| About 110 "Pocket
Instamatic" film
Photographers who use and
enjoy their 110 cameras are becoming increasingly frustrated as only the
most dedicated retail outlets have 110 film in stock (we recommend Blue Moon Camera, in Portland, Oregon).
110 black and white films,
and slide films, have been gone for decades. The dusty boxes of 110 that
you sometimes find in supermarkets or drugstores is either long-outdated ISO 200
"house brand" films, or Kodak 110.
Kodak's 110 is very good film, but there
is an issue related to how it's packaged.
When 110 was introduced (1972), the
engineering specification was that camera manufacturers would have the
option of making two-speed cameras, that could automatically set
themselves for either high-speed or low-speed 110 films, without manual
adjustment by the photographer.
With low-speed films, a ridge, or tab, at
the end of the 110
cartridge would depress a lever in the camera body. With high-speed
films, the ridge would be too short to depress the lever. This way, the camera
could "sense" whether the film was high speed or low speed,
and it could automatically set itself. Most relatively
sophisticated 110 cameras, the ones with good lenses, look for the ridge
to set shutter speed.
But exactly what constitutes "high speed"
and "low speed" was never specified. The American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) did, in fact, publish a
specification for exactly which tab length keyed exactly which film
speed, but no manufacturer, either of cameras or films, appears to have
implemented it.
At the time, it made no difference — high speed films were ISO 200 or 400, and low speed was anything from ISO 125
down to 64. In snapshot photography, this kind of latitude is considered
good enough.
The problem is that, today, Kodak's 110
is an ISO 400 speed film packed in a ridged cartridge that the camera
"senses" as low speed. The result is ISO 400 film exposed as
though it were ISO 100 or ISO 64. This is gross overexposure.
Casual users might not care, but
careful photographers usually find their Kodak 110 photos are
unacceptably overexposed, with poor color matching and
excessive grain.
That leaves you with two options: either
manually trim off the tab on your Kodak 110 cartridge, so your camera treats
it like high speed film, or stick with ISO 200 films.
The films we offer are sealed in a PET or
foil-paper laminate for
protection against light, dust, and humidity. Stored cold, they last for
years. Stored frozen, they last for decades.
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