Putting the Pentax Auto 110 film camera to the test vs the Pentax Q digital camera
The Pentax Auto 110 shown here with some of its exquisite manual focus lenses that can easily be adapted for the much more modern Pentax Q line of cameras.
Lomography color film and Turquoise test roles
It’s almost unfair to put up a 47-year-old (released in 1978) film camera the Pentax Auto 110 up against a more modern (2011) digital camera that’s as good as the diminutive Pentax Q line of mirrorless cameras.
But add a little modern technology in the form of scanners and excellent photo software, and the almost 50-year-old film camera and lenses loaded with Lomography color film stand up well when the original 110 lenses are also used on the Pentax Q cameras. Even the ability to use these tiny lenses on modern digital mirrorless cameras including M4/3 cameras is hard to believe.
I’m sure the original designers of the Auto 110 camera and lenses never dreamed their lenses would be used on a digital camera, but here we are.
Film size vs digital sensor
It’s easy to see that the 110 film of the Auto 110 camera compares in size to the Pentax Q sensor.
It’s important to note that the 110 film size is comparable to the size as the Q’s digital sensor. A frame from 110 film measures 13 mm × 17 mm (0.51 in × 0.67 in), while the digital sensor in the Pentax Q measures (6.17mm x 4.55 mm) 1/2.3 in.
For a look at what the Auto 110 and Pentax Q can do using the Pentax 110 manual lenses with Lomography’s B&W film, check out my earlier post here.
For a comparative look at the Pentax 110 vs the recently unveiled Pentax 17, check out my post here.
“If you are a Pentax 110 owner, you owe it to yourself to purchase a Pentax Q and an inexpensive adapter to use these exquisite lenses in a digital format. And, if you are a Pentax Q owner, you must get your hands on some of these 110 lenses to make magic with these 40-plus-year-old tiny lenses.”
All this being said, the convenience and the autofocus prowess of a Pentax Q teamed with one of the four exquisite autofocus lenses from the Q lineup, is both easier to use and more accurate than using the film camera with its manual focus lenses, especially when your eye sight isn’t quite up to snuff.
I found that images shot on the more modern autofocus Q lenses were considerably sharper than those shot with the 110 lenses. However, many of today’s photographers who are looking to add a more vintage style to their photographs may prefer the look of the older lenses and increased grain that comes with the 110 film.
Lomography’s Tiger color print film passes the test
Let’s first take a look at Lomography’s Tiger colour print film photographed with the Pentax 110 lenses. It’s important to note that I scanned this film manually by hand on two different scanners, both of which are not made for scanning the downsized 110 film.
Unlike the Orca B&W film that was scanned professionally by The Darkroom, I chose to go it alone with the colour film Tiger. The C-41, 200 ISO film results were mixed showing high grain typical of 110 film stock reducing sharpness as well as generally low contrast that made the images seem even softer.
Technical details of the film is limited because Lomography does not publish them. Tiger film is available only in the 110 format from the Lomography website. Whether Tiger is simply a repurposed film from another manufacturer is difficult to say at this point, but we can consider it as a standalone film for this review.
The grain is high as a baseline in this film and only amplified by the tiny format that 110 delivers upon magnification. All of the issues that this magnification creates such as grain, image softness and tonality are also amplified. As a result, the images do not show a lot of gradation in colours and tones.
The dynamic range of this film is decent by 110 standards with shadows and highlights can both be retained in even lighting conditions but not so much in high contrast situation say in full sunlight with deep shadows. Chances are you’ll either blow out the highlights or lose the shadows.
The size of these negatives amplifies the already limited tonality and tonal range in this film. The acutance of the film is low, but the contrast is high helping to give the film a more sharpened look.
Later in this article when the Pentax 110 lenses are used on the digital Pentax Q, it becomes obvious that the high quality Pentax lenses can easily outperform this film. It’s important to emphasize, however, that the very flaws of this film is what makes it interesting to those who are striving for the vintage look in their images.
It’s probably best to use this film in subdued light in open shade or during the blue and golden hours of the day. The images below provide examples of images shot in this more favourable lighting conditions.
Nevertheless, the scans still provide us with a good idea of how the film performs under different circumstances. The following are a number of images taken with the Pentax Auto 110, the 18mm, 24mm and 50mm lenses.
Lomography rates this color negative 110 film at ISO 200 and describes it as gorgeously grainy, especially when enlarged and add that it is “great for vibrant snapshots in the urban jungle.”
This image was taken on the Pentax Auto 110 with Lomography’s Tiger colour print film.
An overview of the city photographed with the Pentax Auto 110 using Lomography’s Tiger color film.
A local historical building photographed with the Auto 110 on Lomography Tiger. Detail is good but not as good as the digital image below.
The vintage look of this image works well with the historic building.
Color and detail is good in this garden image shot on Lomography Tiger film and the Pentax 110.
This garden image of milkweed illustrates the detail Lomography’s Tiger film stock is capable of producing.
Pentax Q test images for comparison
As you can see the images turned out satisfactory after modest editing in Lightroom. Most of the images are a little soft and grainy but, again, if a vintage look is what you are after, then Lomography’s Tiger film and the Pentax 110 system delivers with flying colours.
The lack of grain in the Pentax Q digital images makes for sharper images with increased contrast and colour.
Below, are a few of the same images using the Pentax Q and 110 lenses as well as a few using the Pentax Q with Q autofocus lenses. You can be the judge of what works best depending on your taste and the effect you are going after.
Image shot with Pentax Q and a 110 manual focus lens.
Image photographed with Pentax Q and the Pentax Q’s 06 autofocus telephoto lens. The lens is equivalent to a 70-200mm F2.8 lens in 35mm terms.
Pentax Q with 24mm manuL focus 110 lens.
This image was shot with the Pentax Q and 01 prime autofocus lens.
Image shot with Pentax Q and 110 manual focus lens.
Overview of the city taken with a manual focus 110 lens.
This garden pond image was taken with the 24mm manual focus 110 lens on the Pentax Q. The below image was taken with the digital autofocus 02 lens from the Pentax Q lineup.
This image was taken with the Pentax 02 lens from the Q lineup of lenses.
Lomography Tiger vs digital: pros and cons
If sharp images are your goal, the Pentax Q and the autofocus lenses are the clear winners. The Pentax Q digital comes out on top if you are looking for cleaner, less grainy images with more pop in colour. Although, with careful post-process editing, I’m sure it’s possible to get high quality results with the 110 film.
If a grainy, more vintage look is what you are trying to achieve, that vintage look is still certainly attainable on the digital Q system with some creative post processing. Of course, the vintage look is literally built into the results of the Auto 110 film camera loaded with Tiger’s colour Lomography film.
One final point that I think is important is the cost of shooting 110 film vs digital. Let’s not fool ourselves, this vintage look comes at a high cost. Not only is the film difficult to get (available only from Lomography) developing and scanning the film also gets expensive. It’s probably fair to say that any 110 film is the least cost effective method of shooting giving the lowest yield option for colour film shooters. In addition, the amount of plastic used in the cartridges is not very environmentally friendly.
Lomochrome Turquoise is out of this world
Lomography’s Lomochrome Turquoise might be out of this world, but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.
Test results show the film is grainy and benefits from post processing in Lightroom to bring out its unique qualities.
That being said, the finished results are worth exploring further. I can’t help but think the film would perform better on a more forgiving film stock like 35mm and 120 film where the extensive grain is less noticeable.
To achieve these other worldly results, Lomochrome Turquoise is another color channel swapping film similar to Lomochrom Purple. With Turquoise, Lomography simply swaps the red and blue dies. The red layer releases a yellow die instead of its normal cyan, and the blue layer releases a cyan instead of its normal yellow die. The green layer is unaffected and creates the magenta die. This effect can more or less be achieved digitally in Photoshop by swapping the red and blue channels in post processing.
Lomography states this about its specialized C41 film introduced in 2021 and rated at a flexible 100-400 ISO. I shot mine at ISO 200.
Lomography says to “pick up this color negative film to explore a wonderland of tantalizing turquoise tones.”
The following are a few examples of Lomography Turquoise on the Pentax Auto 110 vs similar images on digital with the Pentax Q.
This image shows the colour shift in the sky that is a trait of Lomochrome Tourquoise.
This image shot with Lomography Turquoise illustrates the extreme colour shift of the film turning reds into blues. In other images, clear blue skies come out with a heavy orange tint.
The colour shift is evident in this picture of the barber shop. All the blue elements in the picture are actually red in real life.
The orange sky is typical with this film when there are bright blue skies.
Pentax Q digital examples for comparison
The following images are comparison shots taken with the Pentax Q series of cameras and lenses.
Pentax Q with 08 wide angle zoom lens.
Pentax Q with 01 prime lens. This image shows the original colours of the store in comparison to the colours displayed in the above image shot on Lomography Turquoise.
In conclusion: Lomochrome Turquoise on 110 film vs Pentax Q
There is no question the digital Pentax Q gives more pleasing realistic images with much better grain or digital noise. It’s also possible to attain the same effect as Turquoise in digital by swapping out the red and blue channels in photoshop. I suspect, however, that this would defeat the purpose of shooting these experimental films for those who still enjoy shooting with film stock and analog cameras.
It was a fun experiment shooting with both Tiger and Turquoise. Would I shoot them again? Probably not. The cost of developing and printing these films is just a little too high for the results I have been able to attain even using the high quality Pentax Auto 110 system.
I am very happy that I purchased the Auto 110 system to experiment with occasionally with analog film, but I am particularly pleased that the full line of 110 lenses can be used effectively on the Pentax Q digital cameras to give them renewed life well into the future.
If you are a Pentax 110 owner, you owe it to yourself to purchase a Pentax Q and an inexpensive adapter to use these exquisite lenses in a digital format. And, if you are a Pentax Q owner, you must get your hands on some of these 110 lenses to make magic with these 40-plus-year-old tiny lenses.