Pocket cameras, or spy cameras as they were often marketed, had their heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. The pocket camera is built like a slender gold bar, and it’s very rectangular. My mother had the Kodak Instamatic that was packaged in a golden, heavy-cardboard case and took flashbulbs that looked like glitzy ice-cubes that I was transfixed by as a kid. The pocket camera was my first glimpse into the magic of photography, so no wonder they still hold wonder for me.
During high-school in the 1990s, my parents got me my first camera for Christmas—also a Kodak pocket camera, in a bright teal shade that was made to appeal to teens in the era of neon (it did). With the dawn of the new Millennium, I upgraded to a Fuji 35-mm camera, and from there it was but a hop, skip, and technological jump to my first digital cameras.
So why shoot today with 110-film cameras?
While pocket cameras aren’t sought after in the same way that 35 mm or twin-reflex cameras are, there are still plenty of reasons to give them a whirl.
*Style: There’s just something so deliciously grainy and lo-fi about 110 film. Fancy and crisp it’s not, and that’s part of the appeal. The negatives are teeny tiny (think: postage stamp), and so the uber-focused, exact-replica digital camera compositions we’re used to are the exact opposite of what you get here. Refreshing. For Gen Xers, like myself, or Baby Boomers, there’s an invigorating return to the atmospheric sheen of those first rolls of film taken, triggering memories. For Millennial and Gen Z photographers, this camera and this style of film offer variety to your shooting repertoire. A few rolls of 110 film would be an awesome addition for capturing high-school portraits, sweet sixteen parties, bar or bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras, or baby showers. Family or wedding photographers could mix 110 film shots into photo packages. I’d heartily recommend it for photography students or fine-arts classes to try as well.
*The price is right. They are readily available and not heavily in demand, so it’s a buyer’s market for sure. You can often get a used 110 camera for $15-30 dollars online. If you frequent yard sales, you could probably pick one up for even cheaper, and many people looking to downsize are literally giving them away. Ask around.
*They are pretty easy to use. The camera I got for a song at an online auction recently, the Vivitar LF 110, includes a built-in flash. Like most pocket cameras, it takes 2 double-A batteries, which is a nice change from the pricier batteries my other cameras take. Easy to load, too. I had forgotten that a little door slides back (taking the viewfinder with it) and that the little cartridge (which looks like a dumbbell if it had a thinner middle) just pops into the snug space molded for it. It’s very intuitive, because there’s nowhere else for the film to nestle, and there’s no way for it to close other than to slide the viewfinder plastic piece the opposite way back over the film, and then it all clicks into place and closes. Easy-breezy.
On a funny note: I’d forgotten about where the flash and viewfinder are located, and a few times I almost took shots that included various fingers or the black wrist-strap, all part of the journey of relearning an older technology.
*Nostalgia and kitsch, in the best ways. Holding these cameras and hearing the little clicks after taking each exposure is a hearty piece of time travel. It’s uncomplicated and uncompromised over time.
*Portability and sturdiness. This camera is sturdy enough to take the bumps and bruises of in-transit movement and small enough to store easily. It would be perfect for camping trips or trips to the beach, especially if you want to take landscape shots. I tried it on clear, sunny October days, but it would be interesting to experiment with during or after snowstorms as well.
*Enhanced creativity. Since these cameras are point-and-shoot (so no need to learn numerous functions/buttons and there’s no zoom function), the basicness of these machines sparks creativity. Take your compositions to new levels, relying on your own ideas more than technology. Try taking shots from up high, from down low, landscape and then vertical. Instead of putting effort and money into accessories, this camera encourages slowing down to put more focus on your subject and thinking about how much or how little you want within each frame.
Bottom line: These are fun cameras that require no accessories and inspire plenty of creativity. Bonus: they travel well. Certainly worth giving them a go, especially if you’d like to add to your photographic repertoire. I enjoyed every minute of playing with a pocket camera again and found it an alternative to the easy-do-over shots we take on our phones and digital cameras.
Photo collage of 110 images
Here are a few additional tips from my recent experience shooting two rolls of 110 film:
* If there’s a subject you really want to document, make sure to take multiple shots. Judging from the small viewfinder what’s actually going to show up in the picture is often more guesswork than I’d remembered.
* I’d also forgotten that this camera is not great at focusing up close; better shots are taken six feet or more away from the subject.
*A firm hand is required here. The shutter takes a lot of pressure to take each shot. For the first roll, I felt like I was smashing the button, unlike shooting 35 mm and digital cameras which are sensitive to feather-light touches. It was a bit comical at points and definitely made taking a selfie with the camera nearly slapstick. Approach the process with a sense of humor intact, and go with the flow.
*The winding mechanism between shots is sometimes easy and sometimes requires persistence. Sometimes, it jammed or required extra pressure to push in the winder than I’d expected. I ended up with some unexpected double-exposures and some dark gray smudges. Prepare for unpredictable performance at times; it’s all part of the process.
*As with most cameras that have been in attics, basements, and storage units for many years, each camera will have quirks to work with and work around. That’s perfectly normal.
*110 negatives are very small, so if you develop your own photos they might be a challenge to work with compared to 35 mm film. I send mine away to an online lab. Development of 110 is more expensive than 35 mm.
*Expect surprises. For example, when I got my first-roll shots back I found that the pictures I took with the flash on—both inside and, curiously, outside, too—took markedly better than ones without. I applied this new knowledge to the entire second roll and had much better results.
*Speaking of flash, I’d highly recommend buying a 110 that has built-in flash. No manufacturer that I know of makes the external flash bulbs like my mom had, so if the flash isn’t built-in, you’ll go without.