Pentax Auto 110

There are many cameras in my collection that have not taken a picture for decades, a few perhaps over a century. My continued use of this camera alone makes it unique among the others. The Pentax Auto 110 is a miniature film camera that is simply fun to use.

Production began in 1978, with Pentax proudly proclaiming the Auto 110 as the world’s smallest production single lens reflex. A true SLR using the small 110 film cartridge designed by Kodak. The same film used in millions of cheap plastic 110 cameras carried on family vacations in the 1970s and 80s.

However, don’t think less of the camera because of the film size, the Pentax 110 featured a heavy well built metal body, split screen focus prism, TTL exposure and an array of 6 tiny lenses ranging from a wide-angle 18mm to a 70mm telephoto with matching mini filters. The small size of the lenses made embedding mechanical apertures within them both a technical and financial challenge. To overcome this the aperture was placed in the camera body. This means all the lenses were designed to work within the same range of f/2.8 to f/13.5.

A fun little camera, very well suited for street photography, it appeared its fate would be relegated to a shelf with the other cameras from eras past. By around 2010, 110 films were no longer in production, and by 2013 even stashed hordes of the film bought up by dedicated photographers had all but expired. Except for those willing to do the difficult process of hand reloading spent cartridges with cut down 35mm film, it looked like 110 film had gone extinct. But then Lomography stepped in with 110 film offerings including B&W, Slide, and Color Negative. This revived production has made possible continued use of some truly quirky small cameras such as the Pentax Auto 110.

The Pentax Auto 110 was a camera that perhaps never rivalled but definitely closely emulated its larger 35mm cousins of the time. Nearly 50 years since production, the distinctive size, quality craftsmanship, and continued functionality of this special camera makes it a great addition to collections. The camera and lenses have seen a slight increase in value since the reintroduction of 110 film but deals can still be found on sites such as ebay, with bodies starting from around $50 and complete kits from $125 to $200. Well worth the expense if interested in a unique as well as usable soon to be classic camera.

Bibliography

Lomography 110 – https://www.lomography.com/magazine/276578-a-quick-rundown-of-the-lomography-110-films
Pentax Auto 110 camera – http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Pentax_Auto_110
110 film – http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/110_film