Last summer, I became infatuated with 110 film. Actually, I came to it by stumbling across some interesting compact used cameras on Mercari. After a bit of research, I learned that Lomography still produces the easy-to-use format. I first dipped my toe with a couple of random, cheap, used point-and-shoots. Then I discovered the beauty that is the Pentax auto 110, the smallest-ever SLR exchangeable lens camera. I managed to snag an untested one for a decent price online and loaded up on a few different film stocks.

It was my first SLR and was a joy to use. Yes, it’s tiny, meaning you kind of smother the camera while holding it. It did get quite the reaction at the photo session I took it to…

I guess I should explain: In Japan, there are these group photo sessions where hobby photographers pay to photograph cute girls in varying degrees of undress. I opted for a tasteful, cute, clothed session, which took place in Akihabara. You pay an upfront fee and can shoot for the entire session (hours and hours, but I ran out of film fairly quickly). Young ladies take turns posing in front of different themed backdrops for you. It was far less creepy than I thought it would be. More like a car show than anything too salacious. Of course, there are also different providers that feature adult video actresses, but this is where my wife draws the line. Haha. Posting those photos online is against the rules, however. Anyway, the point I was getting at was that all the models thought my camera was super cute. A good ice-breaker.

Even though the extra lenses are tiny, I didn’t like having to decide whether to bring them all or not. I’m much too fiddly for something like that. The new 110 camera from Lomography seems right up my alley. Alas, the only thing holding me back is my inability to find a satisfactory film developer. You think living in Japan would make this easy, but many shops don’t have the necessary equipment. One shop I did take it to returned crummy scans. I ended up using an iPhone app to rescan myself, with mixed results. I found a better scanning shop, but they cropped out the border. Like Polaroid, I think the Lomography 110 border is a bit of the charm. Otherwise, you just have a tiny, grainy photo.

I have fun using the camera. I appreciate how easy the film is to load. I want the new camera. It’s the developing that has me hung up.