Kodak Ektra 100 (1978)
The Kodak Ektra 100 is a small, simple 110-film point-and-shoot from the late 1970s. Kodak turned out cameras like it by the millions, and this one has left surprisingly little trace in the historical record. What we know comes mostly from reseller listings and collector sites rather than period reviews or official documentation.
The camera is built around a fixed-focus Kodar 22mm lens and shoots 110 cartridge film. The body is all plastic, with a direct optical viewfinder and a flip-flash port on top. It needs no batteries at all - the flip-flash array carried its own power. Lomography places production in Germany starting in 1978, though at least one other source lists the country of origin as the USA. Nobody has settled that one.
Surviving information on this model is thin. The record has no documented shutter speed, aperture or ISO specifications, and no original retail price has surfaced. The Ektra 100 appears in the catalog of the era as an entry-level snapshot camera, but its exact family positioning isn't documented.
Current market behavior suggests it was never a collector's darling. One unit sold at a thrift store for R40 (about $2), and another was listed online for $20. Lomography notes the plastic construction and the gleamy Kodar lens with a certain fondness, which is about as close to a critical reception as this camera ever got.
Known specs:
- Film format: 110 cartridge
- Lens: Kodar 22mm, fixed focus
- Viewfinder: Direct optical
- Flash: Flip-flash port
- Battery: None required
- Body: Plastic
- Production: c. 1978 (Germany per Lomography; USA per one other source)
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