Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/01/27

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Subject: [Leica] Pentax digital 110
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:28:51 -0500

> Interesting what you say about the Canon sureshot. One of my friends, who 
> was
> IMO the best motorsport pro shooting before he retired, bought a sureshot
> purely because it was autofocus, he used it for pit shots. I have heard of
> press photographers using them to get pictures of politicians trying to 
> skulk
> in the dark and only sharp because of autofocus. In fact, until I read what
> you wrote there I thought the -only- reason to get a sureshot, rather than 
> one
> of the other perfectly good 35mm P&S cameras -was- the autofocus. Here in
> England the small format cameras, such as 110 were never as popular as 35mm
> P&S cameras such as the Olympus trip. My mum replaced her ancient Olympus 
> trip
> with the first Sureshot, you've got it, because of autofocus...
> Frank D


Those point and shoots brought back 35mm film for the masses.
They'll all been conned into shooting mini instamatic 110 cartridges. A much
smaller format.

But it was not a loose film gate which made for such poor result on top of
its overly and unnecessarily small format.
It was the fact I think that the cameras were so light plastic and small
that there was no way to make the shutter go off without jarring the camera.
In scale it would be like making your Leica shutter go off with not your
index figure but a hammer .

Minox cameras were made of metal and had much more weight.
And  curved film plane. So even though that format was much smaller than 110
you may have been better off with the results you got.

Leica got people using 35mm movie film becaue the camrea was so well made
like a microscope.  Not extruded plastic but machined metal..
A hockey puck of a camera.
Had it been too light it would have never got off the ground

11o cameras are for Barbie and Ken dolls.
At the bottom of Cracker jack boxes.
And to hang from your rear view mirror.
I've never seen a decent image made from one.
Not even at 3.5 x 5 inches.

[Rabs]
Mark William Rabiner





In reply to: Message from Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie) ([Leica] Pentax digital 110)