Pocket Instamatic 60

[zumbido]

So I ebay'd a Pocket Instamatic 60. I got it for $5 to scavenge the lens. I was going to use it for my next in a series of franken-pancakes that I'm trying out on my E-PL1. I chose the I60 because it is not fixed-focus, and I was hoping for a nice, small focusing mechanism to nick whole.

It turns out to be in good condition, with what seems like an accurate and fully functional rangefinder. Now I feel a bit bad about destroying it. It has what looks like rivets holding it together, no exposed screws, so I am not confident about getting it apart cleanly. But realistically I am not going to be buying 110 film or cutting and spooling film into cartridges. So I'm debating between going forward with my original plans or finding someone who is interested in using it as-is and passing it on to them.

What would you do?

 

[al1966]

I am interested in your Franken pancakes how do you do them. I cant advise on the cam though I would more than likely break her apart.

 

[zumbido]

I am interested in your Franken pancakes how do you do them. I cant advise on the cam though I would more than likely break her apart.

Any lens from a 110, 126, or APS camera (among others) will cover a 4/3 sensor. Seems like a lot of lenses from 16mm sub-minis will also cover, with slight vignetting in the corners but not cutoff to black. I take out just the optical assembly, then fit it to a focusing mechanism, often scavenged from ultra-cheap C-mount cctv cameras. These mounts are a decent choice because, along with an adapter for C-mount to Micro-4/3, the whole package usually ends up being in the right ballpark in terms of registrations distance. So the amount of filing, shimming, etc. is minimized. Usually the only metalwork that has to be done is to get the optical assembly to fit nicely within the chosen focus assembly.

Once all that is done, the last steps are baffling/flocking when necessary, and adding some way to usefully twist the focus helicoid. In order to maintain as much compactness as possible, I've been adding small levers or knobs instead of a full housing with external rings.

Here's a recent example, which isn't nearly as flat as I'd like (hence the continued attempts):

Edit to add: that's a 22mm/f2.8 lens, focusing infinity to 8 inches or so. Closer by unscrewing the optics module (just the black bit in the center). For the record.

 

[Spavinaw]

zumbido-Look carefully at the heads of the "rivets" on the Pocket 60. You will see that they have a flat on two sides. If you can successfully grip the sides, I think you can unscrew the "rivets".

 

[zumbido]

zumbido-Look carefully at the heads of the "rivets" on the Pocket 60. You will see that they have a flat on two sides. If you can successfully grip the sides, I think you can unscrew the "rivets".

Hmmm, interesting. They looked perfectly round to me, but I was distracted by a not-quite-two-year-old who was yelling at me to let her play with the thing. I'll look closer tonight.

 

[former member]

I think the Model 60 has a 26mm F2.7 Ektar lens?

I would look for Pentax 110 lenses, the adapter is available.

 

[wblynch]

I would buy some 110 film. It's still easily sourced.

 

[zumbido]

I would buy some 110 film. It's still easily sourced.

Fairly. Not interested. Don't want to spend a bunch of money on a high-res scanner to get detail out of it, or masks and whatnot for the enlarger. I have no need or desire for any film shooting smaller than 120 at this point, except for sentimental attachment to my FED and Zorki.

 

[zumbido]

I think the Model 60 has a 26mm F2.7 Ektar lens?

I would look for Pentax 110 lenses, the adapter is available.

Brian-- I've considered that, as a Pentax guy for a long time (fav lens on the E-PL1 is my Super-Tak 50/1.4). I was sort of tempted, but the 18mm is three to four times the depth of where I want to be. The lenses are skinny and light, but they're not very flat. For the 18mm, once you add in cost of adapter, I could spend another $120 or so depending on the phase of the moon and get the Oly 17/2.8 for something that is no deeper, marginally wider, better-corrected, and has both an aperture control and autofocus. All in all I'm just having a hard time justifying the Pentax 110 stuff given that middle area that it occupies between "really cheap" and "has an iris and stuff". 😉

 

[former member]

I just looked at the cost of the Pentax 110 to u43 adapters: too much money for what it is, they are around $50 when others are half that. I have the Pentax 110 with 18, 24, and 50. For $25, would be worth getting an adapter and hacking some sort of aperture to the filter ring.

 

[former member]

If you are going through all the trouble to put a 110 lens on the u43...

The Kodak Ektramax has an aspheric F1.9 lens on it. A little patience on Ebay, probably pop up.

 

[zumbido]

If you are going through all the trouble to put a 110 lens on the u43...

The Kodak Ektramax has an aspheric F1.9 lens on it. A little patience on Ebay, probably pop up.

Indeed. The Canon ED and ED20 have a (possibly aspheric, I've seen claims both ways) 26/2 lens, but seem to go for nearly $100 in good condition. Junkers can be had for 1/3 of that, but then there's the risk that the lens is part of what's junked. I'll take a gamble on something that's $5, but at $35 I want at least some assurance that the part I'm looking to strip off is usable.

The Ektramax goes for 1/10 of that... when you can find one. I'm scouring some junk shops downstate Saturday.