Dam I remember this.
Posted by Hazys@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 156 comments
Posted by Hazys@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 156 comments
Neonlikebjork@reddit
lol! I had that camera and the same feeling.
My_Knee_Hurts_@reddit
Oooo a brand name 110 camera. Someone’s parents are rich.
pullmyfinger222@reddit
My old man rocked this bad boy. Look what I found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1731853816/kodak-hawkeye-green-instamatic-r4-camera?ref=share_v4_lx
OperaBunny@reddit
Where's the flash cubes and negatives? I've read some professional photographers still use darkrooms. Just like the pictures taken, cameras have a history of memories.
Ungender@reddit
In 1993, I was on the USS Arizona memorial. An American woman had one of these 110 cameras and had it back to front. I followed her all round the memorial waiting to see if she tried taking photos. She did. A number of times. The flash fired and she didn’t notice nor care.
whoozywhatzitnow@reddit
I remember going to my 4th grade graduation party, and being allowed to take some pictures of some of the party goers. Two weeks later we pick up the pictures, only to discover that 7 of the pictures I took were of my eyeball because I had the camera backwards!
Prior-Conclusion4187@reddit
110.
kellzone@reddit
I also remember the high pitched whine of the flash.
CHILLAS317@reddit
I kind of miss that whine. It was the sound of the capacitors charging back up after using the flash, getting ready for another shot
I also kind of miss out of pure nostalgia the single use flash bulb sets. There was something very analog and tactile about them I enjoyed
WhimsicalPonies@reddit
I have a studio strobe light and if I turn it down to flash slow enough you can hear those caps before each flash.
josrios3@reddit
The blueish ones in the pack of like 5? That never added up to the number of exposures in the camera? Always over or short. Like hot dog buns. 10 pack of hot dogs, yet buns come in 8 packs
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
There was a movie or show with that where the guy took out two buns from a 12 pack because of the 10 pack of wieners.
Adnama79@reddit
Which is why Gen X grew up thinking that garlic bread meant toasted hot dog buns with butter and garlic salt
warrior_poet95834@reddit
At this point in my life I live with a similar high pitched whine 24/7.
kevlarus80@reddit
Often in several tones.
warrior_poet95834@reddit
As well as the cost of film and development. At least half of my photos sucked and should never have been developed.
BillionTonsHyperbole@reddit
Same for cathode ray TVs.
bonedaddyd@reddit
I remember as a kid the TV section of stores was deafening.
BillionTonsHyperbole@reddit
Or when at home you could hear from two rooms away whether the TV was on, and not because of a volume setting. Thankfully, I can still hear that and the little sonic mosquito repellers.
ReverendDizzle@reddit
And the smell, for the cameras with the little disposable flash cubes at least.
User-827@reddit
I forgot all about that!
Uberbons42@reddit
Or you wait a year cuz you don’t want to waste all the film on one event so you take a few pictures over the whole year and. They all suck.
No_Marionberry_5077@reddit
or this one
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
It had a disc like a computer!
BackgroundLaugh4415@reddit
It kind of had a disc like a ViewMaster. Do you remember those?
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
Haha. Yeah.. but I had a lazy eye so I could never see them in 3D.
Bubba100000@reddit
Disc camera sucked just as bad, the negatives were tiny!
Dangerous-Exercise53@reddit
I worked a photo counter in the 80s and had to explain to SO MANY GRANDMOTHERS why they couldn't get an 8x10 print from their shitty Disc camera print.
The answer is because they looked like grainy ass, and they would all decline to purchase them when they arrived.
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
Prepayment only.. and warn them.
Dangerous-Exercise53@reddit
Far from it. I had to stand there while people went through their photos, discarded the ones they didn't like, and charge them only for the prints they kept.
LilJourney@reddit
I still have some of those disc negatives. Need to google how to transfer them to digital someday.
throwitinthetrash___@reddit
I actually have some undeveloped film from the 90s! Any clue where or how I can get them developed?
sweeptheleg77@reddit
My first camera and it awakened a spark in my brain. I took photography pretty easily. I found out after my mom passed that she was a pretty wonderful amatuer photograher.
sajaschi@reddit
My mom is moving/downsizing, so I just inherited 7 boxes of film negatives and photos still in their original packaging.
Honestly not sure I'll ever go through them all...
Restless-J-Con22@reddit
Oh hello first camera
Gateway
One-Earth9294@reddit
"I can't wait to get these back"
2 weeks later
"Huh. Oh well. Maybe cameras aren't my thing?"
GreatGreenGobbo@reddit
AND you got to pay for it too!
110 was a terrible format. The negatives were too small, the lenses were shit and people don't know how to take photos.
bonedaddyd@reddit
I scanned negatives & restored old photos for a 100+ year old company to preserve its history. The effect of 110 cameras & polaroid on the quality of photos from the 70's up until digital came of age is stunning. Pictures taken in the 30's had huge negatives several inches square & the focus & lighting was immaculate. Photos taken in the 90's were largely useless & painful to look at.
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
Well.. are you sure you’re not seeing things with rose coloured cameras?
Yeah, if you had a Rolleicord or a Hasselblad you had awesome medium format photos.
But from a Brownie box camera? Not so much.
Even on my 1955 Rolleicord you had to stop it down to get the most out of it.
You also have to consider that most box cameras were set at Sunny 16 for outside use and fixed focus and that black and white film had massive dynamic range (14 stops with a combination of push processing both in developing and printing as well as burning and dodging).
Even large format professional Speed Graphics could just be set to f/8 and pre-focused and everything from infinity to 2m would be in focus and sufficiently lit with a flash.
GreatGreenGobbo@reddit
The disposable cameras did not help. Flash on everything all the time.
Bad matrix metering on "better" cameras turned everything into middle tone mush.
I'm always impressed when you see pictures that were pulled off of chrome/slides. The colours still pop.
The_I_in_IT@reddit
Listen, how do you know I didn’t want 500 pictures of my index finger?
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
I had a cheaper one than this. No built in flash.. just the adapter so you could buy one of those five shot disposable ones.
When I got a focus-free 35mm camera in 1993 I thought I’d made it to the big leagues.
Shen1076@reddit
The last 110 I had used a swing out flash
Dry_Common828@reddit
Well doubly so if you had to use a 110 format camera - I spent the start of the 90s processing films in a Minilab, and the 110s were notorious for the cheap, low quality film they used compared to a 35mm camera.
I always felt sorry for kids who brought them in, there was never much we could do to improve their prints.
Hermitinhiding@reddit
For some reason I still have a photo film cartridge in my refrigerator that has to be developed. I can still remember that I didn't have enough money to have it developed and my sister told me to store it in the refrigerator. By now I don't even know if it can be developed. Every time I see it, I just shake my head have a little laugh at myself.
LilJourney@reddit
I actually developed a 14 year old roll of 35mm film from a storage unit the other day - got a handful of decent pics from it. So I'd say take that thing into a walgreens or wherever and see what you got. Place I went only charged me for the pics that actually came out.
Hermitinhiding@reddit
Thanks for the encouragement friend, I'll check where it can be developed. Mine is a tad bit older then yours but yea, it's time.
BAGeorgeIII@reddit
How about saving the flash cube for the really good pictures, because you only had 2 sides left.
Adnama79@reddit
110 camera film! The photography starter pack for kids! 🥰
Mediocre_Loss7507@reddit
My first camera was a 110 film that I got for eating multiple boxes of KIX
Jef_Wheaton@reddit
My friend and I spent an afternoon playing Skee-Ball at Kennywood Park to win a 126 camera. (We each got one.)
It leaked light terribly and I only shot one roll of film with it before the shutter broke.
I could have bought a decent 110 for what I spent playing Skee-Ball. (Or got the big stuffed giraffe for all those tickets.)
rosmaniac@reddit
Now, with a decent camera the 126 cartridge format gives much better pictures than any 110. The exposure size is 26x26 mm (there's actually enough room to expose 28x28 mm, but common cameras did up to about 26.5x26.5 mm), so as good as 35 mm (the 135 roll format) with its 24x36 mm frame; compared to the 110 (which has a 13x17 mm exposure 'frame').
The disc cameras have an even smaller frame.
My mom took a bunch of 126 format slides in the mid 1960's that have excellent color and small grain; much much better quality than anything I took with my 110. They hold up to scrutiny projected on a home size screen, even. She took several cartridges before the camera broke; it was an inexpensive Kodak, and the back door latch is what broke; it would pop open while taking pictures.
Jef_Wheaton@reddit
The film quality was better (if harder to find), but the cardboard "pinhole" camera you could make from the insert in "National Geographic World" magazine was better than that carnival prize. My sister had an old 126 from my grandmother that took pretty nice photos.
daaave33@reddit
You deserved some kind of a reward. Kix tasted like buttered ass.
JETEXAS@reddit
I got mine with Greenstamps.
External_OGZ@reddit
Anyone remember the Kodak Disc cameras?
mtempissmith@reddit
As much as I like my old school film Pentax camera I am totally glad my working Pentax is digital. When I had my parents 35mm point and shoot I never knew what I'd done and if the pics would even develop.
Memory cards and digital pics I can see as I go? I really love that!
I can get most of the same vintage looks as we had with real films with filters. At this point shooting with film it's just something I do once and a while for nostalgia and fun. Any serious work and it's always the DSLR.
hdufort@reddit
The 110 was the absolute worst photo format. 11mm vs 35mm. Even cheap Polaroids gave better results than the blurry, doll colored 110 prints.
rosmaniac@reddit
110 cartridge "Instamatic" photos are so grainy. The photos from my senior trip to Washington DC and New York City are on 110. Photos of the World Trade Center, the ven. Washed out and grainy, noticeable even in the default size. Enlargement not an option, even though I still have the negatives.
But at the time it was the only affordable option, since it was quite a bit later that disposable 35mm cameras with preloaded (and non-reloadable) film became a "thing." 35mm then was pricey, at least for a cash strapped high school kid like me.
I still have the 110 Instamatic and a few flash cubes somewheres.
LayerNo3634@reddit
I had one of those!
Responsible-Bee1194@reddit
Admit it, some of us wanted to work in a fotomat booth
HK-Admirer2001@reddit
The only reason you would have to wait two weeks would've been because the roll of film is not finished yet. This could've been remedied by using up the rest of the film. Same day photo developing existed for as long as I can remember. 1-Hours developing was around for most of the 80s. If you wanted them even faster, use Polaroid.
Medium_Audience_9051@reddit
Anyone have the Advantix?
With 3 photo style settings 😉!
daaave33@reddit
Processed and printed a roll of it an hour ago. It's such a pain in the ass! Fackin' Kodak.
Square-Wing-6273@reddit
Yes! Living the fancy life, pre digital
Medium_Audience_9051@reddit
My son was born in 1999. Was a major purchase for baby pictures...we got that and a Sony Mavica...we didn't know if that new-fangled technology was gonna stick?
Square-Wing-6273@reddit
My oldest was born in 95. It was a great camera for the time. By the time my youngest came around in 2003, we had gotten a digital camera. Thought that was just the greatest thing ever.
Now all my cameras sit in a closet and I just use my phone. I do have a nifty D-SLR that I'll pull out sometimes, but the phone is just so much easier
Medium_Audience_9051@reddit
Same! Got a Canon Rebel for High school and activity shots....kids = $
Square-Wing-6273@reddit
Ain't that the truth. Just made the last college tuition payment, so we are celebrating!
Medium_Audience_9051@reddit
Congratulations...'99 kid is in paramedic school the HE is paying for...lol
firehawk2324@reddit
I used to work in a 1 Hour Photo lab. I've processed thousands of rolls of film. I've seem... things. 💀
daaave33@reddit
Goes with the territory. Been doing it for 25 years.
daaave33@reddit
I run an independent photo lab in southwest Virginia, and still process a ton of film. Not so much 110 as in the picture, but 35mm has made a huge comeback! I barely survived the Twenty-teens and the covid years, but things are looking up. How's that for Gen X stubborness!
Bertybassett99@reddit
But you tried. Now a days photos are throw away. People don't care because they can delete. Back into eh day you worked hard to make those photos good.
BanDelayEnt@reddit
The good ol' Kodak 110.
ResidentGazelle6030@reddit
They didn’t all suck… but they did all have a finger tip in them.
JETEXAS@reddit
Every family lunch for birthdays, holidays, etc. all my relatives showed up after church and brought envelopes of all the prints they had made since the last get together and everyone traded around their doubles.
melty75@reddit
When I started my job 25 plus years ago we still used these cameras for field inspections, brought the film to the film place at the end of the day, and you could pick them up in 1 hour. Usually you'd drop the film off by 3, go get the car washed, then pick it up on your way back to the office. 1 hour photo :)
twirlingmypubes@reddit
I still have a 110.
Senior_Confection632@reddit
The last time my mother sent me out to get her a film for that kind of camera I came back with a new camera ...
Glad_Management_2885@reddit
I think that I got this exact same camera for my 10th birthday ha ha ha
eurydice_aboveground@reddit
My first camera. I was 8 and on a mission to photograph my cat from every angle.
SusannaG1@reddit
Yeah, I also had this one. Birthday present from my grandmother when I was ten.
keetojm@reddit
Do you remember the cameras that used disk film?
DubLParaDidL@reddit
Had 2 of those!
Thomaswebster4321@reddit
🎶 the Kodak pocket Instamatic camera 🎶
targon612@reddit
Have to pay money to get them developed too haha
MyFiteSong@reddit
You should see what using film costs these days. It's over $1 per photo.
TyrusRaymond@reddit
110 sucked - still better than “disc”
UnitedLink4545@reddit
I had one of these in teal blue. Still remember the sound lol.
NeauxDoubt@reddit
This was our camera for a few years.
MyFiteSong@reddit
That was my first camera, too.
FecklessScribbler@reddit
This was the camera that my mom used for many years when I was a kid. I'm getting nostalgic looking at it, thinking about her taking pics with it at every birthday, Christmas, etc.
NeauxDoubt@reddit
Funny how little things can trigger such feelings. I don’t remember when we got ours but we were using it in the early 70’s. The red eye was strong with this camera and flash.
dezertryder@reddit
Also expensive to develop!.
please-stop-talking-@reddit
All of the pics sucked but I have to admit I miss this entire fiasco. There was something about the anticipation and certain disappointment.
Atheist_Simon_Haddad@reddit
I got a 126 camera free for mailing in 450 Bazooka Joe comics. Other kids would just drop them on the ground and I picked them up during recess.
MyFiteSong@reddit
Digital cameras were seriously one of the best inventions ever. I jumped on that train right away with a Sony Mavica that used 3.5" floppy discs.
Atheist_Simon_Haddad@reddit
Only the brightest photo came out right
classicsat@reddit
My mom had a fixed lens Kodak 110 with the flip flash. It was not bad, if you knew how to use it.
Late teen I got a fixed lens 35MM and used that a few years. I got a proper strobe flash, that was worth more than the camera.
filburt99@reddit
I got a 126 in fifth grade and if I used black and white my brother would develop it for free at his store had to pay for color.
classicsat@reddit
At least 126 had some size to the negative.
Beaufinngus@reddit
Not only did I have a 110 camera, I worked at Kmart in the electronics dept. so I handed out MANY, MANY of those envelopes!
Onika-Osi@reddit
I had these and took them to family parties. I was sooooo coool 😎
osiris_south@reddit
I won the switchblade version of this camera for hitting some Worlds Finest Chocolate sales goal.
Friendship_Fries@reddit
And there was someone working in a 6x6 shack all day in the middle of a parking lot to process your pictures.
OhSusannah@reddit
Goodbye, my allowance. That mailer was the first non-school paperwork I ever filled out. I was a little shutterbug back in the day.
catscrapbooking@reddit
Don't forget the 126 cameras with square photos.
stonymessenger@reddit
This is the camera that destroyed any possibility of photo evidence of my family for future generations. Both my mom and my aunt would gather us up for pictures, carefully aim, and press the button. Press the button hard enough to push the camera front down. So, all the heads cut off. If you were in a group, you wanted to be sitting or kneeling in the front, because if you were standing in the back row, head gone. Wedding? They would get the couples feet and backs of the heads of the people in the first pew. Standing next to someone tall, you're safe, being the tall person, no head. Never learned their lesson. Then the disc cameras came out and anyone on the left had side of the shot would be cut out.
JoKu85@reddit
I burnt through an entire roll of film taking pictures of planes on their approach to land at the airport. Got the envelope back to find a full set of gray pictures with a barely visible speck of a plane in each.
Remarkable-Welder373@reddit
🤣🤣🤣
intensenerd@reddit
Had this same camera in 4th grade. I was so cool the day I brought it to school. Heartbroken when I realized early in the day that the roll of film I bought was only 12 shots.
Hero the next day again when my dad spent way too much money at the local store to get me a 24 shot roll.
jorgthorn@reddit
paying 15 bucks and waiting a week to get a film roll of your thumb with scenic backgrounds. Priceless
Longjumping-Tap-1370@reddit
I had a pink and purple one. Took the absolute worst pictures. 😫
carneyguru@reddit
I know what that is that is a 110 mm camera
john-th3448@reddit
I think most of us started with a 110 film camera.
SpokaneSmash@reddit
What I liked about it was that eventually the film would run out and people would stop taking gratuitous pictures all the time and actually enjoy what was happening in the moment.
jikt@reddit
I took a photo of my friend standing next to a toy transformer. We imagined it was going to look so amazing.
Got the photo back: Tiny transformer on the ground next to a 6 year old who took that exact moment as an opportunity to pick his nose.
hibou-ou-chouette@reddit
I had that camera. I even remember when and where I bought it. I think these posts are good for our cognition.
username-taker_@reddit
I still have my Kodak Instamatic 110. I painted it in art class but it still works in sure.
Serenetitty@reddit
Yes, the memories are traumatizing
ShaneSupreme@reddit
I want a camera like this now.
Nano_Burger@reddit
The poor reputation of 110 photography largely stems from its widespread popularity. The pocket-sized format made subminiature photography accessible to the masses, eliminating the need to invest in expensive systems like the Minolta 16 or Minox. As its popularity soared, many low-quality 110 cameras hit the market. The small, 16mm negatives required high-quality lenses, and the inferior lenses of these cheap cameras led to poor photo results, ultimately damaging the format's reputation.
However, several high-quality 110 cameras continue to produce stunning images even today, thanks to advancements in film technology. Notable models like the Kodak Pocket Instamatic 60, Canon 110ED 20, Pentax Auto 110, and Minolta 110 Zoom (both Mark I and II) remain well-regarded for their performance.
allencb@reddit
Yup, all this. I "returned" to film a few years ago and had a brief affair with 110 via a Rollei A110. Great lens on that camera and would deliver some nice images if you did your part. I mostly shoot 35mm now.
That said, another issue with 110 was the lack of a proper pressure plate for proper film flatness. IIRC, the 16mm cameras had that.
This pic (two fishermen below the dam) was taken using The A110 loaded with Lomography "Purple" film. This film gives things a purple cast but also shifts other colors, creating interesting scenes. It's also high contrast and grainy. It's not an "every day" film, but one that can be used creatively.
Vandilbg@reddit
Reminds me of the original Canon Rebel I had converted to Infrared.
allencb@reddit
Kind of. :)
It's a neat film, but of limited general photography use. Best to load it in a 2nd body that you can switch to when inspiration strikes.
Hazys@reddit (OP)
:) I remember my parents use this too take my childhood photos.
The_Name_is_Bull@reddit
I had one of these for years before I got a 35mm
Abracadaver2000@reddit
As someone who worked in a 1 hour photo lab...I can confirm that 70% of people's photos were better off undeveloped.
New-Car-3759@reddit
Oh man! We had those photo developer kiosks in the parking lots of shopping centers back then too.
2boredtocare@reddit
Ha, two weeks! That's funny. I think our turn around time was like...2 years. lol
425565@reddit
Yes, my parents had one...there are about 3 years worth of photos that had my dad's finger partially in the photos. It's good for a laugh!
TheGhostInAJar@reddit
A ton = 24
swedething@reddit
Or even 36 if you got some money from grandma!
CaptainKrakrak@reddit
I remember buying the B&W 12 exposures 110 cartridges with my pocket money. They were the cheapest.
Abject-Difference767@reddit
I worked at a large batch developer that did Walmart from 5 states. I use to sit in a dark room cracking 110's open and loading them into a splicer to make a big reel to be developed. I loved working in total darkness, but it was stressful because you were working with a irreplaceable product
Jomolungma@reddit
Funny story - I went to Paris with my mom when I was 16. It was our first trip after my died had died, so she gave me a pretty long leash. Plus, I essentially grew up in NYC with my older brother, so she knew I was at least not a complete idiot when it came to big cities.
Anyway, she gave me one of these Kodak cameras and allowed me to take as many photos as I wanted. She just kept buying more film. So I went around Paris, mostly by myself, taking photos of everything. Hundreds of photos.
We get back to the states and we drop off the film at Fotomat for developing. A couple weeks later we go back and the photos are $800 😂 My mom freaked a little, but she paid and we got our photos.
Out of the hundreds of photos I took, I think there were maybe a few dozen good ones 😂 There was actually a series of about 60 photos of just the sky above the Louvre when we hung out on the benches around the plaza one afternoon. 😂
All this is to say that smart phones have a place in this world. We went to Paris last spring with my 14yo son. We all took as many photos as we wanted on our phones. We deleted bad ones and paid nothing to keep the good ones 😂
acanis73@reddit
And the flash cubes to go with it
holy_mojito@reddit
There was a special needs lady that would ride her bike in our neighborhood and take lots of pictures of kids. One day her parents followed her and my step-dad struck up a conversation with them. Step dad said "It must be expensive to get all that film developed."
The parents said, "Oh, there's no film in the camera."
Chronic_Overthink3r@reddit
We are still finding film rolls from back then. My mom acts like I planted them to give her a hard time. 🤣
PezCandyAndy@reddit
My experience was that 110 seemed popular for those who wanted something super quick, cheap, and easy to use. The photos usually looked like crap and I often saw better results from a Polaroid. My dad once told me that if I was ever in a car accident that I should have a camera to take pictures of the scene for insurance purposes. I put one of these in my glove compartment, but forgot it was there for years and eventually just used up the film on random stuff. The summer heat pretty much ruined the film.
My dad was an amateur nature photographer and used B&W, Slide, and any manner of 35mm and wouldn't touch this stuff. Back in '98 to 2000 or so I worked at the Walmart 1 hour photo lab in a college town. We could only do 35mm in house at that time so that often pushed people away from the format. The popularity of disposable cameras helped push this further into obsolescence.
fridayimatwork@reddit
The most disappointing was rolling the dice and opting for the doubles because reprints cost so much and having the vast majority be awful. Then you had two sets of awful and no $$
VirtuaFighter6@reddit
Yes, the old 110 film.
WaitingitOut000@reddit
My first camera. I used it for years.
Bubba100000@reddit
110 crew representin'
Little-Efficiency336@reddit
Really makes you think now that you can get them in minutes.
User-827@reddit
My mother gave me her old 110 when I was a kid. I remember taking the film to a Photo Hut for development
possumfish13@reddit
And then Fox Photo booths started popping up. Now, I could have my crappy 110 pictures in an hour and pay more for them. Ahhh, the good old days.
AssignmentClean8726@reddit
We called them Foto Mat
mossberbb@reddit
lol remeber the disk cartridge that came out a little bit after this?
Last-Reason3135@reddit
The Field trip camera.
Hot_Rock@reddit
My first real camera was a 35 mm and I used it for the first time at the Worlds Fair in Knoxville. They all sucked because I had no idea what I was doing. Still have the pictures somewhere though
cuntybunty73@reddit
Found an old 110 camera in my parents loft
ActRepresentative530@reddit
And PAY for the pleasure too!
candellabellax@reddit
Ah, the sweet nostalgia of waiting for two weeks just to find out if your thumb had photobombed every picture simpler times, when anticipation was worth its weight in spandex.
NicInNS@reddit
Fifteen year old me taking photos from 15 rows back at a (honeymoon suite) concert, paying prob the modern day equivalent of $40-50 to have them developed at Kmart - with doubles! - (ok, my mom paid for it lol) and seeing the only 5 shots that were good was when the security guard let my go up to the front row to snap a few pics. 😭