March 18, 2026
#540
Gentle reader,
I am of "a certain age" in which I have lived in eight decades and seen a lot of changes in my life, technology and the world in general. For example, I joined eBay in 1998 when it was still relatively new. I began selling some things, but did not have a digital camera, only some film ones. Even though film and processing/printing were relatively cheap, I did not go that route. I simply gave the item's descriptions as much detail and information as I could.
A photograph from 1974, myself and my first girlfriend, Susan Paull, shot by my mother with the ancient ARGUS C3 camera they had had for many years. A too-slow shutter speed was used which made everything blurry.
Below, the ARGUS C3 I found decades later. The shutter speed is set by the dial on the front at the top/right.
I don't know what year my parents bought their C3, but this one predates World War Two. I registered it's Serial Number with the Argus Collector's Group website long ago. They stated then, that it was the earliest example of a C3 they had yet seen.
Image of this camera found on the Internet.
Nancy has always been super supportive to whatever I am interested in and I return the favor. Thus, she surprised me one day with one of these FUJIFILM 1.3 megapixel digital cameras, so that I could add photos of items for eBay auctions.
Thus, I had to learn digital photography editing and more. I was complemented one time by a fellow camera collector on the quality of my images. Photographing dark and/or shiny things and cameras often have both qualities. Anyway, I bought an early version of Adobe's Photoshop™ and learned enough of it to do what I needed.
A fellow member of G-J, Victorio Prfromhp, saw my parent's blurry images, took pity upon me and voluntarily took each image and answered my question as to how he did this miraculous work. His answer was, "Both Photoshop with Adobe Firefly Ai. I use photoshop to prepare them for Firefly Ai. Ai can fix many photos but many more don't look right without a little prep. I love doing it." I have not looked into exactly what Firefly Ai is, but it's amazing!
My brother, Jim, took this shot of me climbing up an 11,000 foot knoll in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. That's the toe of his shoe at the bottom of the picture.
Colorized by Victorio. Mind blown!
This square image of all five of us siblings was likely made by an "Instamatic" camera. Kodak invented many forms of film and the cameras to use them in. 
Victorio's effort makes the image sharper and brighter. Every time I went outside into bright sunlight, I had to squint. It was a while before I finally bought a pair of sunglasses to deal with that need.
As well, I was able to find one of every manufacturer who made Instamatic™ cameras which are SLR types.
Nancy and Bekka, climbing a very tall climbing wall in a now defunct store named, Galion's, many years ago. I shot this and other images with this German-made Kodak Instamatic™ model 500 camera.
Kodak then did another new type of Instamatic™ film, called Pocket Instamatic™. It used 16mm film, they named it 110 film. And, again, it had sprocket holes which performed the same function as the 126 film did.
Kodak's line of Pocket Instamatic™ cameras were numbered 10 to 60 initially. Later, other numbers were added. 
A pair of Kodak Instamatic™ cameras with a Magicube™ flash atop the model 104 on the left and an Instamatic™ film cartridge in front. Image is most likely from a 1960's print advertisement. Their new film was simply 35mm film in an easy to load "Drop in" cartridge. The film sprocket holes were laid out to let the camera stop winding when a new frame was ready.
I was able to find one of EVERY Instamatic™ film camera which uses a rangefinder to focus the lens.
I was able to still find Kodak Instamatic™ film and shot images with some of these cameras.
Models: 50, 60 and Trimlite 48, top to bottom. The 60 and 48 have the extra window of the rangefinder which superimposes the central view of the image. One focus' until those images line up, the take the shot.
Below, a box of General Electric™ brand flashcubes with Kodak's flash extender. It raised the flash higher to eliminate red eyes in pictures.
Their top-of-the-line models were the 50 and 60, the outer two. At first, they look identical, but the difference was the more expensive model 60 had a rangefinder for easy of focusing. Later, they came out with a type of flashes which were vertical and called Flipflash. The Trimlite™ Model 48 was mechanically and functionally the same as the PI 60, but with a plastic body made to look like leather. 
AS with Kodak's Instamatic™ 126 film, other camera makers took up the 110 film banner and started making their own cameras to shoot it with. Above are many of the finest ones made including at Minolta 110 SLR (inside the cabinet at the back, to the left of the Nikon SLR camera) which has a zoom lens. In front, a pair of Pentax 110 SLR cameras. A set in the gift box, and in front, one fitted with their zoom lens. Middle-front is a Voigtlander Vitoret 110 EL with the MINOX 110S. Both with matching flash. To the right-front the "Black Chrome" Kodak 110 Deluxe, with Pocket Fujica 450 Flash camera. All of these were the most expensive 110 cameras made.
Well, I certainly went off on a tangent! If you are still reading this far, thank you! This is an image I made with my Pentax 110 SLR I fitted a fisheye lens to it.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this article and my (and Victorio's ) images. Feel free to comment below or via Facebook.
Scott Robb
March 18, 2026
#540
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