Technologies

Celluloid Roll Film

Photography

Citation Formats

General Reference

Film and Media Atlas. "Celluloid Roll Film." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://media.interactiveatlas.org/technologies/celluloid-roll-film.

APA Style

Film and Media Atlas. (n.d.). Celluloid Roll Film. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://media.interactiveatlas.org/technologies/celluloid-roll-film

BibTeX

@misc{filmandmediaatlas-celluloid-roll-film,
  author = {Film and Media Atlas},
  title = {Celluloid Roll Film},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://media.interactiveatlas.org/technologies/celluloid-roll-film},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

George Eastman's Kodak introduced the first transparent celluloid roll film in 1889, replacing the paper-backed roll film Eastman had sold since 1885 and the fragile glass plates that preceded it. Its flexible strip, wound through a simple camera back, was adopted almost immediately by the pioneers of motion pictures, Edison's laboratory among them, as the base for the perforated 35mm film stock that became the standard gauge of cinema.

Facts

Introduced Year

1889 1

Origin

Introduced by George Eastman's Kodak in the United States as the first transparent (rather than paper-backed) roll film. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections