Photographic Film - History of Film

History of Film

Early photography in the form of daguerreotypes did not use film at all. The light-sensitive chemicals were formed on the surface of a silver-plated copper sheet. Beginning in the 1850s, thin glass plates coated with photographic emulsion became the standard medium. Although fragile and heavy, the glass used for photographic plates was of better optical quality than early transparent plastics and was, at least at first, less expensive. The plates continued to be used long after the introduction of film, and are still manufactured for scientific use. Eastman Kodak marketed the first flexible photographic roll film in 1885, but this original "film" was actually coated on paper. After exposure, as part of the processing, the image-bearing layer was stripped from the paper base and transferred to a glass support to facilitate printing from it. The first transparent plastic film was produced in 1889. It was made from highly flammable nitrocellulose (celluloid), now commonly known as "nitrate film". Although cellulose acetate or "safety film" had been introduced by Kodak in 1908, it was not until the 1920s that it began to significantly replace the hazardous nitrate film, which had the advantages of being considerably tougher, slightly more transparent, and cheaper. The changeover was not completed for X-ray films until 1933, and although safety film was always used for 16mm and 8mm home movies, nitrate film remained standard for theatrical 35mm motion pictures until it was finally discontinued in 1951.