Who shoots 16mm or 110 cameras?

guangong · Mar 3, 2019

Paul Verizzo said:
Maybe you have a phone that has a camera in it for those spontaneous moments? For awhile, way back, I carried a 110 camera, but there is no way to equate the limitations, the inconvenience, or the end result quality with even a cheap cell phone today.

Not saying do do such things for fun, but there is literally no good reason other than that to indulge in tiny formats.

iPhone has its place when need to document something ephemeral. Have one with me all the time. Especially useful for sending images instantaneously to family and friends. However, for my purposes film works better than digital.
I believe that 110 was designed for casual snapshots, to be used by folks who found loading a camera difficult. Attempts to produce high end 110 cameras (Rollei & Minox) did not sell well. Minox 8x11 and Minolta 16II are still being used for a reason.
Of course, everyone has their own desires and needs, so there is no right or wrong.

Bill Burk · Mar 3, 2019

jnantz said:
wanted to update my post ..
sold my kit in 2018.

I always wanted to try Pentax 110.

I’ve got a stable of Kodak Pocket Instamatics. Red, Green, Blue, 50 and 60.

I like to search eBay for the odd roll of Verichrome Pan 110.

Last time I developed a roll, I did it by See-Saw in a 5x7 tray.

Since then I picked up one or two stainless 110 reels so I will be able to tank develop going forward.

I have trouble with the old K batteries. So the only camera I can rely on is the cheapest of the set... The Red button model 20

Kino · Mar 3, 2019

I have a Minolta 16-Ps outfit still in the original box I would like to shoot with in the future, but I'll have to locate a few more cassettes.

Luckily I have one metal 16mm nikkor reel in my misc parts box I can press into service.

ProgramPlus · Mar 3, 2019

Paul Verizzo said:
I have access to a couple of dozen empty 110 cartridges. Are they of interest to anyone? I was thinking $2 a piece plus first class postage.

I know there's a For Sale thread, but since this one is focused on 110, and is active, I thought I'd ask here.

I’d be interested in a few. So you shot the film and pulled the film and backing paper out to develop? They have backing paper?

ic-racer · Mar 3, 2019

Bill Burk said:
I always wanted to try Pentax 110.

I’ve got a stable of Kodak Pocket Instamatics. Red, Green, Blue, 50 and 60.

I like to search eBay for the odd roll of Verichrome Pan 110.

Last time I developed a roll, I did it by See-Saw in a 5x7 tray.

Since then I picked up one or two stainless 110 reels so I will be able to tank develop going forward.

I have trouble with the old K batteries. So the only camera I can rely on is the cheapest of the set... The Red button model 20

Bill, you might like these. I have quite a few. As you can see, fully mechanical, easy to fix, very sharp four-element F2.8 lens with adjustable f-stop, adjustable shutter speeds and focus (via accessory lenses). Takes re-loadable cartridges. Fresh Double-X 16mm Negative film is easy to obtain.

guangong · Mar 3, 2019

B/w filter sets are also available for Minolta II. Some of the later models are interesting. I have one with still working selenium meter. But later models grew bigger and bigger.

Paul Verizzo · Mar 4, 2019

Well, guess what I just found in a box of ancient photo stuff of my brother's? A Minolta 16mm Model P. Has film in it, probably. Wonder what secrets I will find when developed? Also has a very tiny flash unit for AG-1 bulbs. It uses a 15V battery which I'm thinking one of those 12V garage remote ones will fit. Do you know how many of those bulbs I threw away before my move? Along with the the bellows Polaroid cameras because, hey, there's no more film available.

Whoddathunk?

So now I have that and my sister's Agfa motor drive 110. I see 16mm fun heading my way. I would also like to resuscitate an old 16mm movie camera, but the issue is film cartridges and getting it developed. The equivalent to a Yankee tank costs about $100, when they come up on eBay.

I wonder if the 110 would have stuck around if the vast improvements made in color film starting around then would have been incorporated. Grain having been the perpetual nemesis of the format. The 35mm Kodak 400 HD, super sharp and fine grain. The second generation Portra films, which use technology from the Vision movie films. Oh, well, spilt milk and all that.......but that doesn't mean I can't respool with those films!

Paul Verizzo · Mar 4, 2019

Any guesses on the most likely film in that Minolta? Probably last used late 1970's or very early 80's. What was popular?

Fin · Mar 4, 2019

Funnily enough, I dug out my Pentax 110 Super about a week ago. This was my first proper camera after the Instamatic and Agfa 126 thing I had with the fake lightmeter cell on the front of it.

It hasn't been used for probably about 20 years I guess, but it seemed OK about 8 years ago when I last checked it. New batteries in, and... Oh bum! A very quiet clicking noise. The meter and self timer works, but it doesn't do anything else!

Another photographic item for the repair pile then!

ProgramPlus · Mar 4, 2019

Fin said:
Funnily enough, I dug out my Pentax 110 Super about a week ago. This was my first proper camera after the Instamatic and Agfa 126 thing I had with the fake lightmeter cell on the front of it.

It hasn't been used for probably about 20 years I guess, but it seemed OK about 8 years ago when I last checked it. New batteries in, and... Oh bum! A very quiet clicking noise. The meter and self timer works, but it doesn't do anything else!

Another photographic item for the repair pile then!

IS the mirror stuck in the up position?

ProgramPlus · Mar 4, 2019

Paul, interesting you found the Minolta. I actually found one too. Thinking about this thread and remembering way back I acquired one from my grandfather and found it in a box in the garage. It looks exactly like the one posted above by IC-Racer except that it seems to be missing both of those externally mounted lenses. Anyone know where one can get those? Looking on Ebay, these are not very expensive cameras and I can find one likely better and more complete than I one I have for not much money. Since it was from my grandfather I might try to get this one working, but will have to scrounge up the lenses.

It seems to work on/off. Cocking it, the film wind works. The shutter fires. Most of the time the shutter speed seems to get faster or slower based the shutter speed setting. Part of the time the shutter speed seems unchanged no matter what setting you put it on. Also on 1/30 and bulb shutter speed, the shutter stays open. You give it a good tap and it closes.

The other problem is finding a film cassette that isn't $$$.

I am in the process of making a film slitter. The polyurethane is drying as we speak, then I have to glue on the felt and she's good to go. Main purpose is to reload 110 cassettes for the Pentax 110

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Mar 4, 2019

I've done a little 110. some fresh, some expired. Just a fun little thing to do.

ciniframe · Mar 4, 2019

ic-racer said:
Bill, you might like these. I have quite a few. As you can see, fully mechanical, easy to fix, very sharp four-element F2.8 lens with adjustable f-stop, adjustable shutter speeds and focus (via accessory lenses). Takes re-loadable cartridges. Fresh Double-X 16mm Negative film is easy to obtain.

View attachment 218653

You have what appears to be an odd, mismatched combo there. The outer case is from a Minolta 16, the inner camera is a 16II model. I can tell from the small aux close up lens. Is the back viewfinder just a square hole?
Although I've seen several reference works say the Rokkor 22mm f2.8 is a 4 element lens, on a Minolta advertising folder they state it is a 3 element lens. Finally had occasion to disassemble the 22mm lens and all I see are 3 air-spaced elements. Close examination with a 10X loupe does not reveal any of them to be a cemented doublet. I think many writers assumed that when Minolta upgraded their model 16 from a 3 element 25mm f3.5 to a 22mm f2.8 they would naturally go to a 4 element design because of the faster aperture.
I like my Minolta 16II, the cartridges are easy to reload and the results are very good for a 10X14mm negative. With mine I just leave the '0' aux lens on most of the time. This brings focus to 10 meters, or about 33 ft.
Yes I know, I'm a bit pedantic, pay no heed to my blathering on.

I was just recently fortunate. I obtained a Minolta Ps from ebay because it came with two unopened NOS films. When it arrived it also had a cartridge in the camera. So I obtained 3 more cartridges for about $18, and the Ps works also.

Fin · Mar 5, 2019

ProgramPlus said:
IS the mirror stuck in the up position?

No, it isn't. Although I did gently whack it a few times with my hand while holding the button down and the mirror went up and stayed up.

There is a guide that looks pretty good at: www.pentax110.co.uk

At some point I'll open it up and see if I can fix it, but given the price they sell for these days, I may just end up buying a working one if I see one cheap enough!

ProgramPlus · Mar 5, 2019

That's indeed a great site. He lists a possible fix for the common not winding problem that affects these cameras. I've seen the mirror stuck up commonly on the internet. I bought a CL camera that the mirror would get stuck up. Half a day later, if you thump it on the heel of your hand it would fall back into place, but get stuck again. I monkeyed with it and got it working. Doesn't stick anymore, but you are right, they are still reasonably cheap these days.
Yours is a Super though right? Not been able to get my hands on one of those yet.

ic-racer · Mar 5, 2019

ciniframe said:
You have what appears to be an odd, mismatched combo there. The outer case is from a Minolta 16, the inner camera is a 16II model. I can tell from the small aux close up lens. Is the back viewfinder just a square hole?
Although I've seen several reference works say the Rokkor 22mm f2.8 is a 4 element lens, on a Minolta advertising folder they state it is a 3 element lens. Finally had occasion to disassemble the 22mm lens and all I see are 3 air-spaced elements. Close examination with a 10X loupe does not reveal any of them to be a cemented doublet. I think many writers assumed that when Minolta upgraded their model 16 from a 3 element 25mm f3.5 to a 22mm f2.8 they would naturally go to a 4 element design because of the faster aperture.
I like my Minolta 16II, the cartridges are easy to reload and the results are very good for a 10X14mm negative. With mine I just leave the '0' aux lens on most of the time. This brings focus to 10 meters, or about 33 ft.
Yes I know, I'm a bit pedantic, pay no heed to my blathering on.

I was just recently fortunate. I obtained a Minolta Ps from ebay because it came with two unopened NOS films. When it arrived it also had a cartridge in the camera. So I obtained 3 more cartridges for about $18, and the Ps works also.

Good pickup. I just got that picture from the internet to show off the adjustable shutter speeds and f-stops; that one is not my camera.

Here are some of mine:

ProgramPlus · Mar 5, 2019

Nice collection. With regards to the Minolta 16. As I said above, my old model is missing the two externally mounted square lenses. Are those mandatory? In other words, if you don't have the one in front of the shutter will the picture be out of focus of are they optional, like UV filter, diopter, etc. I know the one in front of the viewfinder doesn't affect image quality but similarly, it that just clear glass/plastic or is a lens to make the viewfinder in focus?

Fin · Mar 5, 2019

ProgramPlus said:
if you thump it on the heel of your hand it would fall back into place, but get stuck again.

Yup, that's what it's doing pretty much!

ProgramPlus said:
Yours is a Super though right? Not been able to get my hands on one of those yet.

It is a Super, although all the lettering was rubbed off before I bought it. I found it fitted with a 24mm lens at a rummage sale way back around 1988-ish (when I was 12!) and paid 50p for it! I think they thought it was a toy, and I took a punt as I'd never seen one before. Somewhere, I have a motor drive, 130 flash and an 18mm for it too. I did have the 50mm lens, but it got stolen many years ago which was a shame as it was a present. And was probably completely useless to whoever had it.

Of course, since my first post on this thread, I've now bought a steel 110 reel from the US and I'm watching a few Supers on ePray! There's commitment!

ciniframe · Mar 5, 2019

ProgramPlus said:
Nice collection. With regards to the Minolta 16. As I said above, my old model is missing the two externally mounted square lenses. Are those mandatory? In other words, if you don't have the one in front of the shutter will the picture be out of focus of are they optional, like UV filter, diopter, etc. I know the one in front of the viewfinder doesn't affect image quality but similarly, it that just clear glass/plastic or is a lens to make the viewfinder in focus?

First, determine which model of the Minolta 16 you have. The early model has a 25mm f3.5 lens with focus fixed at 5 meters, and 3 shutter speeds, the second model has a 22mm f2.8 lens with focus fixed at 2.5 meters and 5 shutter speed plus 'B'.
There were two close up lenses for the first model and when clipped on the #1 lens brings focus to about 4 ft., the #2 close up lens brings focus to about 20 inches.

For the model 2 there were 3 clip on lenses, a #0, #1, and #2. The #0 lens (a minus .25 diopter) will bring focus to 10 meters, the #1 lens will bring focus to 1.3 meters and the #2 lens will bring focus to 750mm. Without any lens attached focus is at 2.5 meters. With either camera you can control depth of focus by selecting different aperture settings.

In my opinion both the model 1 and model 2 are hobbled without the lens sets. (and the lens sets are not interchangeable between the model 1 and 2)

All of these lens sets were sold as accessories and did not come with the camera and can be very hard to find today. The close up lens set for the model 2 came as a kit that included a yellow filter. But, you can only clip on one accessory at a time, thus if you are using the yellow filter you cannot also clip on a close up, or distance lens.

I've been fooling around with these cameras for about 20 years and have modified one of my cameras to make it more versatile. (At the expense of a size increase).

A good website is www.submin.com
There is an extensive amount of information about subminiature cameras on that site.

Bill Burk · Mar 5, 2019

Glad you pointed out the fixed focus cineframe, I don’t think I would like that. You can always use f/16 in daylight.

I am used to Minox where you get to focus, there’s parallax correction, but you are stuck at only one f/stop f/3.5

Wes/HikePics · Mar 6, 2019

I still have my Pentax 110 gear and look forward to taking it out of retirement soon. It's a cool little camera system. I have always wanted to add a nice Rollei A110 to my collection though.

Ces1um · Mar 6, 2019

Wes/HikePics said:
I still have my Pentax 110 gear and look forward to taking it out of retirement soon. It's a cool little camera system. I have always wanted to add a nice Rollei A110 to my collection though.

Have you tried adapting your auto 110 lenses to a modern camera? There's a youtube video out there that shows them adapted to a micro 4/3 camera and the video rendering from one of the lenses is actually quite gorgeous.

Paul Verizzo · Mar 6, 2019

Where does the Minolta-16 Model P fit into this? "Rokkor 35/25" It has 4 aperature settings through a window on top. I also have the tiny flash using AG-1 bulbs.

My brother gave it to me and it still has some film in it. What was popular for this camera back then? Late 70's?

Where does one get cartridges or whatever it uses from? I've not spotted any likely suspects on eBay.

Kino · Mar 6, 2019

The Minolta cartridges are outrageously priced when you do find them, empty or full of expired stock.

I wonder if they could be manufactured on a vacuum table with thin plastic stock? 3D printing?

If I only had the time, money and brains to try...

ProgramPlus · Mar 6, 2019

Kino said:
The Minolta cartridges are outrageously priced when you do find them, empty or full of expired stock.

I wonder if they could be manufactured on a vacuum table with thin plastic stock? 3D printing?

If I only had the time, money and brains to try...

3D printing is exactly what I was thinking this morning. They're pretty simple devices. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard and considering how much they go for on the internet, seems like it's be pretty lucrative if you could make them so that they worked well.

Looking on ebay last night, there was one guy selling what looked like cartridges he's loaded with new film. A bit over $20 bucks shipped. Seems like one of the only options right now for cartridges. I just cut some expired Kodak Gold 200 last night to 16 mm and an anxious to try it out in my Pentax.

Who shoots 16mm or 110 cameras?