Kodak Instamatic

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Kodak Instamatic 50 with Kodacolor-X
Negative film Agfa CNS (1983)
Made in USA: Kodak Instamatic 220 , exposure setting according to weather symbols.

Instamatic was the system name for a 35 mm cassette film system introduced by Kodak in March 1963 , a suitcase word made up of the English words insta nt (German: immediately) and auto matic . "Immediately" referred to a lightning-fast film insertion. The cartridge had the Kodak number 126 and was also known by this name. Kodak also used the name Kodapak , other suppliers Pak-Film .

An Instamatic cassette only had to be inserted into the camera and then transported until the counter window showed a "1". At the end of the film, you only had to move it a few times, then a "////////" pattern appeared in the window and you could remove the cassette. Everything was designed in such a way that, on the one hand, the simplest possible camera technology was used and, on the other hand, the user was given the most comfortable photography possible.

Kodak extended its concept to film cameras with Super 8 and then again with pocket film to 16 mm photo cameras. Kodak also used the term Instamatic for Super 8 and pocket cameras .

Photographing around 1960

Kodak Instamatic 133: The sensor for the film transport is located above the image window

If you wanted to take photos with a handy camera before the Instamatic system was introduced, you had to resort to 35mm film . Inserting this correctly into the cameras of the time was not always easy. The photo retailer was able to insert it when buying a new film, but the film manufacturers were interested in their customers replacing an exposed film with a new one at the location where it was taken in order to increase sales. At that time, however, only the special camera manufacturer Minox offered a miniaturized cassette format for miniature films that was used in the 8x11 cameras . However, these cameras were quite expensive and the image quality was limited by their small format.

Hubert Nerwin, the former director of the development department at Zeiss Ikon , then patented a film cassette for Kodak, which led to the Instamatic system.

technology

Negative strips with one perforation hole per image

construction

The Instamatic cassette was made of thin black plastic and combined the storage chamber, image plane and winding chamber into one unit. As a single-use cartridge, it had to be broken open for development and could not be refilled. In the storage chamber the unexposed film was wound up without a winding mandrel, in the winding chamber the film was wound onto a spool.

The film was 35 mm wide, but had a different perforation than 35 mm film . This perforation was made on one side and consisted of one elongated hole per image, which served a sensor in the camera to stop the film transport and thus made the camera construction as simple as possible. This process was already known from Kodak film type 828 from 1935, but it was not widely used.

There was no film pressure plate in an Instamatic camera, so the position of the film plane was determined by the cassette. For this purpose, the cassette had a frame around the image window that hit stops in the camera when it was inserted. For this reason, the plastic housing of the cassette had to be manufactured to an accuracy of ± 3/100 inches (corresponding to 0.762 mm).

Image format

The one-sided and also narrow perforation left the picture more space than with the 135 type, so that the picture height was 1 18 inches, corresponding to 28.6 mm. The square format, i.e. 28.6 mm × 28.6 mm, was chosen with a view to single-lens cameras: With the single-lens lenses of the entry-level cameras, the imaging performance fell sharply towards the edge, but with the square format the image edge was less distant from the center . Compared to the small picture, the picture diagonal and picture area were reduced by around 9%, as a result of which the picture angle and light output of a small picture slide projector were largely used.

Kodacolor-X cassette with window for the number of images

Counter

As with roll film , black paper with numbers printed on the spine protected the film from the incidence of light. The picture number could be read through a window in the cassette and the back of the camera. The rear window also showed the label of the film cassette and thus the type of film inserted.

capacity

The cassette was originally designed for 12 recordings, but then also offered those with 20 recordings, and later even 24 recordings. However, 36 recordings could not be made because the flatness would no longer have been guaranteed with a correspondingly thin film.

Film speed

The Instamatic cassette was the first film the camera could sense for sensitivity. Most cameras didn't make use of it, so the majority of films were simply around ISO 80/20 °. There was a notch for scanning, the length of which indicated the film speed. Values ​​from ISO 20/14 ° to ISO 1600/33 ° were possible, but there were only films from ISO 64/19 ° to ISO 400/27 °. The notch was on the front of the cassette, namely on the top of the frame that released the film for exposure.

designation

Kodak designates all film types with a number, with 126 originally a roll film offered from 1906 to 1949. Since the number had become available again, it was used for the Instamatic cassette, as it indicated the approximate edge length of the square picture in millimeters with masking, for example by means of a slide mount - the number 127 could not be used as it referred to a roll film that was still in use . Slide mounts or the machines that made the prints from negative films always took a slightly smaller section so that, despite the inevitable tolerances, no image border appeared on the canvas or the photo paper.

The film is defined in ISO 3029.

Footage

Square format: Instamatic recording

Color negative film

Most of the cartridges have been sold as color negative film. Typically prints of 9 cm × 9 cm were made. Since almost all film manufacturers took licenses in the course of time, Instamatic cassettes were also available from practically all film brands.

The “bonus picture” was a marketing campaign by Kodak especially for the Instamatic system, which required a certain amount of effort: every photo paper measuring 9 cm × 13 cm had an 8 cm × 8 cm picture with a white frame and on the right at the top an approximately 3 cm × 3 cm small bonus picture, separable by a crease at a perforation.

Black-and-white film

The type 126 was also available as a black and white film, but this was only important in the early days, when color was often foregone for reasons of cost. In the home laboratory, the film could be developed with an ordinary spool for 35mm film.

Color reversal film

The type 126 was also available as a slide film, whereby it could be shown with special frames in conventional 35mm projectors. For this, however, it was recommended to use a camera with exposure metering, as this material generally has to be exposed more precisely. However, amateurs who worked with slide films mostly chose 35mm film, so that this type was not available at all sales outlets.

Cameras

Made in Germany: Kodak Instamatic 233 , Reomar lens, exposure setting according to weather symbols

Viewfinder cameras without exposure meters

The largest share among the Instamatic cameras were the models without exposure meters, which were mostly equipped with a fixed focus . The simple models only had two exposure settings, usually marked with sun and clouds, and a flash cube shot , slightly better three or four exposure settings. Apart from the Agfa Rapid cameras, these models were practically unrivaled, as cameras for any other film could not be manufactured at such low cost.

In the 1970s, there were even particularly minimalist cameras. They just consisted of a lens clamped onto the cassette with a simple lock and frame viewfinder and a toggle attached to the winding mandrel of the cassette for film transport. These cameras were included as a kit in several magazines such as Yps .

Viewfinder cameras with exposure meters

Rollei A26 with electronic automatic exposure and Zeiss lens

The upscale models usually had the same housing as the entry-level class, but a light meter and mostly relied on a battery. However, some manufacturers such as Rollei also presented their own designs. Although these models were sold in considerable numbers, they competed with the 35 mm cameras for the 135 film type.

Single lens reflex cameras

Contaflex 126 SLR camera

In the 1960s, several SLR cameras even appeared for the Instamatic cassette. The common feature of all these cameras, however, was that they did not have a program automatic for exposure control. As a result, the photographer had to have a basic knowledge of exposure time and aperture value, which contradicted the idea of ​​a camera that was as comfortable as possible and prevented any noteworthy success. The flatness of the film was also problematic due to the missing pressure plate, which is why no lenses with higher light intensities than f / 2.8 appeared.

Contaflex 126

The Contaflex 126 from Zeiss-Ikon had an automatic shutter, whereby the shutter was displayed in the viewfinder. For them there were lenses with a focal length of 32 mm to 135 mm that had a special bayonet. This camera also scanned the film speed on the cassette.

Rollei SL 26

The Rollei SL 26 had a set of lenses with a special bayonet, for which lens front parts for 28 mm to 80 mm focal length were available. The SL 26 was a semi-automatic machine with pointers for aperture and exposure time in the viewfinder.

Kodak Instamatic Reflex

The Instamatic Reflex was the technically most complex and, at 875 DM, also the most expensive camera for the Instamatic cassette. It appeared in 1968, had a time automatic and already an electronically controlled shutter. Lenses with a focal length of 28 mm to 200 mm were available for their bayonet connection.

With this camera, Kodak wanted above all to present the Instamatic system as a sophisticated system that was also suitable for sophisticated cameras.

Market importance

Sales figures

In the price range up to around 120 DM, i.e. below the cameras for the 35mm cartridge, the Instamatic film achieved an extremely high market share, which made this film a gigantic success. Kodak sold 7.5 million cameras in the first two years after its launch. Even after the introduction of pocket films, demand continued. For example, around 1.5 million pocket cameras were sold in Germany in 1978, but around 250,000 cameras for film type 126 were also sold. All manufacturers combined over 150 worldwide Million cameras produced.

The last film produced by Ferrania

Agfa Rapid

Agfa first tried with the competing system Agfa Rapid , which was based on a pre-war idea, to counter the Instamatic cassette. But after not being able to achieve overwhelming success, they took a license from Kodak and also sold an immense number of cassette cameras.

The End

The Instamatic system lasted until the early 1980s. Then the advanced mechanics made it possible to build 35mm cameras with fully automatic film threading and transport, so that they could now be operated just as easily. As a result, Instamatic lost its right to exist and was increasingly forgotten. Instamatic cameras were manufactured until around 1988, Kodak itself stopped film production on December 31, 1999, and Agfa followed shortly afterwards. The last manufacturer, the Italian company Ferrania, produced until April 2007.

gallery

Web links

Commons : Kodak Instamatic  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. Tom Tobin: Insta ... what? ' The Kodak Instamatic Camera Turns 50  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . On: 13wmaz.com on March 29, 2013@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.13wmaz.com  
  2. a b Behind the scenes , photo magazine November 1968
  3. Michael C. Johnston: Hubert Nerwin's Brilliant Idea . On: theonlinephotographer.typepad.com on April 1, 2013
  4. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/03/29/instamatic-camera-50-years/2034585/
  5. ^ News, Notes , Photo Revue July 1979