Item ST 25804 Camera - Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, Instamatic 100, Coburg, Victoria, circa 1963

Summary

Kodak Instamatic 100 camera, in its original cardboard box, made by Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd circa 1963.

The Instamatic camera range was a series of inexpensive, easy-to-use and easy-to-load cameras which proved to be immensely popular. This camera has a pop-up flash that uses a small single flash bulb.

The Instamatic 100 camera was the first Instamatic released by Eastman Kodak in the USA and was launched in 1963, but the camera was also soon made by Kodak Australasia for the local Australia and New Zealand market. In Australia it was assembled from imported parts by the Camera, Reels and Sundries Department in Building 15 at Kodak Australasia's new factory in Coburg. Kodak Australasia went on to produce numerous other Instamatic models over the next two decades.

This camera is made of metal and plastic, with red details, and a wrist strap. The camera comes with a pop-up flash and takes size 126 film on a drop-in cartridge, which eliminated the need to thread film on a spool.

Physical Description

Rectangular, metal and plastic Kodak Instamatic 100 Camera, in a rectangular cardboard box. The box lid is printed yellow, with a yellow, red, black and white image. The graphic image on the top of the box shows the film spools with black arrows to suggest that the spools are dropped into the camera rather than wound on. The front of the box shows a basic black and white diagram of the camera, with a red and yellow Kodak logo on the left. The base of the box is black, and is filled with moulded cardboard. The front of the camera is made of a silver metal, with plastic inserts, and a red Kodak logo printed on the left of the lens. At the top right is the camera model name. On the bottom right is a small button which releases a pop-up flash on the top of the camera. The flash is a blue bulb in a black plastic housing. A silver metal slide on the back of the flash releases the bulb. The back of the flash has specifications for K-COLOR-X, K-CHROME-X and E-CHROME-X film. The body of the camera is black plastic and silver metal. A black cord wrist strap is clipped to the left hand side. The back release button is on the middle of the right side, and the wind-on lever is on the top right. A small rectangular view finder is on the back of the camera. Below this is a plastic window to check the film number. The interior of the camera is a combination of black metal and moulded black plastic.