilh a one year warranty a Kodak Lithium Battery a Roll of Koda Cotor film and a suggested retail Price in the United states of $229.95, Kodak 3 newest is the Soto Tele camera oat features a Choice of Witla Anglo or Tele lenses Point and shoot photography gets More complicated by Andy Grundberg new York times if something starts out simple you can Bot in will become complicated sooner or in is Wilh Point and shoot cameras which were originally designed to make 35-mm picture taking As simple As pointing and shooting. Two things have conspired to make the majority of today s Point and shoot cameras a Bil More Complex than that Ideal. For one camera makers quickly recognized thai the More special features they added the Mote they could charge. As is True of automobile sales the higher the Price of the item the More profit margin there is Tor everyone. So one could argue that the Profil motive helps to fuel the inevitable shift from simplicity to complexity. But it s not alone. We Consumers savvy shoppers that we Are always Are looking for the most bang for our Bucks. We re always impressed by extra Lille buttons and other gizmos that add Only a Little to the Cost of our purchases in the Case of Point and shoot cameras some of us have Learned that simplicity has ils disadvantages. We be found we could l control the focus the exposure or the built in Flash. It was Asil the camera Hada mind of ils own and sometimes ils mind was t doing what we wanted in to. So today simple Point and shool cameras come Wilh the Samurai by Kocela ims a loom Lent that measures proper expo fwd of the subject appt Mio extra added attractions such As focus locks exposure locks backlight compensation self timers no Flash buttons arid fill dash Sullons. All of these features can be ignored by the wary Novice but they give More experienced photographers a measure of the control they would enjoy with More sophisticated sing hens reflex cameras. One of the handiest of the upscale Point and shool features in my experience is a provision or fill in hash. Basically this allows you to fire the Flash in situations when the camera left to ils own devices would t in most models you use one linger to press Down on the fill in Bullon. While another Finger presses the shutter release. The most frequent picture taking situation calling for fill in lash is a portrait la Cen outdoors in which the person s face is in Shadow or in harsh unattractive sunlight. Fill Light will erase the wrinkles bags and other cosmetic insight Linhoss that result from Noonday Sun and will conquer the shadows that otherwise mask the expression you re trying to capture. A1 other times a fill hash Button can be used indoors. If you re using a High Speed film in relatively Bright indoor spaces the camera May recognize thai Flash in t needed. But while it in l necessary for a Good exposure it May give you a belter View of your subject let s say you re interested in recording the inside of a room bul the Wall in front of the camera is Lull of windows. If it s daytime the camera s meter is going to expose for the Light coming from outside and in the process underexposed what s in the room. One solution is to enlist the fill in hash feature. The Flash s burs of Light will allow you to see details inside but won t overwhelm the Light outdoors be careful of course that the camera in t pointed straight Al the windows or else you la get a hot spot in the Middle of your picture. On the other hand there Are limes when you wan to Lurn the Flash off not on. Case in Point recently a Friend asked to Lake a picture of me standing on the Art moderne stairway of our hotel. Two flights above was a skylight which let a Beautiful natural Light fall on Tho stairs. Click went the shutter and Blitz went the hash. Since the Light of the hash was enough to spoil the effect of the natural Light my Friend tried Aga. This time she held Down the camera s no Flash Button while pressing tha Shuller. Result a Pic Tusa perfectly exposed by existing Light. You also Don l want the hash logo off re in a museum and have just walked by a sign that says no hash photography instead of being embarrassed guat hold Down the anti hash Button and tire away. And you should thank the museum for its trouble most hash pictures of framed artworks Lurn Oul terribly thanks la unanticipated reflections. Flash Light also May contribute to the lading of pigments in the artworks the Selvea. You would t want to fade lha Mona Lisa would you saturday june 11, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 17
