Minolta Autopak 470

So, I like toys as you can see.

I bought this camera for 10 bucks from a lady who helps people get rid of clutter by selling items for them. It's a 110 camera, which means it takes cartridge film which is 16mm wide and which is generally not available any more. Lomography has started making 110 film again but if you've read some of my other posts you might know that I have a beef with their company (although I keep giving them my money. urgh.) Despite this, you should probably consider the format dead (gasp).

Back in the 90s I used 110 film a lot in my Barbie camera. It was really easy to use because loading cartridges is a snap (ha...) and as you can imagine it was easy to go through a lot of film quickly. I'm not sure why it died out. As far as I can tell it's because the small negatives were harder to enlarge into good quality prints, and there were not a lot of good cameras made to use the film. Think about it like the Virtual Boy... maybe it was a good idea but not well executed, and they didn't release any big-name games for that console, dooming it forever.

I bought some Fuji 110 film off of ebay, and it was fine except that there is only one place in Vancouver that processes it. Furthermore, I asked for prints which ended up being very expensive because they have to scan each frame and print it out since they don't have the carriers for this size any more. You could always just ask for scans, but high quality ones that can be used for prints will still cost you.

If anyone knows a cost-effective way to shoot 110, please let me know. My developing tank only takes 135, 127 and 120 so I couldn't even do a B&W roll at home.

Anyway, this camera seems to have it all. Good optics, a built-in close-up lens, and a removable flash (which I don't have). Its exposure is automatic and it has zone focusing. Of course, it is also very small!

It might be my model, or maybe a combination of the model and my dumbassery, but I had a lot of trouble with this camera. The film advance is a moving piece of plastic which is sunken into the bottom of the camera, and which you push in to move to the next frame. For some reason, mine almost never worked right after taking a photo. It would jam, and then after walking around for a bit with it in my bag, it would work again.

The other thing is that the exposure and focus ended up being really wonky. I used 200 film so maybe it was designed to expose for 400 (very few 110 cameras were designed to detect a film's ISO from the cartridge). The focus may have been a fault on my part, maybe forgetting to double check the zone focusing or something, but in some of the photos it was so far off it doesn't make sense. Also a lot of them were taken in bright sun so the camera should be stopped down and be sharper. I don't know, man.

My overall experience with this one is that it has potential... but I probably won't use it again. My Olympus XA is smaller, lighter and more reliable. And then of course getting the 110 film developed was a whole other trial that I just don't think is worth the time or the money for me, as a girl who is just starting out and doesn't have a ton of expendable income.

You be the judge... These were taken on Fujicolor 200 ISO film, in and around Olympia, WA.