Eastman Kodak Company

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The Eastman Kodak camera from 1888, the year of its invention.

DeAgostini Picture Library/Getty Images

Eastman Kodak Company (KODK) is an American manufacturer of film and photographic supplies and provider of digital imaging services and products. A pioneering force in photographic history, it is also recognized both for its innovations and for its iconic yellow-and-red logo and stylized “K.” Its headquarters are in Rochester, New York.

The company was incorporated in 1901 as the successor to a business established in Rochester in 1880 by George Eastman, who perfected the newly developed method of making photographic dry plates. Before 1880, photographers had to coat a plate with fresh, wet chemicals each time they wanted to take a picture. Eastman developed a machine that mechanically produced dry, precoated plates, and he set up the company that later would become Eastman Kodak to sell his plates.

Four years later, Eastman introduced roll film, and in 1888 he introduced the Kodak camera, the first camera that was simple and portable enough to be used by large numbers of amateur photographers. The camera was sold with film sealed inside, and the whole unit was mailed back to Rochester for film processing and replacement.

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The Kodak Brownie camera, introduced in 1900, made photography affordable and popular.

Håkan Svensson

In 1900, Eastman introduced the less-expensive Brownie, a simple box camera with a removable film container, so that the whole unit no longer needed to be sent back to the plant.

Through the mid-20th century, the company continued to produce innovations for the amateur photographer. Kodak was the first to make home-movie equipment and an easy-to-use color slide film, Kodachrome, introduced in 1935.

Kodachrome was the first commercially successful color film and became renowned for its vivid color reproduction and archival durability. Widely used by professional photographers, photojournalists, and amateurs alike, it captured much of 20th-century American life and became an enduring cultural icon, even referenced in popular music.

In the 1960s, the company introduced the Instamatic series of still and movie cameras, all of which used cartridge-loaded film. The Disc camera series, introduced in 1982, was a technologically advanced group of cameras that could automatically activate the use of the flash, if necessary, in addition to adjusting the focus and advancing the film. In 1984, the company entered the video market by introducing an 8-millimeter video camera and videocassette tapes.

As digital photography gained popularity in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, demand for Kodachrome declined sharply. On June 22, 2009, Kodak said it would discontinue the film after a 74-year run, noting that only one processing facility remained. The last rolls were accepted for development by Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, until December 30, 2010. Despite occasional public speculation, Kodak has not revived Kodachrome.

By the early 21st century, facing significant declines in the consumer market for cameras and other products related to film photography, Kodak placed new emphasis on digital photography products. The company remained a leading supplier of photographic films, papers, and chemicals for professional photographers and also manufactured motion-picture film, single-use and other consumer digital cameras, aerial surveillance films, and equipment for the graphic communications industry into the 21st century.

Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2012, citing rising pension plan costs, declining profitability, and mounting competition in the digital era. During the proceedings, the company ended production of digital cameras and other consumer digital imaging products. Kodak emerged from bankruptcy in September 2013 a much smaller company focused on commercial printing and imaging services for corporate clients.

In August 2025, Kodak cautioned investors that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to remain in business (known as a going-concern warning), citing debt maturing within 12 months and the absence of committed financing or sufficient liquidity to meet those obligations.

The statement came as the company reported a $26 million second-quarter loss, down from a profit a year earlier, and a slight decline in revenue. Despite the disclosure, Kodak said it was confident it could pay off much of its loan early and change or refinance the rest, noting the warning was a requirement.

The company also said it was moving forward with a plan laid out in 2024 to terminate its pension plan to reduce debt, a process expected to be completed by the end of 2025.