110 Film – Here and Now!

above: 110 rebirth in 2012! First shots on new 110 film (Orca 110) on my Minolta Mark II 110 SLR camera at Stonehenge with the FPP guys!

blog by Michael Raso

It’s no secret that I’m crazy about 110 film. Saddened that production of 110 film stopped in 2009, I'm giddy as a child (again) as new color and BW films roll off the assembly lines in 2012!

I’ve been shooting 110 as long as I can remember and as a teen always had my 110 camera in my jacket or pocket. In situations where a clunky 35mm SLR wouldn't fit the bill...110 was always grab 'n go!

My trusty Vivitar 600 (110) camera was always in my pocket.  Above: Trackman, Roy Vorhees and John Rich at Madison Square Garden for the Roger Daltry "Under a Raging Moon" concert. Below: 110 is small and fun enough to pass around! Me at a college mixer in the fall of 1985.

Eastman Kodak invented the 110 format as a companion product to it’s other cartridge film – 126. The film was easy to load and fun to shoot for family members 8 to 80.

Mid-1970s Kodak 110 film ad.

The 110 format was amazingly popular in the United States from 1972 through the late 1990s and remained available til 2009.

Kodak launched elaborate ad campaigns featuring Hollywood actors Mark Hamill, Michael Landon and Dick Van Dyke. Millions of cameras were sold and was only slowed down by the “point ‘n shoot” 35mm boon in the early 1990s.

above: Kodak's famous TV Spots from the 1970s

With a mainstream shift to 35mm and APS film in the 1990s, 110 was mostly forgotten and in 2009 both Kodak and Fujifilm discontinued the film.

With a die-hard core following and enough interest and potential, the Lomographic Film Society launched a brand-new 110 camera and two new 110 films in early 2012.

In the early summer Films Reborn of China also released two new 110 film stocks.

110 film is back! If you don't own a 110 camera, I'll betcha that your parents or grandparents own one! Dig out that old camera and start shootin’!

The FPP Store is fully stocked with 110 film and 110 cameras! (Samples below)

In Spring 2012 Lomography announced Orca 100, a brand new BW 110 film. Below: Orca image shot on the Minolta Mark II SLR and the new Lomography Baby Fisheye 110 camera.

Summer 2012 brought us a new 200 asa color print film by Lomography called Tiger 110. Below: Pink Delicates shot on the Kodak Ektralite 10 camera on Tiger 200 / Woodland Lake, NJ on the Minolta Mark II SLR / Tiger 200

Itching for a new 110 film at a higher film speed? Fukkatsu saved the day when they introduced a 400 speed color 110 film called Fukkatsu 400! Below: FPP guy Dane some on the Kodak 20 Instamatic camera / Fukkatsu 400 film.

Don't forget to tune into The Film Photography Podcast Internet Radio Show. One of the few places on the planet that all-film, all-the time!