A few months before she passed away, my grandma gave me a fanny pack containing a few cameras and asked me to get them developed. Grandma Cook was the queen of disposable cameras. She always seemed to have one at family events. She was also family famous for her candids; all of the sudden she’d say “smile” and she’d snap the photo before you could.
For two years this camera bag sat in my mudroom until I finally made the time today to take a closer look. That’s how it is with film sometimes, huh? When she gave me the bag two years ago I took a quick look and knew one of the cameras wasn’t disposable: It was a Kodak Instamatic 35mm film camera. The other 3 black cameras were the ones I’d planned to get developed.
After looking closer today I realized none of the cameras are in fact disposables and instead they’re all 1990s low-end, point-and-shoot 35mm cameras. ⅔ of them display an “S” on the photo counter. The 3rd shows there are 22 photos left. Unfortunately, it’s got quite a bit of corrosion on the battery connections. I thought maybe I could add a few batteries and snap the remaining photos, assuming there are 30 photos on the roll, and maybe I’d get 8 surprise photos from Grandma. Another day!
While I’ll probably let all 3 black cameras go (after taking the film out of the corroded one), the Kodak Instamatic will likely stay as shelf art. It’s got a shiny silver front, a green body, and an overall vibe as if it’s looking at you. One can be grabbed on eBay for under $15. It’s nothing special but it sure does look nice.
Studying this Hawkeye got me wondering, what was the very best camera from the 1990s? Being somewhat of a high fidelity audio guy, I knew Japan had a reputation for manufacturing some of the best audio electronics during the glory days of audio. I wasn’t surprised to learn they also produced some of the best cameras of the 90s. The Nikon 35TI is a clear favorite.
On a whim, I bought a 35TI on eBay straight from Japan. I’m curious to dig into why it’s still so loved over 25 years later in 2021.
