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Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34021, 10 December 1975, Page 18

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Mini-cameras find favour

(Adapted from an article by

RICHARD CARR,

in "The Guardian," by arrangement)

January is the traditional month for holidays — and a time when New Zealanders are most likely to use a camera. Although publicity may create the impression that 35mm cameras are all the rage, in fact they are sold almost exclusively to professional photographers or the serious amateur. Most people still buy cameras that take 126 film —the modern equivalent of the Brownie — though to this market has now been added the pocket camera, which is usually 4|in-sin long, lin wide, and light

enough to slip into a pocket or handbag. It is often completely automatic and, with a flash attachment, capable of taking pictures indoors as well as out in the open air. The pocket camera, which uses 110 film, is a recent camera development that began when Kodak wanted to simplify the Brownie still further. This was done by replacing the spool with a

cartridge film, thus getting rid of the need to wind film from one spool to another within the camera, with the risk of light getting in or the film getting jammed inside the camera, usually because of clumsy or inexperienced handling. The result was. the 126 Instamatic camera launched at the beginning of the 19605. But, revolutionary though it was, it remained fairly bulky. Kodak believed, however, that the Instamatic camera could be made still smaller, and the pocket-sized version became possible when the company perfected a 16mm film whose definition was so good that it could be blown up from fingernail size to big prints with little loss of quality. The pocket-sized camera was made possible not only by the quality of the film, but also by Kodak s ability to package it in a plastic container made to tolerances of half one thousandth of an inch so that the distance between film and lens is always right.

All these developments enabled Kodak to introduce the first range of pocket cameras in 1972. It includes the Instamatic 92 offering one speed only; the Instamatic 300, which has a weather dial providing a choice of four settings, the Instamatic 400, which has an electronically operated shutter to give correct • exposure at all times; and the Instamatic 500, which also offers manual control of shutter speeds. Unlike the Kodak models, the Agfa cameras provide a more conventional access to the back of the camera and expand sideways to reveal the lens, wind on the film and. if a magicube is fitted, turn it round to a fresh flash position every time a film is exposed. This is an extremely neat movement that, by making the camera slightly longer when it is being used, also makes it easier to hold. And as hand shake is probably the biggest cause of spoilt films, the Agfa range seems particularly suitable for people whose hand and finger movements are none too steady. Another company that has recently introduced pocket cameras is Hanimex, which also markets

models by Ricoh and Fujica. Hanimex also makes the new XF series on which the lens is in a conventional circular housing instead of in the rectangular format found on most pocket cameras — a development that suggests that lenses may eventually become interchangeable as on many 35mm cameras. Accessories already include wide angle, telephoto, and close-up attachments—a close-up attachment with flashgun filter is also available for the Agfa cameras —and both Agfa and Hanimex have now introduced 110 slide projectors. This means that as film for pocket cameras improves (and Fujica already claims it can provide enlargements up to half-plate size) they may increasingly be used for slide-making as well as for taking familv snap-shots, so that 110 format slides could replace 35mm slides just as these have replaced the previous 2|in square slides. Similarly, the growing number of accessories and the work on reflex shutters for pocket cameras — enabling one to focus through the lens — suggests that the pocket camera may eventually become a genuine alternative to its 35mm big brother.