Originally posted by Beaugrand: I have two Auto 110s, one with "normal" 24mm lens and the other with 50mm; also the flash and power winder.
I recently posted in another thread:
"It would be easiest to make a digital cartridge for cartridge cameras, such as 110. The sensor could be actuated by the sound of the shutter (or by a light-sensitive diode, triggered when the shutter opens). ISO could be selected by a 2-position switch on the cartridge, since 110 cartridges were originally made for ISO 100 and ISO 400. Cartridges have a built-in frame counter, 110 cameras all have a frame counter window on the back; the digital version could have a small readout (good for telling how many images stored) in place of the frame counter. Upload images and recharge the battery via mini USB port on the cartridge.
This would breathe life back into my higher-end 110 cameras, including my Pentax Auto 110.
It won't happen, of course, but the problems aren't technical."
Follow up post:
"I don't think an LCD screen would be needed for even the simplest 110 cameras. If the cassette is kept to the minimum necessary, and no more, There should be adequate space in the 110 cassette for the battery (rechargeable would be best, I think) and the sensor and the electronics. A numeric display should suffice; all the information we ever got from our film 110s was the frame count. If the memory capacity is limited to, say, 100 or 200 frames, the cartridge could be removed to upload the images and erase the memory. During the process, the battery could be charged via USB.
Any device that simulates film will have limitations. I think making the film camera useful again, even with some of the same limitations as film, is a positive thing in and of itself."
WHL
A digital cartridge for 110 and other cameras would be nice, but I have to wonder about two things:
1. Expense. Assuming you don't want to use a severely cropped sensor like a 1/1.7" from a true compact, how much are you going to want to pay for something with, essentially, a 4/3 sensor inside? The vast majority of 110 cameras can't make use of this kind of resolution.
2. Practicality: Since 110 film is currently being made by Lomo, how great is the need to Digitize our 110 film cameras? And aside from a few standouts, like the Pentax, the Minolta 110 SLR, Canon and Kodak 110 rangefinders, and a couple other oddballs, how much advantage is there in adding a digital cartridge over just using film anyway? Most 110 cameras were the cheapest of the cheap.
