A box of old cameras No.2: Kodak Instamatic 50

Kodak Intamatic 50

The Kodak Instamatic 50

In last post of this series I featured the Kodak ‘Hawkeye’ Ace Delux and as I’m attempting to display these camera in chronological order, the next camera out of the box is another Kodak.

The ‘Intamatic’ 50 was the first Instamatic camera released by Kodak and appeared in the UK in February 1963 (about a month before the 100).

Kodak Instamatic Ad

This model had a fixed shutter speed, aperture and focus and designed so that anyone could use it.

The Instamatic was a huge success with more than 50 million cameras produced between 1963 and 1970.

I’m not sure of the year this one was produced. It belonged to my father-in-law. George lived for most of his life near the sea front in Cleveleys, near Blackpool and the camera has sand engrained into the bodywork and shutter mechanism.

For examples of shots from this 126 film camera visit Lomography, describing itself as a shop and a community dedicated to analogue photography. It’s well worth a visit.

Kodak 50, plus engrained sand

For more technical details go to Kodak Classics by Mischa Koning.