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
Kodak Retina Vollenda miniature folder, along with the Ranca and Pupille collapsible cameras were smaller than the Leica and Contax cameras, but could use 50mm f:3.5 Elmar and other similar Tessar formula lenses in Compur shutters to create a larger 30mm x 40mm image on 127 rollfilm. The advantage of 35mm would be the elimination of the paper-backer allowing more images per roll of film. All of the Kodak Retina cameras from the mid 1930s to the late 1950s were folding cameras with a short self-erecting bellows, lens board, and folding metal door/cover. These folding Kodak Retina cameras are listed below with