Film Photography: 110 Film. Kodak's "Pocket Instamatic" Pentax 110 SLR, Minox 110S, Voigtlander Vitoret 110EL Fujica 450

February 16, 2018

#233

Gentle reader,

Kodak invented many of the various film formats (and cameras) that have been used for well more than 100 years. "A Kodak Moment"® is one of their more famous advertising lines. Of course other film companies do exist and some new ones too, such as LOMO® famous for their Lomography® style of street photography. To my knowledge, they are the only company manufacturing Kodak's Pocket Instamatic® 110 film.

Above are all the 110 film cameras that I have bought since joining two FaceBook groups devoted to film cameras and that share their love of cameras and photos they have made with them. To my surprise, there are MANY photo labs still in business developing, printing, enlarging and scanning most film formats. I have no idea who might still do Kodak's first cartridge film, numbered 126 and called Instamatic®. But that is not what this article is about.

As you can see, 110 film which is actually 16mm minus the sprocket holes, is encased in "Drop in" cartridges or cassettes. It is paper backed and DOES have sprocket holes, one spaced evenly apart to "tell" the camera to stop winding so that the photos will be exactly the same distance apart. Before and after those holes, in the case of this film; 20 of them, there are none. This "tells" the camera and photographer to keep winding until it stops. Numbers appear in the hole seen above with arrows showing, indicating how many shots have been made.

This film expired in March, 1981. So it was made 38 or 39 years ago. I opened it just for this article. See the gear teeth below? Each 110 film camera has a matching (but metal) gear driven by the winding mechanism that meshes with these teeth. There is a tiny metal sensor "feeler" inside the camera that detects the hole and stops the mechanism. Clever, yes? Yes.

I once around fifty 110 cameras of all kinds of shapes and sizes. Most folks, if they remember 110 cameras at all, probably remember them being flat rectangles. Well, most are. But camera companies, (reportedly even Leica had made a prototype) wanting to cash in on 110 film created a vast array of styles, shapes and capabilities. My first camera as an adult was a 110 camera sold by J.C.Penney. It was all we could afford then (1979). I didn't buy a "real" camera, i.e., a 35mm SLR, until April, 1995: An Olympus OM-10. But that is another episode previously featured in this blog.

This is a film photograph from the late 1990's showing one half of my CameraLock system which held my 110s, 126s and medium format (120 & 620 film) cameras. I do see one 35mm model which is orange and is an underwater camera. The green one at the bottom is the same as my first camera as a child in the 1960's which uses 620 roll film.

One of the first companies to experiment with building a better 110 camera, was Minolta with their odd-duck appearing 110 SLR. Ugh, sorry about the pink tint in the first photo.

I'm not sure why I left the filter on the lens, nor why I didn't notice that it was on crooked. Oh, well, these are old pictures.

The wheel, below, with the holes in it adjusts the aperture (how much light the lens lets in) and I believe it also served as the light sensor. But I may be wrong on that part.

Obviously they added a pentaprism, large zoom lens and other accoutrements to the standard 110 rectangle 110 shape. 

Winding lever is on the bottom. When this camera came out in 1977, it sold for the staggering amount of $290! That is more than $1,200 today! For a 110 camera! Yet, sell they did. 

Below is the MARK II version which came out in 1980, although the continued to produce the first version until 1982. The MARK II retailed for a more reasonable $175. $560. today. It is more 35mm-like in appearance and has a greater focal length spread as well.

Above and below are the MARK II (less attachments) next to the Pentax Auto 110 SLR which features interchangeable lenses. Pentax AUTO 110 SLR came with a 24mm "normal" lens (affixed above). It was often bought as a set, (featured in this article) which included an 18mm wide angle lens, a 50mm telephoto lens, a battery powered winder and a nice flash. Bigger sets added a bunch of filters, rubber lens shades and more. Also made was a 20-40mm zoom lens, plus a 18mm pan focus lens and an all metal 70mm telephoto lens. Equivalent to about 135mm on a 35mm SLR. All the Pentax lenses are a relatively fast f2.8 maximum aperture.

A Body and 24mm lens sold for $180 when the camera came out in 1979. $655. today. Below it wears the 20-40mm zoom lens to compare to the MARK II Minolta's. The Pentax winder was $80. and the flash was $55. 18mm pan focus lens sold new for $60., no price I can find for the standard 18mm, 24mm was also $60., 50mm was $90., 70mm was $100, and the 20-40mm zoom sold for a amazing $180. in 1981. More than $500. today.

MARK II zoom range was 25mm to 67mm. Or 50mm to 130mm on a 35mm SLR camera. It's maximum aperture was a little slower at f3.5. The MARK II had an optional grip which mine has and mine also has the rubber lens shade and cap. An optional TTL flash could be had as well. Pentax and the original Minolta 110 SLRs did not have TTL flash capability.

And yes, I see a previous owner's fingerprint on the Pentax lens. Here is the standard set of the Pentax 110 camera:

Normally selling for a lot of money, this one was $35. and was missing the 18mm lens. The camera does not work, which is fine as I do not need it. The winder and flash DO work, but the latter is missing the battery cover. I just bought a "parts" flash for $6. that will supply that cover. Great deal to get all this with only the camera being bad.

There are a number of 110 cameras I want to shoot with, I wrote extensively about the black chrome Kodak Pocket Instamatic® 60 camera that I bought. The standard chrome one sold for $145. in 1973 ($845. today!), I have no information what the "Deluxe" model (below) sold for, but it was considerably more.

It has a 26mm EKTAR (top-of-their-line) lens of f2.7 maximum aperture and was the first 110 camera to feature rangefinder focusing. 

As I wrote above about a possible Leica 110, there are some that suggest the following camera made by Minox was in fact that Leica that was sold to Minox. But that could be wishful thinking. It came out in1978 and with the flash and cases sold for $285. $1,145. today!

Rather simple in design and frankly, the flush controls that move or open things are a bit tricky to work. 

Clever clamshell doors conceal the lenses and meter and add a lens shade feature for all. 25mm f2.8 lens. It winds and clicks, which the one I previously had did not, and I am awaiting two #625 batteries for it to insure the meter and shutter do work. Plus I see dust that needs my attention.

Another famous German camera maker dipped their toe in the 110 pool was Voigtlander with this Vitoret 110EL which has a LANTHAR lens of (?) with a maximum aperture of f5.6. Nothing in my price guide about this camera.

White lever below the lens serves the dual purpose of opening the lens and viewfinder covers and winds the film. Clever yes? Yes.

Below is the set I once had, which did not work:

A nice metal belt clip was included as well as a wrist strap that threaded into the camera.

Next, is a nice Fujica 110 camera the is styled more like a point-and-shoot 35mm but was not. It has a wide angle lens of 20mm. A couple of shots to compare it to a traditional 110.

It's a bit awkward to adjust the focus since the lens is flush with front of the body.

Unlike the rest of the POCKET series of Fujica cameras, the 450's flash rises and tilts for shooting.

Now for your viewing pleasure some more photos of my new Pentax cameras, plus two shots of the kit I had previously:

I was lacking the zoom lens and pan focus 18mm, but did have the lovely 70mm. I used 49mm close-up lenses that screwed to the front of it with great results. PLUS, I had the Soligor 1.7X teleconverter, which made the 70mm about 120mm or 240mm in 35mm format.

Now, a series of shots of the SLRs with the various lenses mounted on the PENTAX auto 110 camera for size comparison. Starting with front views on the working camera: 24mm normal lens, 18mm wide angle and 50mm telephoto. Followed by shots of the same lenses mounted on the non-working camera as seen from the bottom.

Ugh, every speck of dust and hair shows up in digital photos!

24mm "normal" above.

 18mm wide angle above.

 50mm telephoto above.

20-40mm zoom at 40mm above and 20mm below. Mounted on the working camera which, based solely upon serial numbers, is quite a bit older, but in far better condition.

I am sure one of my FaceBook friends can tell me what the type of lens that is longer at a short (wide angle) end and shorter at the longer (telephoto) end is called. The Leica lens on my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3  digital camera that made these images is the same way.

Zoom lens that I am quite excited to own at last was bought at a surprisingly low price. The gray areas are my blotting out the flash's bright spots on the clear plastic bubble.

Purely, and happily, coincidental that the two PENTAX logos below line up.

I have achieved great results with quality 110 film cameras and hope to do so in the near future. Just have to order some new film. 

FYI, the retail prices I quoted above are found in ORION BLUE BOOK CAMERAS which along with many others covering many other types of products were the go-to source for insurance companies and pawn shops to determine prices for a multitude of things prior to the proliferation of the Internet. The "today" prices are sourced from: CPI Inflation Calculator  
A service of the US government. Give it a try sometime.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this latest article and perhaps learned a thing or two. 

Thanks for looking,

Scott

February 16, 2018