The Kodak Instamatic
1963 (126 film)
A cheap camera loaded with a drop-in 126 film cartridge, so no one had to thread film again. More than 50 million were made.
How it began
Many people found threading 35mm film fiddly and spoiled rolls. In 1963 Kodak launched the 126 cartridge and the Instamatic camera to use it, in the tradition of the Brownie.
How it works
The film runs from one side of a plastic cartridge to the other, so it never needs rewinding. The cartridge only fits one way. A notch tells better models the film speed, and the flash could be a cube of four bulbs that rotated after each shot.
Why it mattered
It was one of the best-selling camera lines ever and made colour snapshots the norm. Its cartridge idea led to the smaller 110 in 1972.
Limits and what replaced it
The film did not lie perfectly flat, and frame registration was loose, so pictures were soft. Small autofocus 35mm compacts replaced it in the 1980s.
Today
126 film is no longer made, but the idea of foolproof loading carried through to 110, APS and digital.