View Full Version : Blast from the past and an odd one!!
Sprout Crumble
16-09-2005, 16:13
I always wanted one of these when I first started photography many moons ago but could never afford one. Had a little butchers on Ebay and Bobs your aunties bit on the side, a full set for fifty quid... :thumbs:
Nothing like a bit of nostalgia but I'm gonna try this out, assuming I can get some 110 film that is... :thinking:
http://sproutey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/auto110.jpg
Next it'll be the other damn lenses and the little bits that go with it... :brickwall
What've I done????
Highlander
16-09-2005, 16:46
Hard to tell from your pic, but is that one of those mini SLR's? A friend used to have one, maybe 15 years or so ago??
Sprout Crumble
16-09-2005, 17:02
Its a Pentax Auto 110 mini-slr. Terrific little set, has a little motordrive and wide, standard and telephoto lenses, a flashgun, filters etc etc.
They even do a little zoom lens for it.
And it tiny.
Jessops sell 110 film. I've had a Pentax Auto 110 for a couple of years now, but not put many films through it.
Sprout Crumble
16-09-2005, 17:20
Thats cool. The Pentax only meters for 80 and 400ASA IIRC, but its possible to doctor the film cartridge to fool it apparently. I'll have to investigate.
I wonder if these can be put onto a photoCD at processing time. Be fascinated to see how 110 holds up compared to a DSLR.
I remember these, very cute and a bargain at the price, though that's one of the reasons why I'm staying away from ebay at the moment (the like s of that and this (http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5691630&postcount=14)). You can pretend you're a spy with it. ;)
Be interesting to see the quality of the images. OOh, someone's selling 34 Kodak Gold 110 ASA200 film on ebay (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-582776-9479574?loc=http%3A//cgi.ebay.co.uk/34-KODAK-GOLD-110-FILM-200-ASA_W0QQitemZ7546871423QQcategoryZ4200QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) starting price 99p!
www.retrophotographic.com (http://www.retrophotographic.com/shop/54/) sells Solaris 110 film, which I think is one of the few companies still producing new 110 film.
Sprout Crumble
16-09-2005, 18:13
Thanks for that.
Jessops have 400ASA Kodak film at £4.49 per roll. B&H have the same film at $2.99. Get the feeling someones earning a few quid extra?
I've not seen one of those in a long time! Complete with box too.
Sprout Crumble
16-09-2005, 18:19
And its the very rare early one that has the 'Asahi' painted in. Very few were made before that 'essential' feature was removed.. :)
AdminSpod
16-09-2005, 19:28
If I remember right 110 film is a 17mm by 13mm negative. 35mm is 36mm by 24mm.
That means the 110 negative is only about 1/4 of the size of 35mm.
And that means you need to blow up the image 4 times as much on the 110 film to get the same size image as a 35mm camera.
The Pentax 110 camera was very good by 110 standards. I think it was the only SLR produced in 110 format. The metering wasn't anything special but the lenses were pretty good. There weren't very many lenses produced though.
Considering the size of the negatives don't expect anything approaching 35mm SLR quality, but it should be reasonable for snapshots on standard 6"x4" type prints.
If you want a good compromise between 110 and 35mm SLRs look out for second hand Nikon Pronea S cameras which have now been discontinued. (There was a Pronea 600i as well which was superb but very heavy). They are quite small compared to 35mm SLRs but the APS negative is between the 110 and 35mm sizes so you don't lose so much in quality of print. They take most Nikon fit autofocus lenses as well, which is a bonus!
The Pronea suffered the same fate as the Pentax 110 - not enough interest to make them viable. People willing to spend enough to go for an SLR usually tend to want high quality prints or slides and the smaller negative sizes just can't compete with 35mm.
Sprout Crumble
16-09-2005, 20:24
Yeah, but it'll be a lot of fun playing with :D
Ickle lenses and ickle flashes...
Sprout Crumble
22-09-2005, 08:59
Is this the coolest camera in the world?????????? :D :D
Under five foot tall and need that 'pro-look'? This is your baby. :lol:
http://sproutey.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_3826.jpg
AdminSpod
22-09-2005, 09:29
Now if they could put a 6 megapixel CCD in that they would have a winner!
Ah - that takes me back. I had the Minolta version with a fixed zoom. Sadly, it was in my gadget bag along with my Contax kit that I foolishly left on view in the back of an Astra Estate for 30 seconds back in 1985.... :cry:
That sure is one tinsy camera.
Now if they could put a 6 megapixel CCD in that they would have a winner!
I'd buy it!
Mind you - if you want small, this is one of my dad's old cameras that I've got in my loft :
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/warren.alexander/dvdforums/Yashica%20Minox.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/warren.alexander/dvdforums/Yashica%20Minox%202.jpg
It takes Minox film I believe, not that I've ever actually had any to put through it.
You feel like Bond himself when you hold it though, and the urge to pretend to take pics of top secret documents it almost irresistable!
Analog Kid
25-09-2005, 20:26
You feel like Bond himself when you hold it though, and the urge to pretend to take pics of top secret documents it almost irresistable!
Last edited by Warren Alexander : Today at 00:07
You couldn't have timed that better if you'd tried! :D :lol:
Vulcan101
25-09-2005, 22:10
Why not stop playing 007 and buy some film for that Minox. A quick google search came up with this -
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=minox+film
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