You can get a camera that shoots 110 film for basically nothing right now; even a brand new way-cool 110 Holga can be had for $7.99 on eBay. The film itself, however, is a different story. Expect to spend around $15 for an expired roll, and enjoy the blank stare from the CVS photo counter staff when you try to get it developed. Beginning in the mid-’00s, one by one, manufacturers stopped producing 110 format rolls of film. Fuji was the last, quitting the 110 game in 2009.The film’s appeal was partially its small size — allowing for pocket-size spy cameras — and partially its weird little self-contained film spools that could be popped in and out of the camera without much attention. Well, kinda like the Impossible Project’s resurrection of Polaroid film, Lomography is bringing 110 back, with its first batch of limited edition Orca B&W 100 shipping this week.Unlike the Impossible Project’s expensive and troublesome (to be diplomatic) instant film, Lomography is selling its product for a reasonable $7.90 a pop. (A pack of Polaroid goes for upwards of $20 at my local shop, but we should quit with the Impossible Project comparisons now, for a variety of reasons.)Re-engineering Polaroid was a whole different beast; everything to do with the old product was basically destroyed and the IP team had to start from scratch. Presumably, with a variety of fairly recent film manfacturers in the 110 business, Lomography has a bit more to go on. (Also: different sizes of film don’t translate to different chemicals.) In any case, I made an order. We’ll see how it works out.The Verge’s Sam Byford has a couple more details:Orca is a slow monochrome film that leaves off the paper backing, meaning that the spool won’t stop when you’ve finished the roll, so you’ll have to make sure to count your shots. The last four frames of each 24-exposure roll will also be more susceptible to light leaks, which could be considered a flaw or a feature depending on your perspective.Now, if we can just get someone to starting making new film for my Minolta-16 MG. That would be something. And I can see things getting even wilder with film for sure. The Instagramification of point-and-shoot photography can only do good things for actual film photography. And it might even bring some small amount of people across from the world of “shoot, don’t think” toy camera lo-fi back to the world of non-D SLRs and photographic composition. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but wishful thinking is part of my job.Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.
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