Rollei A110 scanned with a Nikon D850

[Huss]

Well this was interesting. I just got my test roll from my new to me Rollei A110 back. Had to make sure it actually works before taking it with me to take 'real' pics.
As I scan my 120 and 35mm film with my D850, I thought it would be fun to see how 110 film would hold up at 8300x5500 pixels...

Gotta be honest, this was really surprising to me. There is grain fer sure, but there is also sharpness. Guess that Tessar lens in the Rollei really is something else.

First the camera, here on top of my Fuji so you can see it:




Shots taken with Lomo Tiger 200 110 film:





And 1:1 crop:

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Those look very sharp! Is it a typical fixed-focus 110 camera, or is it manual focus or AF? I know Pentax and Minolta actually made 110 SLRs with interchangeable lenses. They looked really cool; very tiny. Seeing your results makes me kinda wish I had bought one back when 110 was still easy to find.

 

[Sumarongi]

Those look very sharp! Is it a typical fixed-focus 110 camera, or is it manual focus or AF?

Manual focus; see: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Rollei_A110

 

[jbrubaker]

These look very good! How are you color correcting your Nikon files? thanks ---john.

 

[Huss]

Yes the A110 is a scale focus camera. That orange tab you see on the front does that. In the VF you see a scale that is linked to it, with the standard scale focus symbols - head, head+shoulders, full body, mountains. It also has numeric distances in between that.
It is a super well built camera, which makes sense given its premium price point at the time.
There is also a cheaper E110 version but I do not recommend that, as the A110 takes a regular 6V p27 battery with which it's SPD cell makes correct exposures.
The E110 has a cDs photocell and it does not works correctly with 6V p27 batteries. Apparently it overexposes by over 2 stops. Both cameras were meant to be used with 5.6V cells.

The camera is really nice to use and handle. And the VF really is surprisingly large and bright. The moment I saw these results I bought another one on ebay! I paid $20 for the one that took these pics - glass is perfect, a small dent on one corner. The second one looks perfect and was $50 with case, chain, pouch, flash adapter.
Some people are asking over $100 for these, so I'd just wait until a normally priced one appears. They also have been made in Germany and Singapore and I would hold out for a German one. It seems that the quality may be a little better.

John, scanning was done as in my DSLR scanning thread here:
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161028&page=8

I used a 110 film holder from a Besseler enlarger that I never thought I'd need, but it came in a set with other 120 film ones that I bought. When I scan my 35mm or 120 film, my Micro Nikkor 60 2.8 is perfect. But with the tiny 110 film it needs to focus much closer if I want to film the frame. Again by luck some time ago I picked up some macro tubes just cuz they were cheap, and they are absolutely perfect. With them the 110 frame completely fills the D850's 47mp sensor area!

I admit to how ridiculous this is in a way, the only thing that could top it is scanning Minox micro film with a Phase 1 100mp back!
But it's so much fun, and I had the gear already. It took me forever to find a couple of rolls of Lomo B&W film as it is sold out everywhere, but I'm really impressed by the Lomo colour film and have already seen that it converts to B&W really well in LR. So going forward I think that I'd most probably just use that.

 

[Huss]

p.s the other option for me was the Pentax Auto 110 SLR. It is meant to be really good, and comes in a full set with multiple lenses. A tiny thing. But, I have plenty of cameras with interchangeable lenses and liked the form and compactness of the Rollei. With it, no decisions on what extra stuff I need to bring along, as there isn't any!

I may still get one though....

 

[Huss]

Rollei A110, Lomo Orca B&W film

 

[retinax]

Astonishing! I thought 110 could be used to use grain for bold graphic effect, doesn't seem to be the case with this film.

 

[Huss]

Astonishing! I thought 110 could be used to use grain for bold graphic effect, doesn't seem to be the case with this film.

All 110 means is the size of the film image, not the type of film. So if you want grainy images, you need to use grainy film. Like Ilford Delta 3200 or Kodak TMAX 3200.

 

[retinax]

All 110 means is the size of the film image, not the type of film. So if you want grainy images, you need to use grainy film. Like Ilford Delta 3200 or Kodak TMAX 3200.

Of course. I tried to say that this film, whatever it really is, is very fine grained (and your camera scans resolve the grain, so there's no grain aliasing as there probably is in many other scans from 110 film) and that the lens can be focused sure helps as well. Looks so much better than most examples I've seen from subminis.

 

[PRJ]

One of the takeaways here is just how good film is.....

 

[Huss]

Of course. I tried to say that this film, whatever it really is, is very fine grained (and your camera scans resolve the grain, so there's no grain aliasing as there probably is in many other scans from 110 film) and that the lens can be focused sure helps as well. Looks so much better than most examples I've seen from subminis.

Gotcha.
I think what really helps is the camera too. Most 110 cameras are low end, but the Rollei was built to be the best one out there, with a really sharp lens that can be focused. And it's auto exposure is pretty sophisticated.

 

[lxmike]

if only there was a wider choice of film for 110, like in the days of old, took it for granted then, now l just miss the days of abundance in varied formats

 

[Huss]

Rollei A110, Lomo Orca, D850 scan

 

[Dwig]

Gotcha.
I think what really helps is the camera too. Most 110 cameras are low end, but the Rollei was built to be the best one out there, with a really sharp lens that can be focused. And it's auto exposure is pretty sophisticated.

The Rollei A110 is certainly one of the better 110 cameras, though there were a number in the day. My pick for the best is the Minox 110 S, a true RF. Back in the mid-70s I made several good B&W 16x20s from VP110 negs shot in the Minox.

Other excellent 110s were the Kodak Pocket Instamatic 50 & 60 (the 60 had a RF and the 50 was scale focusing), Canon 110 ED, and Pentax Auto 110. The Minolta 110 Zoom SLR pulls up the rear of the group; I never felt its Zoom lens was quite in the same class as the others I've listed. Still, it's a very good camera.

 

[Spavinaw]

I still have a number of nice 110 cameras: Rollei A110, Kodak 60 & 50, Canon 110ED20, and Pentax Auto 110 Super with all lenses plus the 1.4X teleconverter. All I want is 110 slide film that I can send off and have mounted slides returned. I'd even mount them myself, if mounts were available. I have a Kodak 110 slide projector and spare bulbs, so I'm all set.

 

[Huss]

The Rollei A110 is certainly one of the better 110 cameras, though there were a number in the day. My pick for the best is the Minox 110 S, a true RF. Back in the mid-70s I made several good B&W 16x20s from VP110 negs shot in the Minox.

Other excellent 110s were the Kodak Pocket Instamatic 50 & 60 (the 60 had a RF and the 50 was scale focusing), Canon 110 ED, and Pentax Auto 110. The Minolta 110 Zoom SLR pulls up the rear of the group; I never felt its Zoom lens was quite in the same class as the others I've listed. Still, it's a very good camera.

I checked out the Minox, but the styling and construction just did not gel with me. It lacks the elegance and small size of the Rollei.