Kodak Stretch 35 (1989–1991)
The Kodak Stretch 35 was Kodak's panoramic disposable, a cardboard-bodied single-use camera that shot a wide, letterboxed slice of 35mm film. Introduced in 1989 at $12.95, it exposed a 12mm center strip of the film to produce 3½ × 10 inch prints, and it came loaded with a 12-exposure roll of Kodacolor Gold 200. It was part of Kodak's Fling 35 series, and it was Kodak's second disposable overall.
The Stretch 35 was a direct answer to Fujifilm's hugely successful QuickSnap ("写ルンです"), which had launched in 1986. Fuji had covered telephoto and close-up variants, so Kodak positioned the Stretch as the wide-angle panoramic option. It worked. The Japanese release, sold as the "KODAK おもしろカメラ パノラマ," was a big hit and outsold Fuji for ten months before Fuji rushed out a Panoramic version of its own. Single-use cameras always went through Kodak's own processing labs, so Kodak could introduce the unusual panoramic format without worrying about whether third-party labs could handle it.
The lens is the interesting part. It's a fixed 25mm f/12 two-element plastic unit: two meniscus lenses in a deformed symmetric arrangement with a fixed aperture between them. The lens is uncoated, and it's engraved "KODAK Lens 25mm f12," a deliberate statement that this was a camera, not just film. A simple design like this produces strong field curvature, so Kodak curved the film plane itself. The back focus is about 19mm at center but 1.5mm shorter at the left and right edges. That corrects horizontal field curvature but not vertical, which is fine for a format that's wide left-to-right and narrow top-to-bottom.
On a flat digital sensor, the lens shows strong field curvature and pincushion distortion, and the curved-film compensation doesn't translate. On its native film, the curved plane means the periphery focuses near while the center recedes to far distance. One lens-modification blogger calls this a "でっこまひっこま" (pop-out/push-in) effect. The blog source modified one with an M42 mount for digital use and found the center rendering "not bad," with pleasing three-dimensionality, good vignetting, and an emphasis on the central subject with background bokeh. Resolution isn't high, but the character is apparently charming. The same blogger notes the rival Fuji Panoramic Hi lens is more "well-behaved," resolving cleanly to the edges, while the Kodak is more interesting.
The Stretch 35 was later rebranded as the Kodak Fun Saver Panoramic 35, and the packaging explicitly noted "formerly KODAK STRETCH 35 Camera." A user memory in SUITCASE Magazine describes rationing the 12 exposures to four precious shots a day on a family holiday. A photographer in Spain reloaded one with Kodak Ektapress 400 in 2012 and documented the results, showing the little cardboard camera could be reused with a few tricks. One Dutch listing describes it as "a very rare disposable camera which produces panoramic photos," though whether it's genuinely rare or just forgotten is hard to say from the record.
Known specs:
- Format: 35mm film, 12 exposures, exposing a 12mm center strip
- Print size: 3½ × 10 inches
- Lens: 25mm f/12, two-element uncoated plastic, fixed focus
- Film plane: curved (1.5mm shorter back focus at edges vs. center)
- Loaded with: Kodacolor Gold 200
- Original price: $12.95
- Body: cardboard ("paper box") construction
No shutter speed, battery, or flash specifications are documented. Production years are approximate, with sources conflicting between 1989, 1990, and 1991. The panoramic format launched in 1989 and the camera was on the market by 1991 at the latest.
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