Dacora Instacora F

In the early 1960s, Kodak introduced the Instamatic camera, which became a global bestseller. Just drop in the cartridge, point and shoot. Other filmmakers promptly copied the #126 cartridge, and Instamatic camera copies were made by most mass-market camera producers. I had an Instamatic in the 1970s and can vouch for its simplicity, paired with poor image quality.

Dacora, which made a career out of entry-level cameras, followed suit and offered a line of such models:

As can be seen, the early models had modest aspirations, whereas the late models had attempted to punch above their weight. It seems a futile attempt as the premise of this format was simplicity, so any added features reflected in the price that could be directed to a superior camera at a better value.

The camera is similar to dozens of other #126 format models, though it is better styled than the Kodak boxy, sharp-edged models. It is made of plastic but has a metal-like finish that survived the burden of time.

• The hinged back exposes a drop-in hollow that takes the cartridge, one way only, with no room for misplacement.
• The bottom has a sliding latch that opens a well for the mighty 15v battery that charges the built-in capacitor, which fires the flash cube.
• The top has the flash cube socket, which quarter-turns the cube at each shot.
• At the front is the trigger, which also winds the film at each shot.
• The shutter is spring self-loaded, so there is no need to cock it.
• A ring on the lens tube has two settings: sunny, cloudy / flash. The flash will fire when a cube is mounted.
• The lens is fixed, from 4’ – 120cm to infinity, and the manual describes it as a “Fine, mathematically computed glass lens”. A long narrative for a plain lens.
• The smallish viewer does not have parallax marks.
• At the front, it is mirror-like coated, assumingly for self-portraits, using a remote trigger cable screwed at the bottom of the trigger.

For the collector, unless you have a warm corner for Instamatic-type cameras, pass.