Instamatic

The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive and easy-to-use point-and-shoot cameras made by Kodak beginning in 1963. The cameras used 110 and 126 film cartridges, which made loading and unloading film easier for the consumer, and the range was immensely successful, introducing a generation to low-cost photography and spawning numerous imitators. Kodak developed it from the early 1950s after market research showed that most consumers would be happier with more automated film loading and exposure settings, first under project Easy Load and then Project 13. The lead designer of the program was Dean M. Peterson, from an original design by Alexander Gow. The Instamatic 50 appeared in the United Kingdom in February 1963 and the basic Instamatic 100 reached the United States about a month later, selling at first for 16 dollars. More than 50 million Instamatic cameras were produced between 1963 and 1970, the Pocket Instamatic series for the 110 format followed in 1972, and the X-15F, the last Instamatic sold in the United States, stayed on sale until 1988.