Fun in Film

Again, its been ages since i posted anything, but i felt its time to post something again, and again hopefully i will start making this a regular thing.
  Late last year i managed to aquire a couple of new for me but classic cameras.
A customer of mine came in with a bag of cameras that were no longer used, and they had no need for them anymore as apparently they did not work. In the bag, there was an Agfa 110 with flash unit, and a Minolta 110 SLR Zoom Mk II.

My Minolta 110 SLR Zoom Mk II

  The Agfa i didn't know a heck of alot about so i put it back in the bag and concentrated on the Mk II,
  A little background, 110 film were small frame cartridge films that were semi popular in the 70s and 80s,  Many companies made cameras for 110, but some of the coolest came from Pentax, Minolta and a couple of other small companies, and film makers like Agfa and Kodak had a big range of cameras for the format.
 The big thing if you can call it that was the film was pretty similar in width to the 16mm movie film that was in widespread use at the time.
 My 110 SLR Zoom Mk II looks like a mini SLR camera, with a zoom lens permanently attached, it has Aperture priority, exposure compensation, a flash hot shoe and is a pretty cool looking little unit.
 After a little digging i changed the batteries, and was surprised that after winding the advance on, and taking it off lock the shutter fired! The fun thing is the 110 SLR Zoom II was produced from 1979
 So a little testing and the shutter and metering unit seemed to be ok as at various apertures, the shutter responded like it normally should, varied shutter speeds and meter readings.. I had a little minolta flash unit that was part of another camera kit where the body of the camera was beyond repair, that worked, so on it went and low and behold it fired perfectly on the 110.
  So I had a working camera, but as far as i knew, the only 110 films left available were old films that were pretty much expired as Fuji were the last company to actually make 110, and stopped making it in approx 2005, what was i to do?
  I was trolling ebay one night looking at the 110 films and found some from Lomography saying it was new release film... this had me intruiged, i'd heard of Lomo before, makers of the Diana, and Holga cameras that use 120 and 35mm film and legendary for their plastic lenses with some interesting results.

My Pentax Auto 110

  I found their site, and because i work in a camera store, sent an email asking about wholesale, and a month later we had Lomo films in stock, in 35mm, 120 AND 110, with a mix of color neg and black and white Neg.
  Im going to concentrate on the 110 since this is what im looking at.
 Lomo in 110 format make color neg, black and white neg, AND yes they make an E-6 Slide film.
Ive had fun with the Minolta, its a neat little camera, but since i got the Minolta, i have also acquired a Pentax Auto 110 kit..
 The Auto 110 is smaller again AND has interchangable lenses, it still is the worlds smallest ILC camera.
  Lomography's 110 films have animal names, the Color Neg is Tiger, the black and white neg is Orca, and the Color Slide is Peacock.  I purchase mine from http://southerncameras.co.nz/Lomography?page=1 here in Dunedin City.
 I have shot a roll of tiger through the Minolta, and one through the Auto 110.

Old and New in Brisbane Pentax Auto 110 Jan 2016

 I took both 110's on my recent vacation to Brisbane, with the Minolta having a cartridge or Orca, and the Pentax a Tiger Cartridge loaded.  The Orca i havent finished yet,  but last weekend here in Dunedin was the annual Thieves Alley market day, i took my Olympus OM-D and the Auto 110, i did notice many people having a look at me when i brought the camera to the eye, as people noticed this tiny camera being used and wondering what the heck it was.
I got the same look in Brisbane, i was standing at the top of Mount Cootha and a bus load of tourists, possibly Japanese arrived, and one of the passengers was looking rather interested at the Minolta and Pentax around my neck.

Im not normally a street shooter, and i think it shows in most of the images, but im trying to learn new ways to photograph things

Theives Alley, Dunedin  Feb 2016, Pentax Auto 110

Thieves Alley,  Pentax Auto 110, Dunedin Feb 2016

Stilt Walker, Thieves Alley, Dunedin Feb 2016, Pentax Auto 110

Lomo's Tiger is an ISO 200 film, and as you can see, reasonably grainy despite the low ISO, because of the small neg size.  I do like the Auto 110, but i need to get it checked out, or just get it cleaned.

I like the 110 format, simply because its fun, and im trying to find some more fun in my photography,  I will be taking both 110's to the biannual Warbirds Over Wanaka show in March, where no doubt i will get looks from other show goers for the 2 small cameras, my Bronica S2 and my OM-D all hanging off my camera vest.