After completing the 2019 season of the National Premier League season with South Melbourne, albeit missing 2 men’s fixtures. I believe I have developed quite the impression amongst the board with my alternative take on photographing their games, including composing a few albums in 35mm film.
By now I have been demonstrating a handful of film cameras within my collection at games to those that were curious about them. So this brought the opportunity for South Melbourne’s president, Nicholas Maikousis, to offer me a film camera that was originally used by his father and was only collecting dust in his storage.
Sure enough I was very appreciative and curious to see what it was and re-assured him it will be in full display on my shelf amongst the others.
The moment I laid my eyes on it I was intrigued by its simple boxed-shape design and its minimalist presentation yet a serious looking pocket-sized camera.
Upon researching it dawned on me that this camera would use a separate film roll type and not the usual 35mm. It’s at this point I learned about the 126 cartridge film for the first time.
The first Instamax (the 100) was in production in 1963, and the 104 model was produced somewhere at this time roughly in 1965. The purpose of this route that Kodak took, was for a range of cameras to be inexpensive for everyone.
They have cleverly designed the upmost convenience of loading and exchanging the film cartridges like a battery or a Lego block, just simply swap in and click into its place holder without having to worry about manually feeding the film into its sprockets like a 35mm would.
Unfortunately 126 cartridges have ceased production since 2008, and any remaining (and rarely) sold online can fetch up to $50 or more.
What I’ve found from enthusiasts is the alternative of using an adaptor 126 cartridge to load 35mm film into (24 frame only). However this can only be done in a darkroom. Another drawback is there may be issues with specific scanners to digitally scan photos properly, bearing in mind there will be unused space of the film towards the top and bottom borders of each frame.
Ultimately, this will be on my bucket list one day, to use and observe the quality of images from my gifted camera. Cheers Boss!
Photo Gallery Source References:
https://www.lomography.com/cameras/3331131-kodak-instamatic-104/photos
https://petapixel.com/2016/08/13/joy-shooting-1965-kodak-instamatic-104-camera/
Behind The Lens - LMR 
I learned to take pictures with one of those as a pre-teen. They were easy to use and had cube flashes with four bulbs. I wish the film was still available so my children could experience the adventure of waiting for the film to come back from the lab to see how the pictures came out.
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Well, my local photo printing shop does still develop and scan 35mm films, and I’m sure there are a handful of cameras out there that don’t need much fiddling to set up. Or better yet, maybe get them to have a go with a disposable camera?
https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/best-disposable-cameras-kodak
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There are some photo printing shops around that do 35mm film (which I also do). I’m sure there are some simple cameras and beginner friendly ones for your kids to perhaps have a go at, perhaps start with disposable cameras? There some that produce decent pictures. No matter how many times I go out to get them printed and scanned, it’s always exciting for me. My local one does it on the spot and I wait about an hour. So I usually go for a walk abouts at the shopping centre while I wait.
https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/best-disposable-cameras-kodak
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