Tech Talk The Instamatic, or 126 format, was introduced by Kodak in 1963. It was designed to be a foolproof system for the snapshot market, and did away with the need to thread a 35mm film, and then rewind it at the end of the roll. With the Instamatic system you simply dropped a fresh cartridge into the back of the camera, took your photos, then removed the cartridge and took it to your local high street chemist for developing and printing.
Although the film was 35mm wide, and could therefore be processed using 35mm machines, the negatives were 28mm square, compared with the 24x36mm of full-frame 35mm. Most 126 cameras, and they were produced in vast quantities, were pretty basic, and only suitable for use in good daylight. Most…
