Who remembers the old camera cube?

[Baitball Blogger]

Can someone find a gif of the thing in action for the kids?

[amerikat]

1. video

[Baitball Blogger]

3. That is just so cool!

[PoliticAverse]

2. I still have my original X-15. n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Those were "high tech"!

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.
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I upgraded from them plastic covered flashbulbs that I needed for my "Brownie" around 1960 when I got my AMAZING Instamatic



The "blue" bulbs were for color (COLOR - IMAGINE THAT!) films when I could afford it - white/clear bulbs were for Black and White film.

Yeah - I'm that old.



CC

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Classic!

[SeattleVet]

5. We found that they were also handy when I was stationed in Germany

If you were walking around the compound and weren't sure if the RADAR was energized or not (it could be turning without radiating), you could toss a FlashCube up in front of it. Especially at night - if it suddenly looked like the world was ending, it was energized.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. LOL!

I think there's a movie with that plot.

[csziggy]

8. Here an original ad for it

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82774205/

[Baitball Blogger]

15. Isn't that wild?

[csziggy]

19. I'm old enough to remember the introduction of film cartridges

Which were SOOOOOO much more convenient than the roll film we used in our old Brownie cameras. To load the Brownies, we had to hide under a blanket (because there was no such thing as a totally dark room in our house) and load the film by feel.

The cartridges were such an improvement - just drop in, close the camera, advance a few frames and shoot.

I saved up my allowance for an Kodak Instamatic, but when I tried to use it, it was just too small for my large hands. The next year Sears came out with an imitation that was larger - many thought that a disadvantage, but it was perfect for me. I used that camera until Dad gave me an old half frame 35mm camera when I was in college - back to the old way of loading film, but I learned a little about how to use f-stops and other settings.

I mostly took outdoor photos, so I didn't use the flashcubes much - but I remember having a few of them!

[Baitball Blogger]

21. My introduction began with the cartridge cameras.

I moved up to Nikon and Cannon, loved it, and then I had children where I realized I was too slow to capture the spontaneous moments. But I didn't end up with a Sony Cybershot until they became adolescents and wouldn't sit for me.

[csziggy]

22. Yeah - my first "real" camera was a Konica semi-automatc 35mm

Nice camera - we bought two bodies and a bunch of lenses.Used them for decades until the electronics went out. We sold them for parts for nearly as much as we had paid originally!

Then I bought a Nikon 35mm - digital SLRs were still thousands of dollars so it took several years before I bought one - and could use the lenses for the 35mm on the digital.

We also have owned a series of Sony PowerShots - love those for their size and easy point and shoot.

Last camera I bought was a FujiFilm digital with an awesome zoom - slightly smaller than my Nikon SLR but it has a better zoom with vibration reduction. I'd love it to death if I could get the macro settings to work reliably but it is really good at medium to distance shots.

[herding cats]

17. Yes, that's what I thought we were talking about!

My mom's camera must have used them, and for some reason she used to save the used ones in a shoe box in the closet. Which I found when I was snooping once as a little girl in the late 1970's looking for our xmas presents. Yes, I was that child.

Another thing I can remember was when my mom used to get the pictures developed (this was way back when you had to send actual film off to be developed and wait for it to come back as photos) they had two smaller "wallet" sized photos and one regular sized photo. I don't know when exactly they used to come back like this, but I'm guessing from the photos of us as little ones it was in the '70's. How nifty was that? You got wallet "brag" pics and your regular one at the same time.

[hlthe2b]

9. Oh, wow... those cube flashes were just so amazing at the time...

That takes me back, big time!

[vanlassie]

10. Yeah but every time I even lookk at one of those my fingers recoil from the memory

of getting burned with blisters on those damn things.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. You are looking at my very first camera. :)

I got it from my Mom for Xmas when I was very young. I loved those cubes -- loved the sound they made and what they looked like after a the flash went off. It was the start of a life-long love of cameras and photography.

[sakabatou]

12. I remember it vaguely

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. I had one of those!

[LumosMaxima]

14. I remember those! nt

[Paulie]

16. Flash cubes, 110 film cartridges and Photomat booths

That's the source of all the pictures from my childhood.

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. And then, when I was 12, I got one of those new-fangled Kodak Disc

cameras for Christmas. I couldn't believe how "skinny" it was!

[Brigid]

23. I remember those!

I never had one though.

[Arugula Latte]

20. I loved it when it flashed and turned.

It's the little things in life ...

[Brigid]

24. Yes, I remember flashcubes.

I had an Instamatic -- not that model though. Got it for my thirteenth birthday.