The History of the 110 Film
If you are over the age of 30, your first camera most likely used 110 film. Fun, versatile and inexpensive, the film allowed many people to invest in cameras when they were not able to do so before. The photo quality of 110 film is mediocre at best, but its introduction revolutionized the way people take photographs the world over.
Kodak Introduces a New Film
In April of 1972, Kodak introduced the 16mm 110 film format along with its Kodak Instamatic camera. Kodak also replaced its Kodacolor-X with Kodacolor II using the new C-41 processing chemistry. Other than some minor changes, the C-41 process is still the industry standard for Kodak films on the market today. The 110 film was intended to make photography accessible and affordable to a wide variety of people with the new automatic point-and-shoot technology.
Reality vs. Hype
After the initial marketing hype, the film failed to live up to its lofty expectations. Due to the negatives' small size, labs were unable to provide crisp and clear pictures as Kodak had promised. Despite the fact that the photo quality was markedly worse than the older 35mm 126 film, 110 film and the cameras that used it became very popular worldwide.
Popularity
The 110 film format and the point-and-shoot cameras that used it became popular due to format's portability and ease of use. It became so popular that Kodak's Pocket Instamatic 110 cameras took over the sub-miniature market previously ruled by the Minolta 16 series. In 1977, Fujifilm began producing 110 in order to ride the wave of popularity perpetuated by cheap camera technology and convenience.
Marketing to Camera Enthusiasts
Rather than focus exclusively on the low-end camera market, Kodak attempted to woo more professional and skilled photographers with its 110 film format. Each roll of film had a plastic tab on one end which enabled more sophisticated cameras to shift between high speed film and low speed film. A short tab indicated a high speed film while a longer tab indicated a low speed. Most 110 camera manufacturers, however, made the low-end version and only a few manufactured the more expensive models. Kodak's attempt to create a photo slide and projector market ultimately failed. The small size of the negatives resulted in very small projector slides. These slides could only be used in the Kodak Pocket Projector Carousel. Camera enthusiasts never warmed up to it, even when a 35mm slide adapter was introduced.
High-End 110 Film Cameras
In 1978 Pentax introduced its only camera to use the 110 film format. This was a high-end, professional model with more than 20 accessories. It was called the Pentax Auto 110 system. The camera took full advantage of the 110 film format by using interchangeable lenses, motor drives, flash unit, close-up lenses, and filters. Camera enthusiasts consider the Pentax Auto 110 system the top 110 camera ever made. Minolta also came out with a line of110 film format cameras. This was a natural transition from its older 16 mm cameras and the line enjoyed widespread use.
Decline
The mid-1980's saw the introduction to better and more convenient 35mm film and cameras. Thus began the decline of 110 film's popularity. By the year 2009, the film had become so obsolete that Fujifilm announced it would no longer produce it. Kodak continues to manufacture 110 film in a 400 ISO format alone and installed in some single-use cameras.
Tags: film format, speed film, 35mm film, Auto system, Auto system camera, became popular
