[DeadJohn]

This post is 40 years too late.

My sister and I were reviewing old childhood photos on Christmas. The photos of me from birth to around age 5 were generally good. Everything after that, including almost every photo of my sister, is poorly focused. When did my dad lose his photography skills? When he bought a Kodak Pocket Instamatic 110 and shelved his 35mm.

The only good thing about 110 film is that the family camera and my model rocket (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrocam) took the same film.

[Docrwm]

110 itself is not totally to blame. I have some rather well focused 110 shots of aircraft on the flight line taken with a pocket 110 camera. The camera is, always, a huge part of things like focus and IQ.

[reeftool]

Some of Galen Rowell's mountaineering photos that were published over the years were shot from an Instamatic. I can't say which model but I remember reading the interview about how he got some of those crazy shots carrying a camera. I do remember seeing $19.99 Instamatics and also $99 Instamatics so there was obviously a difference. I never owned one but my kids did and the typical results were half the roll was good and the other half you threw away but that was from 10 year olds.

[Docrwm]

Some of Galen Rowell's mountaineering photos that were published over the years were shot from an Instamatic. I can't say which model but I remember reading the interview about how he got some of those crazy shots carrying a camera. I do remember seeing $19.99 Instamatics and also $99 Instamatics so there was obviously a difference. I never owned one but my kids did and the typical results were half the roll was good and the other half you threw away but that was from 10 year olds.

Pentax sold an interchangeable 110 camera that was well thought of back in the day. Again, plastic lens vs glass lens makes a difference among other things.

[Blue]

Pentax sold an interchangeable 110 camera that was well thought of back in the day. Again, plastic lens vs glass lens makes a difference among other things.

I still have my system. It was the smallest slr system in existence.

[Docrwm]

I still have my system. It was the smallest slr system in existence.

Early Q!

[wombat2go]

I don't know why Pentax did not get on the M4/3 format. The Pentax 110 was same frame size.
My first camera was an Instamatic 100. It had no focus control despite a knurled looking lens surround.
I took color slides with some success as i recall
(Photo reposted)

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

---

Last edited by wombat2go; 12-29-2014 at 05:00 PM.

[Not a Number]

There were two "Instamatic" formats. The first one was introduced in 1963 and the film frame was a 28mm × 28mm- Designated 126 film by Kodak. These used the AG-1 flash bulb. I remember having at least one 126 film camera. I never used the 110 format.

Instamatic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most of the Kodak cameras like the Brownies and low end Instamatics had 1 - 3 element "omnifocus" lenses with one fixed shutter speed and apefture. Some of the fancier ones may have had a dial or slider to choose two or three different apertures but mostly they relied the film latitude to cover most lighting situations.

The "Brownies" used 127 film - 40mm × 40mm image - in rolls with paper backing similar to 120mm film.

Kodak had a 35mm series the "Pony" cameras. These were non-rangefinder, non-SLR cameras and you had to guesstimate the range for focusing and use the sunny 16 rule (included with every roll of 35mm film) or use an exposure meter. You could set f-stop and shutter speed. This was the first 35mm camera I ever used/owned and still had it until somebody broke into my parents house last year and stole it.

[Docrwm]

I liked 110. The cameras were small, easy to use, and like all cameras could produce good pictures. I could carry one in my flight jacket pocket and not be obtrusive with it. Captured moments that no other camera of the day would have been allowed to capture. It was a Kodak Instamatic 60 with adjustable shutter speeds (very unusual for 110 cameras).

[gofour3]

The "Brownies" used 127 film - 40mm × 40mm image - in rolls with paper backing similar to 120mm film.

As well there were Brownies that used 120 and 620 film. The first camera I ever used was a Hawkeye Brownie that used 620 film. (6x6)

Phil.

[c.a.m]

Through its Instamatic 126- and 110-lines, Kodak brought affordable photography to many families - mine included. We weren't a 'camera' family, and neither parent was into photography as a hobby. So, we eagerly waited the end of each roll of Instamatic film, mailed it off, and shared the prints a couple of weeks later. Agreed, the IQ was not great, but we did capture family milestones and events, trips, and special occasions.

On a related subject, my brother and I still talk about the memorable smell of those Polaroid chemicals - we had a low-end B&W Polaroid camera for a few years. The quality of the prints depended to a large part on your skill at pulling the print package, patience while waiting, and deftness at spreading the chemical at the end of the developing process. I don't recall "IQ" ever entering our conversation.

- Craig

[magkelly]

First camera I ever held was my Dad's 110 at a trip to Disney when I was like 7. I still have those pics somewhere, grin. He let me play with it for a while and I promptly surprised him by taking several diagonal pics with it. I took pics of the costumed performers Goofy mostly on the stage and I turned the camera around so I could catch a better view of him. My Dad was like WTH? But he apparently thought it was interesting and thought I deserved the camera more than he did and he promptly gave it to me. I used it a little and then stuck it in a drawer, forgot all about it. For all the Disney photos he took Dad actually wasn't at all into photography and still isn't. I have a few pics taken with some old B&W camera from when I was 3 or so, standing on a beach and in our front yard. I have the pics from Disney, mostly the ones that I took, but not much else after that that's not a school pic and even those my parents stopped getting once I was in middle school.

Dad got a Fuji 35mm pocket cam when I was like 17 in some lotto related to bowling. He handed it over to me and I said "Oh thanks!" I used it a few times to take pics of the cat and that was about it. It too went into a drawer and was largely forgotten. I did not have another camera until I was over 30 and got a 1.2 MP Fuji digital camera. That was when I truly fell for photography and I've been clicking ever since. I've had several Fuji's since, then I got into SLR's and then DSLR's, and then I eventually went pro, but it was that little 110/35mm cams that I think sparked my wanting to learn more. I think I always had it in the back of my head that those cams were not enough for me that I wanted a "real" camera with changing lenses and that if I was going to really go there. I didn't get one right away, but I knew I was headed there. I never thought I'd end up doing it for a living though. I donated those two film cameras to Goodwill long ago but I kind of wish I hadn't now. They had a pretty major impact on my life, albeit years after I was first given them...

[Blue]

Regarding 110:

Pentax Auto 110/Auto 110 Super Users - PentaxForums.com

[paulh]

As well there were Brownies that used 120 and 620 film. The first camera I ever used was a Hawkeye Brownie that used 620 film. (6x6)

Phil.

My first camera was a Brownie Target 620 my mom gave me. I used it for several years, exclusively with b/w film. (All I could afford with my paper route money!) Later I upgraded to a Kodak X-15 Instamatic with the 126 cartridges and "Magicube" battery-less flashcubes! I never owned a 110, but my siblings did, and I was never impressed with their photos. My square format shots with the X-15 seemed to be sharper and clearer than their 110 images. Fun times with simple cameras.

[Sagitta]

Did someone mention an instamatic?



(actually, that may have been my parents' Kodak Disc, which made 110 look like full frame)