What exactly is a point & shoot camera? I’m so glad you asked!
The Kodak of 1888 may have been first, and even Leica got into the act.
By Jason Schneider
In 2007, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC held a show entitled “Art of the American Snapshot 1888-1978” exploring the evolution of American snapshot photography and its cultural and technological influences. It was essentially a chronological display of 249 snapshots collected and donated by Robert E. Jackson, who acquired them at antique shows, thrift stores, and from online sellers. The show was a great success with 52,165 attendees, and was a tribute to the ingenuity, insight, and skill of the (mostly) anonymous photographers who often captured these images with rudimentary cameras. Indeed, this seminal show also helped to define what has come to be known as “the snapshot esthetic,” the beauty and meaning inherent in snapshots, innocent, unpretentious, spur-of the-moment images created not for some lofty purpose, but simply to capture and preserve what was in front of the camera because it meant something to the photographer.
While most of today’s photographers have a pretty good idea of what a snapshot is, or at least know one when they see one, the same is emphatically not true for that ubiquitous but ill-defined category known as a point & shoot camera, which was often called (wait for it!) a “snapshot camera” back in the day! The clear implication of the term “point-& shoot’ is aptly captured in the immortal words of George Eastman in his 1889 Kodak ad, “You press the button, we do the rest.” That is, “user intervention” is limited to aiming the camera at the subject with no other settings required.
The original Kodak of 1888; The world's first popular point & shoot? Probably
Using that definition the Kodak of 1888 may well have been the world’s first successful point & shoot camera. Measuring 3.75 x 3. 25 x 6.5 inches (H x W x D) and pre-loaded with enough film for 100 exposures, it had a 57mm f/9 “periscopic” lens set at 10 feet, and a single shutter speed of about 1/25 sec. You cocked the shutter by pulling a string, pointed the camera at the subject (the sole framing aid was a V-shaped notch impressed into the leather on top) and took the picture by pressing a button on the camera’s left-hand side. Elementary.
Eastman Kodak Co.: The king of point & shoot
The original Kodak Brownie of 1900. Note accessory reflex finder on top!
By 1900, Eastman Kodak was turning out a series of Kodak Brownie box cameras in various sizes and formats that qualify as point & shoots because they only required loading a roll of film, winding until number 1 and successive numbers appear in the red window and taking the shots. Many of these cameras had shutter settings of I (instantaneous) and T (time exposure) and apertures (typically f/9 to f/16 or f/22) that were nothing more than holes cut into a metal strip that were pulled up to place smaller apertures in front of the lens. Most Brownies were attractively priced (the first one debuted at $1.00!), had simple single element meniscus or 2-element (cemented achromat) lenses that performed quite well, and Kodak sold millions of them.
Kodak Brownie No.2. A great choice for today's shooters it takes 120 film!
Rip Van Winkle Bridge over the Hudson River shot from the Catskill side. Tripod-mounted Kodak Brownie No.2 on Ilford HP5 Plus by Jason Schneider.
The Kodak Instamatic
The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive, cartridge-loading 126 and Pocket Instamatic 110 cameras-made by Kodak beginning in 1963. The Instamatic was immensely successful, introducing a generation to low-cost photography and spawning numerous imitators. During its heyday, the range was so ubiquitous that the term ‘Instamatic’ is still sometimes used to refer to any inexpensive point & shoot camera.
History of the Instamatic
Market research showed that most consumers would be happier with more automated film loading and exposure settings, and that’s what led Kodak to develop the Instamatic cameras starting in the early 1950s with a project initially called Easy Load, and later Project 13. A. D. Johnson, then Kodak’s manager of advertising, is credited with coining the name Instamatic. In a 1993 article speculating on the details of the forthcoming Advanced Photo System (APS) Herbert Keppler of Popular Photography noted that "many snap-shooters didn't buy cameras or take pictures because they simply couldn't load roll film or 35mm cameras.” Kodak's Kodapak 126 cartridge, introduced in 1963, solved the problems of film loading, film advance, and rewinding and It was a sensational success among snap-shooters."
Early Instamatics
The lead designer for the Instamatic program was Dean M. Peterson (based on original designs by Alexander Gow), who was later credited with many of the innovations in the point & shoot camera revolution of the 1980s. The Instamatics were the first cameras to use Kodak's new 126 format. The “easy load “drop-in film made these cameras very inexpensive to produce, since it incorporated the film backing plate and exposure counter itself and thus avoided considerable design complexity and saved on manufacturing costs. Kodak offered a wide variety of black-and-white, color print, and slide films in the 126 format before discontinuing it in 1999.
1963 Instamatic 100 was the first 126 cartridge camera distributed in the U.S. Note built-in flash that took AG-1 flashbulbs.
The first Instamatic to be released was the Instamatic 50, which appeared in the UK in February 1963. The first model released in the US was the basic Instamatic 100, approximately one month later, which included a built-in flash for single-use AG-1 bulbs. With non-adjustable aperture, focus, and single shutter speed (1⁄90 sec.), it continued in the tradition of Kodak's earlier Brownie cameras, providing a simple point & shoot camera anyone could use, with the added convenience of drop-in loading. The first Instamatic 100s went on sale for $16 in early 1963 and were soon followed by the 300 (with a light meter), and the 400 (with a light meter and spring motor film advance), Early fixed-focus Instamatics used either a 43 mm f/11 plastic lens or a 41 mm f/8 Kodar glass lens. More advanced Instamatics with focusing lenses, exposure settings, etc. don’t really qualify as point & shoots.
Pocket Instamatics: Lower end models were pocketable point & shoots
The Pocket Instamatic format, also known as the110 cartridge format, is based on drop-in-loading cartridge containing paper-backed 16mm film that was introduced by Kodak in 1972. Designed for compact, easy-to-use pocket-sized cameras, the cartridge has a built-in take-up spool, simplifying loading and unloading film, and lowering camera design and manufacturing costs. The 110 format provided a smaller, more portable alternative to cameras using the larger 126 format.
Kodak Pocket Instamatic 20, a low end point & shoot, had a remarkably sharp 26mm f/9.5 3-element plastic lens. Note flash cube socket on top.
Details of the Pocket Instamatic and its competitors
Film Size:
The 110 film is 16mm wide, with a frame size of 13mm x 17mm.
Cartridge System:
The film is housed in a plastic cartridge with a take-up spool, allowing for easy drop-in loading and unloading without needing to rewind the film.
Compact Cameras:
The 110 format enabled the creation of very small, pocket-sized cameras like the Pocket Instamatic series.
Image Quality:
While convenient, the small negative size of 110 film can result in noticeable grain, especially in larger prints.
Popularity:
Pocket Instamatic cameras were very popular in the 1970s, and many leading manufacturers offered ingenious and high quality 110 competitors. These included the Pentax 110 and Super SLRs, Minolta 110 SLRs Mark I and Mark II SLRs, the Canon ED, ED 20 and Minox110S rangefinder cameras, and the ultra-compact Rollei A110 andi E110, both of which qualify as point & shoots, along with the stone simple Viviar, which is essentially a 110 box camera. The format eventually declined in popularity when better film and camera technology became available.
New 110 film and cameras: Yes, Lomograohy to the rescue!
Lomography’s continued production of 110 cameras and film has helped to keep the format alive and reasonably popular among enthusiasts and enlivened the used 110 camera market. The Lomomatic 110 Camera & Flash Golden Gate ($119.00) with Auto (A) mode qualifies as a contemporary pocketable point & shoot in the Pocket Instamatic tradition.
Disc cameras: Their form was flat, and after an initial burst, so were sales!
The Kodak Disc camera, introduced in 1982, was a compact camera system featuring a unique disc-shaped film cartridge containing 15 tiny 8 x 10mm negatives. While initially popular ( 25 million units were initially sold), it was ultimately deemed a flop (a floppy disc -) due to poor image quality and more limited features than other formats. While judged a failure in retrospect, many other companies followed Kodak’s lead in marketing Disc cameras. Here’s a partial list: Konica, Minolta, Ansco, Bushnell, Concord, Voigtlander, Continental, Sears. Rokinon, and Sylvania
Kodak Disc 4000 was released in 1982 and Kodak sold 25 million disc cameras before phasing them out in 1988.
Here are some disc details
Innovation and Marketing:
Kodak aimed to simplify photography with the disc camera, promising "foolproof" operation and ease of use, even in challenging lighting conditions. The cameras were heavily marketed with celebrity endorsements and professional photographers.
The Disc Format:
The core innovation was the disc-shaped film cartridge holding 15 tiny negatives (8x10mm). This allowed for a sleek, compact camera design with a flat form factor.
Initial Success:
The disc camera sold well initially, with 8 million units sold in the first year and a total of 25 million by the end of the 1980s,
Decline and Failure:
Despite the initial success, the disc camera's popularity plummeted due to the poor image quality (grainy, soft-focus photos) compared to other formats. Some attribute this mainly to poor processing and printing rather than inherent deficiencies in the system. Kodak discontinued the cameras in 1988, though they continued to produce disc film into the 1990s.
Were Disc cameras point & shoots? Mostly yes!
All Kodak Disc cameras, and most ioher brands featured fixed focus and automatic exposure as standard features. They were designed to be simple, point-and-shoot cameras, and these functions were integral to the design.
Fixed Focus:
Disc cameras used simple, fixed-focus lenses, typically with a very short focal length of12.5mm, ensuring that the cameras had a very wide depth of field and didn't need to adjust focus for different distances. This made them user-friendly, but it also meant that using selective focus for creative effects was not possible.
Automatic Exposure:
Disc cameras also had automatic exposure systems, which meant the camera adjusted the aperture and shutter speed based on the lighting conditions, ensuring the picture was properly exposed.
Other Standard Features:
In addition to fixed focus and automatic exposure, most Disc cameras also had automatic film advance and some even included automatic flash.
The Snapshot Leica: E. Leitz Wetzlar’s stillborn “point & shoot” of 1935
Early in 1935 Leitz produced a very limited number of prototypes of an unusual 3.5cm f/4.5 Elmar lens, code named ELROO, that was described as a “snapshot lens” at the time. The ultra-rare ELROO is a 4-element, 3-group screw-mount wide-angle lens with no rangefinder coupling cam, focusing detents at 1.75m, 3m, 10m, and infinity, and apertures to f/18. Finished in nickel-plated brass, it was intended for use on a modified rangefinder-less Leica Standard (Model E) fitted with a permanently mounted 35mm optical viewfinder instead of the usual 50 viewfinder. This elegant combo, informally known as the “Snapshot Leica,” was listed in a few 1935 Leitz Wetzlar catalogs under the code words, LYMOO, XBFOO, and ABFOO. But it was vaporware, because this elegant lens/camera assemblage never made it into production, and to date, only a single example has surfaced, presumably made for internal factory use.
The "Snapshot Leica" a modified Leica Standard (Model E) with 35mm viewfinder and 3.5cm f/4.5 "Snapshot Elmar" lens. This mat be the sole survivor!
Ultra-rare Leitz ELRO0 3.5cm f/4.5 Elmar with click-stop distance settings aka the "snapshot Elmar..
Why did Leitz suddenly deep six the promising “Snapshot Leica” project? Probably because Leitz already had its hands full turning out very profitable items like the new top-of-the line Leica IIIa and lacked the capacity to embark upon new untried ventures. Probably not more than a handful of ELROO “snapshot lenses” and perhaps 100 “special order” Leica Standard (Model E) cameras with integral 35mm viewfinders were ever produced, so all of them are now stratospherically priced. museum pieces.
To configure a functional equivalent of the “Snapshot Leica” you can mount a classic 35mm f/3.5 Elmar lens and a WEISU 35mm shoe-mount finder on a Leica Standard (Model E), but fair warning—this vintage combo will set you back around $2,500 based in current eBay prices! Does any “Snapshot Leica” truly qualify as a point & shoot? Since you’ve got to set the shutter speed, aperture and focusing distance, technically no. But it’s still a great camera for casual street shooting on the fly and it’s a pity Leica never produced it.
A tip of the lens cap to James Lager for providing the photos and much of the historical information cited above.
The “Auto-Everything”revolution: high-tech 35mm point & shoots rule!
The camera that sparked the auto-everything revolution of point & shoot 35mm cameras that peaked in the 1980s was the Konica C35 AF, the world's first mass-produced autofocus camera, that was launched in 1977. It utilized the patented Honeywell Visitronic AF (VAF) system, a "passive" autofocus technology that functioned similarly to a rangefinder, employing light-sensitive detectors to compare the contrast of two images in its rangefinder system to achieve proper focus—essentially a contrast comparator. The Konica C35 AF was very successful with over a million units sold, and it also provided autoexposure using a CdS cell metering system, but unlike later compact AF 35s you had to load, wind and rewind the film manually.
Konica C35 AF of 1977 point & shoot, the first autofocus still camera on the market, also provided autoexposure, autoflash. .
Konica C35 AF specifications
The Konica C35 AF features a Hexanon 38mm f/2.8 lens, a programmed leaf shutter with three speeds (1/60, 1/125, and 1/250), and automatic exposure using a CdS metering system. The camera also includes a built-in flash and manual film advance.
Lens: Hexanon 38mm f/2.8, 4 elements in 3 groups.
Shutter: Programmed leaf shutter with speeds of 1/60, 1/125, and 1/250 seconds.
Apertures: f/2.8-f/22
Film Speed: ASA 25 to 400.
Autofocus: Honeywell Visitronic system with a passive dual-image electronic rangefinder, focusing from 1.1 meters to infinity.
Flash: Built-in, with a guide number of 14 at ISO 100.
Exposure: Automatic with CdS meter, EV 9 - EV 17 with 100 ASA film.
Film Advance: Manual, lever wind.
Other features: Underexposure warning light, parallax correction mark, focus measuring square, and shutter lock when battery is dead.
Dimensions: 132 x 76 x 54 mm.
Weight: 375 grams.
The Canon Sure Shot: The first “auto-everything” compact 35!
The Canon AF35M (marketed as the Sure Shot by Canon USA), was Canon’sfirst 35mm autofocus leaf shutter compact 35. Launched in November 1979, it received the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry's 1980 Good Design Award. It was enormously successful, even among a welter if similar cameras fielded by competitors, and it sold extremely well, production reaching110,000 per month. By the second half of 1981 it was partially supplanted by Canon’s higher-spec AF35ML and it was finally replaced in 1983 by the Canon AF35M II
Original Canon AF35M Sure Shot of 1979: It became synonymous with the fully automatic AF 35mm camera and sold in massive numbers.
The Sure Shot’s active autofocus system used a near-infrared-emitting diode and a PIN photodiode to determine the subject position by triangulation in a manner much like an optical coincident-image rangefinder. This active system is independent of ambient light levels and achieved a high degree of accuracy. However, it can be fooled by glass (which is not transparent to infrared radiation). The autofocus area was marked on the reverse-Galilean optical viewfinder which also had projected frame lines, zone focusing marks for near, medium and far (lit to indicate the approximate area the autofocus had selected), parallax correction marks, and battery-check and camera-shake warning LEDs. Viewfinder magnification was 0.5× and coverage was 85% of the full 35mm frame area.
The 38mm f/2.8 Canon lens has a ring around it used for setting film speeds (ISO 25 to 400), which appear in a small window on the front of the lens assembly; below the lens there’s a CdS port for the exposure system, a location that automatically adjusts the exposure to account for mounted filters.
Film transport and rewind are fully automatic, but the camera was not fitted with Canon's Quick Load, a feature found on later models, so the film leader still had to be manually threaded to the take-up spool.
An integral flash is retracted into the top of the camera on the left and was manually extended by releasing a catch on the camera's front. The unit has aguide number of 14 (at ISO 100 in meters) and features auto-exposure using the camera's light meter as well as supporting fill flash. A self-timer control is located on the front.
The original Canon Sure Shot was powered by 2 AA batteries; later models used a 2CR5 cell.
Significance of the Canon Sure Shot and its successors
The Canon Sure Shot line significantly impacted the camera market by popularizing autofocus in point & shoot cameras. This series, beginning with the AF35M (Sure Shot) in 1979, made autofocus technology accessible to a wider consumer base and set the standard for user-friendly, fully automated photography. The Sure Shot's success contributed to the dominance of this camera type until the rise of digital photography.
Key Contributions of the Canon Sure Shot:
Point-and-Shoot Convenience:
The Sure Shot combined autofocus with automated film winding and rewinding, creating the first true 35mm point-and-shoot experience.
Commercial Success:
The Sure Shot series became Canon's most commercially successful lineup of point-and-shoot cameras, with models continuing to be released for 25 years.
Market Domination:
By introducing affordable and easy-to-use autofocus, the Sure Shot helped pave the way for the widespread adoption of this technology in the compact camera market.
Influence on Photography Trends:
The Sure Shot's success encouraged other manufacturers to develop similar cameras, contributing to the popularity of 35mm compact cameras for everyday photography.
The phenomenal success of the Canon Sure Shot line spawned a host of worthy competitors in the vibrant 35mm point and shoot category that only ended with the digital photography revolution of the early 2000s. Here’s a selection often cited by industry experts:
Contax T2: Often considered one of the best 35mm point-and-shoot cameras, known for its durable build, reliable performance, and excellent Carl Zeiss lens. However, it's significantly more expensive.
Yashica T4: This cult-favorite boasts a Zeiss lens like the Contax T2, but in a simpler, less expensive, and lighter plastic body. It's also known for being weatherproof.
Minolta TC-1: Another titanium-bodied camera known for its crisp, contrasty images and manual modes, often compared to the Contax T2 but with a different lens.
Olympus Stylus MJU II (also known as the Stylus Epic): A highly sought-after camera praised for its compact size, sharp lens, weatherproofing, and ease of use.
Nikon L35AF: An early competitor known for its affordability, sharp lens, built-in flash, and user-friendly features.
Ricoh GR1v: Popular for its small size, light weight, manual options, and sharp lens, though it can be pricey.
Leica Mini II: Offers a Leica lens and fast autofocus in a more affordable and less conspicuous package, although it has a plastic body and lacks a lens cover.
Clearly there are countless other cameras and camera categories that could logically be included in any comprehensive list of point & shoot cameras. Examples: analog AF SLRs with autoexposure capability, e.g. the Canon AE-1 Program, and virtually every DSLR and mirrorless camera currently on the market, scads of instant-picture cameras, virtually every digital compact camera now offered for sale, and of course that most ubiquitous point & shoot camera of all time, the almighty smartphone! So, basically technology has created a brave new point & shoot world for all of us, and the only folks still concerned with such anachronisms as f/stops, shutter speeds, and focusing are photographers who want to exert a degree of control over the image in order to shape and express their creative vision. Fancy that!
The Kodak of 1888 may have been first, and even Leica got into the act.
By Jason Schneider
In 2007, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC held a show entitled “Art of the American Snapshot 1888-1978” exploring the evolution of American snapshot photography and its cultural and technological influences. It was essentially a chronological display of 249 snapshots collected and donated by Robert E. Jackson, who acquired them at antique shows, thrift stores, and from online sellers. The show was a great success with 52,165 attendees, and was a tribute to the ingenuity, insight, and skill of the (mostly) anonymous photographers who often captured these images with rudimentary cameras. Indeed, this seminal show also helped to define what has come to be known as “the snapshot esthetic,” the beauty and meaning inherent in snapshots, innocent, unpretentious, spur-of the-moment images created not for some lofty purpose, but simply to capture and preserve what was in front of the camera because it meant something to the photographer.
While most of today’s photographers have a pretty good idea of what a snapshot is, or at least know one when they see one, the same is emphatically not true for that ubiquitous but ill-defined category known as a point & shoot camera, which was often called (wait for it!) a “snapshot camera” back in the day! The clear implication of the term “point-& shoot’ is aptly captured in the immortal words of George Eastman in his 1889 Kodak ad, “You press the button, we do the rest.” That is, “user intervention” is limited to aiming the camera at the subject with no other settings required.
The original Kodak of 1888; The world's first popular point & shoot? Probably
Using that definition the Kodak of 1888 may well have been the world’s first successful point & shoot camera. Measuring 3.75 x 3. 25 x 6.5 inches (H x W x D) and pre-loaded with enough film for 100 exposures, it had a 57mm f/9 “periscopic” lens set at 10 feet, and a single shutter speed of about 1/25 sec. You cocked the shutter by pulling a string, pointed the camera at the subject (the sole framing aid was a V-shaped notch impressed into the leather on top) and took the picture by pressing a button on the camera’s left-hand side. Elementary.
Eastman Kodak Co.: The king of point & shoot
The original Kodak Brownie of 1900. Note accessory reflex finder on top!
By 1900, Eastman Kodak was turning out a series of Kodak Brownie box cameras in various sizes and formats that qualify as point & shoots because they only required loading a roll of film, winding until number 1 and successive numbers appear in the red window and taking the shots. Many of these cameras had shutter settings of I (instantaneous) and T (time exposure) and apertures (typically f/9 to f/16 or f/22) that were nothing more than holes cut into a metal strip that were pulled up to place smaller apertures in front of the lens. Most Brownies were attractively priced (the first one debuted at $1.00!), had simple single element meniscus or 2-element (cemented achromat) lenses that performed quite well, and Kodak sold millions of them.
Kodak Brownie No.2. A great choice for today's shooters it takes 120 film!
Rip Van Winkle Bridge over the Hudson River shot from the Catskill side. Tripod-mounted Kodak Brownie No.2 on Ilford HP5 Plus by Jason Schneider.
The Kodak Instamatic
The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive, cartridge-loading 126 and Pocket Instamatic 110 cameras-made by Kodak beginning in 1963. The Instamatic was immensely successful, introducing a generation to low-cost photography and spawning numerous imitators. During its heyday, the range was so ubiquitous that the term ‘Instamatic’ is still sometimes used to refer to any inexpensive point & shoot camera.
History of the Instamatic
Market research showed that most consumers would be happier with more automated film loading and exposure settings, and that’s what led Kodak to develop the Instamatic cameras starting in the early 1950s with a project initially called Easy Load, and later Project 13. A. D. Johnson, then Kodak’s manager of advertising, is credited with coining the name Instamatic. In a 1993 article speculating on the details of the forthcoming Advanced Photo System (APS) Herbert Keppler of Popular Photography noted that "many snap-shooters didn't buy cameras or take pictures because they simply couldn't load roll film or 35mm cameras.” Kodak's Kodapak 126 cartridge, introduced in 1963, solved the problems of film loading, film advance, and rewinding and It was a sensational success among snap-shooters."
Early Instamatics
The lead designer for the Instamatic program was Dean M. Peterson (based on original designs by Alexander Gow), who was later credited with many of the innovations in the point & shoot camera revolution of the 1980s. The Instamatics were the first cameras to use Kodak's new 126 format. The “easy load “drop-in film made these cameras very inexpensive to produce, since it incorporated the film backing plate and exposure counter itself and thus avoided considerable design complexity and saved on manufacturing costs. Kodak offered a wide variety of black-and-white, color print, and slide films in the 126 format before discontinuing it in 1999.
1963 Instamatic 100 was the first 126 cartridge camera distributed in the U.S. Note built-in flash that took AG-1 flashbulbs.
The first Instamatic to be released was the Instamatic 50, which appeared in the UK in February 1963. The first model released in the US was the basic Instamatic 100, approximately one month later, which included a built-in flash for single-use AG-1 bulbs. With non-adjustable aperture, focus, and single shutter speed (1⁄90 sec.), it continued in the tradition of Kodak's earlier Brownie cameras, providing a simple point & shoot camera anyone could use, with the added convenience of drop-in loading. The first Instamatic 100s went on sale for $16 in early 1963 and were soon followed by the 300 (with a light meter), and the 400 (with a light meter and spring motor film advance), Early fixed-focus Instamatics used either a 43 mm f/11 plastic lens or a 41 mm f/8 Kodar glass lens. More advanced Instamatics with focusing lenses, exposure settings, etc. don’t really qualify as point & shoots.
Pocket Instamatics: Lower end models were pocketable point & shoots
The Pocket Instamatic format, also known as the110 cartridge format, is based on drop-in-loading cartridge containing paper-backed 16mm film that was introduced by Kodak in 1972. Designed for compact, easy-to-use pocket-sized cameras, the cartridge has a built-in take-up spool, simplifying loading and unloading film, and lowering camera design and manufacturing costs. The 110 format provided a smaller, more portable alternative to cameras using the larger 126 format.
Kodak Pocket Instamatic 20, a low end point & shoot, had a remarkably sharp 26mm f/9.5 3-element plastic lens. Note flash cube socket on top.
Details of the Pocket Instamatic and its competitors
Film Size:
The 110 film is 16mm wide, with a frame size of 13mm x 17mm.
Cartridge System:
The film is housed in a plastic cartridge with a take-up spool, allowing for easy drop-in loading and unloading without needing to rewind the film.
Compact Cameras:
The 110 format enabled the creation of very small, pocket-sized cameras like the Pocket Instamatic series.
Image Quality:
While convenient, the small negative size of 110 film can result in noticeable grain, especially in larger prints.
Popularity:
Pocket Instamatic cameras were very popular in the 1970s, and many leading manufacturers offered ingenious and high quality 110 competitors. These included the Pentax 110 and Super SLRs, Minolta 110 SLRs Mark I and Mark II SLRs, the Canon ED, ED 20 and Minox110S rangefinder cameras, and the ultra-compact Rollei A110 andi E110, both of which qualify as point & shoots, along with the stone simple Viviar, which is essentially a 110 box camera. The format eventually declined in popularity when better film and camera technology became available.
New 110 film and cameras: Yes, Lomograohy to the rescue!
Lomography’s continued production of 110 cameras and film has helped to keep the format alive and reasonably popular among enthusiasts and enlivened the used 110 camera market. The Lomomatic 110 Camera & Flash Golden Gate ($119.00) with Auto (A) mode qualifies as a contemporary pocketable point & shoot in the Pocket Instamatic tradition.
Disc cameras: Their form was flat, and after an initial burst, so were sales!
The Kodak Disc camera, introduced in 1982, was a compact camera system featuring a unique disc-shaped film cartridge containing 15 tiny 8 x 10mm negatives. While initially popular ( 25 million units were initially sold), it was ultimately deemed a flop (a floppy disc -) due to poor image quality and more limited features than other formats. While judged a failure in retrospect, many other companies followed Kodak’s lead in marketing Disc cameras. Here’s a partial list: Konica, Minolta, Ansco, Bushnell, Concord, Voigtlander, Continental, Sears. Rokinon, and Sylvania
Kodak Disc 4000 was released in 1982 and Kodak sold 25 million disc cameras before phasing them out in 1988.
Here are some disc details
Innovation and Marketing:
Kodak aimed to simplify photography with the disc camera, promising "foolproof" operation and ease of use, even in challenging lighting conditions. The cameras were heavily marketed with celebrity endorsements and professional photographers.
The Disc Format:
The core innovation was the disc-shaped film cartridge holding 15 tiny negatives (8x10mm). This allowed for a sleek, compact camera design with a flat form factor.
Initial Success:
The disc camera sold well initially, with 8 million units sold in the first year and a total of 25 million by the end of the 1980s,
Decline and Failure:
Despite the initial success, the disc camera's popularity plummeted due to the poor image quality (grainy, soft-focus photos) compared to other formats. Some attribute this mainly to poor processing and printing rather than inherent deficiencies in the system. Kodak discontinued the cameras in 1988, though they continued to produce disc film into the 1990s.
Were Disc cameras point & shoots? Mostly yes!
All Kodak Disc cameras, and most ioher brands featured fixed focus and automatic exposure as standard features. They were designed to be simple, point-and-shoot cameras, and these functions were integral to the design.
Fixed Focus:
Disc cameras used simple, fixed-focus lenses, typically with a very short focal length of12.5mm, ensuring that the cameras had a very wide depth of field and didn't need to adjust focus for different distances. This made them user-friendly, but it also meant that using selective focus for creative effects was not possible.
Automatic Exposure:
Disc cameras also had automatic exposure systems, which meant the camera adjusted the aperture and shutter speed based on the lighting conditions, ensuring the picture was properly exposed.
Other Standard Features:
In addition to fixed focus and automatic exposure, most Disc cameras also had automatic film advance and some even included automatic flash.
The Snapshot Leica: E. Leitz Wetzlar’s stillborn “point & shoot” of 1935
Early in 1935 Leitz produced a very limited number of prototypes of an unusual 3.5cm f/4.5 Elmar lens, code named ELROO, that was described as a “snapshot lens” at the time. The ultra-rare ELROO is a 4-element, 3-group screw-mount wide-angle lens with no rangefinder coupling cam, focusing detents at 1.75m, 3m, 10m, and infinity, and apertures to f/18. Finished in nickel-plated brass, it was intended for use on a modified rangefinder-less Leica Standard (Model E) fitted with a permanently mounted 35mm optical viewfinder instead of the usual 50 viewfinder. This elegant combo, informally known as the “Snapshot Leica,” was listed in a few 1935 Leitz Wetzlar catalogs under the code words, LYMOO, XBFOO, and ABFOO. But it was vaporware, because this elegant lens/camera assemblage never made it into production, and to date, only a single example has surfaced, presumably made for internal factory use.
The "Snapshot Leica" a modified Leica Standard (Model E) with 35mm viewfinder and 3.5cm f/4.5 "Snapshot Elmar" lens. This mat be the sole survivor!
Ultra-rare Leitz ELRO0 3.5cm f/4.5 Elmar with click-stop distance settings aka the "snapshot Elmar..
Why did Leitz suddenly deep six the promising “Snapshot Leica” project? Probably because Leitz already had its hands full turning out very profitable items like the new top-of-the line Leica IIIa and lacked the capacity to embark upon new untried ventures. Probably not more than a handful of ELROO “snapshot lenses” and perhaps 100 “special order” Leica Standard (Model E) cameras with integral 35mm viewfinders were ever produced, so all of them are now stratospherically priced. museum pieces.
To configure a functional equivalent of the “Snapshot Leica” you can mount a classic 35mm f/3.5 Elmar lens and a WEISU 35mm shoe-mount finder on a Leica Standard (Model E), but fair warning—this vintage combo will set you back around $2,500 based in current eBay prices! Does any “Snapshot Leica” truly qualify as a point & shoot? Since you’ve got to set the shutter speed, aperture and focusing distance, technically no. But it’s still a great camera for casual street shooting on the fly and it’s a pity Leica never produced it.
A tip of the lens cap to James Lager for providing the photos and much of the historical information cited above.
The “Auto-Everything”revolution: high-tech 35mm point & shoots rule!
The camera that sparked the auto-everything revolution of point & shoot 35mm cameras that peaked in the 1980s was the Konica C35 AF, the world's first mass-produced autofocus camera, that was launched in 1977. It utilized the patented Honeywell Visitronic AF (VAF) system, a "passive" autofocus technology that functioned similarly to a rangefinder, employing light-sensitive detectors to compare the contrast of two images in its rangefinder system to achieve proper focus—essentially a contrast comparator. The Konica C35 AF was very successful with over a million units sold, and it also provided autoexposure using a CdS cell metering system, but unlike later compact AF 35s you had to load, wind and rewind the film manually.
Konica C35 AF of 1977 point & shoot, the first autofocus still camera on the market, also provided autoexposure, autoflash. .
Konica C35 AF specifications
The Konica C35 AF features a Hexanon 38mm f/2.8 lens, a programmed leaf shutter with three speeds (1/60, 1/125, and 1/250), and automatic exposure using a CdS metering system. The camera also includes a built-in flash and manual film advance.
Lens: Hexanon 38mm f/2.8, 4 elements in 3 groups.
Shutter: Programmed leaf shutter with speeds of 1/60, 1/125, and 1/250 seconds.
Apertures: f/2.8-f/22
Film Speed: ASA 25 to 400.
Autofocus: Honeywell Visitronic system with a passive dual-image electronic rangefinder, focusing from 1.1 meters to infinity.
Flash: Built-in, with a guide number of 14 at ISO 100.
Exposure: Automatic with CdS meter, EV 9 - EV 17 with 100 ASA film.
Film Advance: Manual, lever wind.
Other features: Underexposure warning light, parallax correction mark, focus measuring square, and shutter lock when battery is dead.
Dimensions: 132 x 76 x 54 mm.
Weight: 375 grams.
The Canon Sure Shot: The first “auto-everything” compact 35!
The Canon AF35M (marketed as the Sure Shot by Canon USA), was Canon’sfirst 35mm autofocus leaf shutter compact 35. Launched in November 1979, it received the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry's 1980 Good Design Award. It was enormously successful, even among a welter if similar cameras fielded by competitors, and it sold extremely well, production reaching110,000 per month. By the second half of 1981 it was partially supplanted by Canon’s higher-spec AF35ML and it was finally replaced in 1983 by the Canon AF35M II
Original Canon AF35M Sure Shot of 1979: It became synonymous with the fully automatic AF 35mm camera and sold in massive numbers.
The Sure Shot’s active autofocus system used a near-infrared-emitting diode and a PIN photodiode to determine the subject position by triangulation in a manner much like an optical coincident-image rangefinder. This active system is independent of ambient light levels and achieved a high degree of accuracy. However, it can be fooled by glass (which is not transparent to infrared radiation). The autofocus area was marked on the reverse-Galilean optical viewfinder which also had projected frame lines, zone focusing marks for near, medium and far (lit to indicate the approximate area the autofocus had selected), parallax correction marks, and battery-check and camera-shake warning LEDs. Viewfinder magnification was 0.5× and coverage was 85% of the full 35mm frame area.
The 38mm f/2.8 Canon lens has a ring around it used for setting film speeds (ISO 25 to 400), which appear in a small window on the front of the lens assembly; below the lens there’s a CdS port for the exposure system, a location that automatically adjusts the exposure to account for mounted filters.
Film transport and rewind are fully automatic, but the camera was not fitted with Canon's Quick Load, a feature found on later models, so the film leader still had to be manually threaded to the take-up spool.
An integral flash is retracted into the top of the camera on the left and was manually extended by releasing a catch on the camera's front. The unit has aguide number of 14 (at ISO 100 in meters) and features auto-exposure using the camera's light meter as well as supporting fill flash. A self-timer control is located on the front.
The original Canon Sure Shot was powered by 2 AA batteries; later models used a 2CR5 cell.
Significance of the Canon Sure Shot and its successors
The Canon Sure Shot line significantly impacted the camera market by popularizing autofocus in point & shoot cameras. This series, beginning with the AF35M (Sure Shot) in 1979, made autofocus technology accessible to a wider consumer base and set the standard for user-friendly, fully automated photography. The Sure Shot's success contributed to the dominance of this camera type until the rise of digital photography.
Key Contributions of the Canon Sure Shot:
Point-and-Shoot Convenience:
The Sure Shot combined autofocus with automated film winding and rewinding, creating the first true 35mm point-and-shoot experience.
Commercial Success:
The Sure Shot series became Canon's most commercially successful lineup of point-and-shoot cameras, with models continuing to be released for 25 years.
Market Domination:
By introducing affordable and easy-to-use autofocus, the Sure Shot helped pave the way for the widespread adoption of this technology in the compact camera market.
Influence on Photography Trends:
The Sure Shot's success encouraged other manufacturers to develop similar cameras, contributing to the popularity of 35mm compact cameras for everyday photography.
The phenomenal success of the Canon Sure Shot line spawned a host of worthy competitors in the vibrant 35mm point and shoot category that only ended with the digital photography revolution of the early 2000s. Here’s a selection often cited by industry experts:
Contax T2: Often considered one of the best 35mm point-and-shoot cameras, known for its durable build, reliable performance, and excellent Carl Zeiss lens. However, it's significantly more expensive.
Yashica T4: This cult-favorite boasts a Zeiss lens like the Contax T2, but in a simpler, less expensive, and lighter plastic body. It's also known for being weatherproof.
Minolta TC-1: Another titanium-bodied camera known for its crisp, contrasty images and manual modes, often compared to the Contax T2 but with a different lens.
Olympus Stylus MJU II (also known as the Stylus Epic): A highly sought-after camera praised for its compact size, sharp lens, weatherproofing, and ease of use.
Nikon L35AF: An early competitor known for its affordability, sharp lens, built-in flash, and user-friendly features.
Ricoh GR1v: Popular for its small size, light weight, manual options, and sharp lens, though it can be pricey.
Leica Mini II: Offers a Leica lens and fast autofocus in a more affordable and less conspicuous package, although it has a plastic body and lacks a lens cover.
Clearly there are countless other cameras and camera categories that could logically be included in any comprehensive list of point & shoot cameras. Examples: analog AF SLRs with autoexposure capability, e.g. the Canon AE-1 Program, and virtually every DSLR and mirrorless camera currently on the market, scads of instant-picture cameras, virtually every digital compact camera now offered for sale, and of course that most ubiquitous point & shoot camera of all time, the almighty smartphone! So, basically technology has created a brave new point & shoot world for all of us, and the only folks still concerned with such anachronisms as f/stops, shutter speeds, and focusing are photographers who want to exert a degree of control over the image in order to shape and express their creative vision. Fancy that!
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