Review: Kodak Trimlite Instamatic 18

This pocket-fitting Kodak Trimlite Instamatic 18, as the name suggests, is very compact and small. It is very trendy in the 1970s due to the aggressive wave of TV advertisement. I guess this Kodak Instamatic 18 is very suitable for consumable market because it is cheap, easy to use and convenient to bring around.

Actually I saw this Kodak Instamatic camera in Hong Kong film store selling at SGD 29 or 49 (I can’t remember), but the condition was horrible. So, I am quite surprised to find my current Instamatic 18 in Thailand in a clean and new condition.

Summary of Kodak Trimlite Instamatic 18:

• uses 110 films
• fixed shutter speed 1/90 in day light
• 1/40 with flash (flash was missing when I bought it)
• fixed aperture f11
• 25mm focal distance, equivalent to about 50mm on full frame (Please tell me why)
• require no battery (hooray!)

Yeah, so that’s about it. A simple camera. Currently, Lomography is the sole source of 110 films on market. I pray hard they don’t stop producing. Otherwise my Instamatic 18 would be useless. Also sadly, the nearest Lomography distributor from my location is Kuala Lumpur! If I run out of my current stock and need 110 films desperately, I got to order it online. So not too bad.

As expected, when you buy second hand stuff, it’s common to lack things that originally comes along with it.  What I didn’t have for this Instamatic 18 is the external flash light. Hence, I am limited to only shoot outdoor. Come to think of it, the flash might not work if the battery required is no longer in production, such as the K battery. Anyway, it’s good enough this camera is still functional. However, I foresee myself not using it often because of the film availability and higher cost of scanning this 110 film!

Not a common sight in Singapore: a man volunteered to be in my frame :p

Visit my YouTube photo-walk video with this Kodak Trimlite Instamatic 18! Cheers!