Photography in the United States product introduced by George Eastman in 1884: a flexible, gelatin-coated paper, followed closely by a holder for a 24-frame roll. Soon after this, Eastman introduced Eastman American film, which featured a thin gelatin layer that was removed from the paper backing after development for additional clarity in making prints. In 1888, Eastman's company issued the first easy-to-use, lightweight Kodak camera. It was priced at $25, loaded with a hundred frames, and was almost instantly popular. When the user had used up all 100 exposures, he or she would simply mail the camera back to Kodak, where the used film was
135 film popularity, as well as the entire company legacy, early Leica cameras are considered as highly collectible items these days. The original Leica prototype holds the record as being the world's most expensive camera, selling for €2.16 million in 2012. In the earliest days, the photographer had to load the film into reusable cassettes and, at least for some cameras, cut the film leader. In 1934, Kodak introduced a "135" daylight-loading single-use cassette. This cassette was engineered so that it could be used in both Leica and Zeiss Ikon Contax cameras along with the camera for which it was invented, namely