A Hard Tussle Between Friends

In his determination to make simple photography available to everyone, George Eastman coined the snappy name Kodak* and created a worldwide army of snapshooters egged on by such advertising slogans as: "You press the button--we do the rest." In the most elaborate re-emphasis of that philosophy in nearly a century, Eastman Kodak Co. last week introduced to the press its long-awaited instant-picture camera. But this time Kodak is playing follower instead of leader. It will be competing in a market long monopolized by Polaroid Corp., which ushered in the instant-photography era nearly three decades ago.

Even though Polaroid's sales are relatively small ($800 million last year, v. $5 billion for Kodak), the battle will be no Goliath v. David affair. Polaroid is well entrenched in its field, with effective marketing and technology; its name and cameras are almost as well known as Kodak's. Polaroid officials appeared in no way worried when Kodak showed off its cameras. A comparison between the products, said one, "renews our confidence that our leadership in the field of instant photography remains unchallenged."

Kodak will begin selling its new cameras in the U.S. in June; Canadian introduction is planned for May. The two models shown last week are ranked as generally competitive with Polaroid's Pronto SX-70-type camera, and all three units are expected to be deeply discounted. The Pronto, introduced in March and selling fast, retails in some places for as much as $16 off its $66 list.

Kodak's cameras are the hand-cranked EK4 (list price: $54), which has no motor, and the battery-powered EK6 ($70). Both do what the Pronto does: eject multilayered cards packed with dyes and chemicals that turn into pictures before the viewer's eyes in a few minutes. Kodak's entries, like Polaroid's SX-70 line, produce dry-to-the-touch prints without the necessity of peeling off and discarding material, as users of the Polaroid process had to do before the SX-70 system made its debut in 1972. Prices for a ten-picture pack of film: $7.45, before discounting, for Kodak's instant film; $6.99 for Polaroid's. Several Japanese companies are rumored to be about to make cameras that will be able to use the new Kodak film.

Photo critics rate Kodak's cameras and the Pronto about equal in delivering picture quality. They give Kodak the edge in color reproduction and Polaroid in sharpness. Kodak's film surface is a dull sheen, slightly textured to soften lines and forgive errors in focusing. Polaroid's is a high gloss, although the company is marketing a low-gloss film in the Midwest. Kodak's instant uses a dye-release process that can respond to a greater range of colors than current SX-70 film, or so photo experts assert. The films are not dramatically different in chemistry. But they are far enough apart, in the view of analysts, to preclude any patent-infringement suits by Polaroid against Kodak.

On Wall Street, Polaroid's stock rose a few points but Kodak's dipped, a classic case of buying on the rumor and selling on the news. Analysts expect the new instant line to add only a few percentage points to Kodak's profits, which come from chemicals and textiles as well as photography. Many analysts were a shade disappointed in the new cameras. They had expected something dramatically different from the company that developed the first successful color film for amateurs (Kodachrome, in 1935) and has sold 75 million Instamatics since the introduction of that phenomenally successful line in 1963. Said one Wall Streeter: "It was strictly a 'me too' performance." A New York TV newscaster referred last week to the new "Kodak Polaroid," then corrected himself.

Plywood Brownie. Kodak is not worried that its instant cameras will eat into Instamatic sales. About the size of a tape recorder and weighing 29 oz., the EK6 is seen by analysts as best used for indoor pictures and backyard snapshots. Said one: "It's great, but you can't take it skiing." Nonetheless, a Kodak marketing survey concluded that 24 million U.S. families would be interested in buying an instant camera of the kind that Kodak has now introduced if the price is right (about $50).

Kodak has been toying with instant-photography technology for at least 20 years: "plywood Brownie" was the name of a laboratory exposure system for Kodak's instant films. (Polaroid has the same flair for nostalgia; SX 70 was the code designation for the research project that led to its first instant-picture camera in 1947.) But Kodak got cracking only in the 1960s, when Polaroid began rapidly lowering the prices of its instant cameras. Kodak's cameras have been put together since January on a 600-ft. assembly line in Kodak Park in Rochester; the development effort involved thousands of employees in Rochester, London and Paris.

Whatever the outcome of Kodak v. Polaroid, it will be a contest between friends. Kodak manufactured much of Polaroid's film up until 1974. Forever fearful of antitrust actions, Kodak officials were privately delighted to let Polaroid start the instant business. Polaroid Founder Edwin Land has been grateful to Kodak for other reasons. In the 1930s, when Polaroid was a tiny company making light-polarizing sheets (that eventually evolved into the popular sunglasses), Eastman Kodak was among its first customers. Without that deal, there quite possibly would have been no Polaroid instant camera for Kodak to challenge last week.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.