Pentax 110 lenses?

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I discovered these by accident while searching for a particular K-mount lenses--I had no idea that Pentax had put out an entire interchangeable-lens 110 system.

So does anyone know anything about these lenses? Can they be adapted to Pentax SLRs or even our beloved rangefinders?
 
I don't see how. They not only have a smaller mount, but worse for your idea, the lens to film distance and coverage would make it very difficult if not impossible. I knew a guy who had one back in the mid-80s. He liked it and got photos that he liked. I also recall one the photo mags, Modern I think, doing a story on a journalist who used it and got what they called good 8x10 prints.

If you are that intrigued, I would suggest getting the system and trying it. They seem to hold their price well enough that you shouldn't lose too much if you decide you don't want to keep them. They seem to have sort of a cult following.
 
Since I haven't looked for it in a long time, I don't know. I seem to remember seeing it in supermarkets or drug stores not so long ago. I also expect some of the specialty film places would sell it. Who knows, even ebay may have it, and I have seen 110 reels sold on ebay for home development. I think I even still have one stuffed away somewhere.

As I mentioned, there is something of a cult following so there must be film available. I think I remember seeing seller on ebay who cuts and packages it, as well as cassettes for Minolta 16s.
 
I've got a little Pentax 110 I picked up at a junk shop. It's a SLR with interchangeable lenses. You can pick up the lenses and cameras on the big auction site.

Yes, you can still buy and process 110 film. I'm still on my first roll through this little camera so I have no idea whether it works or not.
 
Tiny indeed. Smaller than your current digital mini's except perhaps that keychain camera they sell in the drugstores. The lenses seemed to outperform the film as I recall- I had a roommate with one of these kits years ago.
 
I owned one and several lenses briefly. They were a nice bit of kit, for what they were. I don't think adaptation to other formats would be practical -- the smaller lenses were really designed to cover 110 film. In my experience, the smallest I can go with film and still get results I like is a half-frame 35mm camera like the Olympus Pen. Great little camera system.
 
Benjamin Marks said:
I owned one and several lenses briefly. They were a nice bit of kit, for what they were. I don't think adaptation to other formats would be practical -- the smaller lenses were really designed to cover 110 film. In my experience, the smallest I can go with film and still get results I like is a half-frame 35mm camera like the Olympus Pen. Great little camera system.
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I do have an EED I found cheap, and which just came back from CLA. I think I'm going to stick with that for now...
 
mabelsound said:
I discovered these by accident while searching for a particular K-mount lenses--I had no idea that Pentax had put out an entire interchangeable-lens 110 system.

So does anyone know anything about these lenses? Can they be adapted to Pentax SLRs or even our beloved rangefinders?
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All the Pentax 110 lenses were f/2.8. I seem to recall that the aperture is in the body not the lens so they could only be used wide open on anything else, even assuming some kind of adapter was available. They'd also not be suitable for other formats.
 
With the improvements in ISO 400 color print films since the 80's I bet the 110 would give much better prints today. Still bigger than your cell phone though ;)
 
Yet another 'I had one'. I had two or three lenses for it. But the reduction in size wasn't a big enough advantage to compensate for the limited range of films and poor image quality. When they were current, there were even a couple of journalists who used them professionally (this was puffed in the magazines) but of course newspaper repro quality was even worse in those days than it is today so image quality wasn't an issue. I got rid of it so long ago that I've forgotten where and when I sold it. Probably to someone else who'd always been intrigued by them; that was the fate of my last Minox B, too.

Cheers,

R.
 
I have one roll of Verichrome Pan 110 left in the fridge; don't know if it's any good after all this time. With great care & cleanliness, 8x10 prints can be made that do not advertise their origins. Among others, I have the 20-40mm zoom lens, about as large as the camera body!
 
Doug,

I have the zoom as well, not quite sure why they bothered to make one which spoils the whole idea of a tiny camera, but it could very well be bragging rights to one-up the Minolta with fixed zooms.
 
Half way though the production they changed the styling and minor engineering slightly.

The lettering on the pentaprism housing went from white to black (or the other way round), and the screws either side of the viewfinder went from crosshead to slot (or the other way round). During the changeover a few were made with one of the modifications and not the other as parts were used up at the factory.

I discovered I had one of these rare 110's and sold it on eBay for a lot more than I had paid for it 20 years earlier. The camera was worn out, but a collector still paid a lot for it to put in his display.

I was happy, he was happy, but I still think he's a saddo.
 
Pentax 110 Kit

Pentax 110 Kit

I just saw a couple at Campus Camera, you do see them around, and I have the leather case filled with the kit lenses and all. Generally a few appear at the camera shows.

I traveled with a group to Europe, one of the kids had one loaded with ISO 400. The prints she sent were exposed OK, sharp, but even at 4x6 a bit grainy, but not bad. Good pocket camera for the time.

I too imagine modern films would show an improvement over these results.

Fuji was making the film for a long time, and I have seen the film and some plastic cameras on racks. AFAIK, the film is in production, some place someone must be buying it, have it next to my 126 in the Freezer.

I have the auto winder as well, and with the bigger lenses, it does begin to question the original premise. Winders usually had a crack in the plastic case.

And, yes, I was a sucker for other sub mini's as well, from the Meopta Stereo 16mm for Viewfinder slides, to the Russian button cameras, and Tessina, so it goes. ;-)

I seem to recall that 35mm cameras were termed Miniatures not too long ago, now a full frame digital is just about medium format?

Regards, John
 
mabelsound said:
Can you still actually get 110 film? And if so, is there B&W available?
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Yes, you can and no, it's not. The only two films I know of are Kodak Gold 400 and Fuji Super G. Fuji has stated it's going to stop production which leaves only 1 emulsion.

Your other option would be to break open a 110 cartridge and repool film of your choice. It is MUCH easier said than done. Plus you'll need to find a place that will process 110 still, or do it yourself.

The Auto 110 is a nice camera. 15 years ago it produced some images I'm still surprised at.
 
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